Drilling Mud in Pa. Stream
Firm cleans up at tributary of Dunkard Creek
Morgantown Dominion Post
13 April 2013
By David Beard
Equitrans — a natural gas subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based EQT —
spilled about 500 gallons of drilling mud into a headwater
tributary of Dunkard Creek on Wednesday, according to the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The spill occurred during drilling for a pipeline under Garrison
Fork, off Shough Ridge Road, about 25 miles west of Dunkard Creek,
in Gilmore Township, Greene County, Pa., EQT spokeswoman Natalie
Cox said.
Equitrans stopped drilling, immediately notified DEP of the spill
and began cleanup work, DEP spokesman John Poister said Thursday.
A DEP inspector came to the drilling site and took water samples
to determine any impact on the water, Poister said. Results are
pending. Inspectors were at the site again Thursday and will
return today to check on the cleanup work and conduct a more
in-depth inspection of the site.
Equitrans was issued a notice of violation, Poster said. Cox said
EQT hadn’t received the notice yet and couldn’t comment on it.
Cox said the work has nothing to do with drilling a gas well. It
is part of the Equitrans Sunrise Project, a 45-mile gas pipeline
extending from southwestern Pennsylvania into northern West
Virginia.
They were engaged in “horizontal directional drilling” to place
pipe under the creek. It’s expensive, but more environmentally
friendly and 99 percent of the time causes no environmental
damage, Cox said.
The drilling mud keeps the hole lubricated and contains the
cuttings as it goes under the creek bed, Cox said.
The mud contains Wyoming bentonite — an absorbent clay used for a
number of purposes, including as a lubricant in drilling mud,
according to various bentonite companies. Because it’s absorbent,
it is used — 1 to 4 tablespoons with plenty of water — as an
alternative medicine in treating gas and constipation and as a
colon cleanser, according to several alternative medicine
websites. It’s also used to clarify wine, Cox said.
The spill was caused by an “inadvertent return,” meaning the mud
bubbled up out of the hole and entered the creek. EQT is uncertain
at this point how it bubbled up. Sometimes, Cox said as an
illustration, it can find natural fissures and migrate on its own.
Because bentonite swells up, a reader who lives in the area of the
spill and has livestock had expressed concern about the cattle
drinking the creek water and suffering harm. Cox said the spill
won’t pose a danger to aquatic life or livestock — so little was
spilled it was highly diluted.
Cox said the spill occurred between noon and 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Cleanup continues, but Equitrans resumed drilling by 10 p.m.
Wednesday.
Garrison Fork does not cross into West Virginia, although Dunkard
Creek weaves back and forth across the border. Poister said
Pennsylvania DEP had not contacted West Virginia DEP about the
spill. West Virginia DEP didn’t know about it until The Dominion
Post called Thursday afternoon to ask if they had heard.
West Virginia DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said the agency would
typically send someone to the area to take a sample if they
received word the spill had migrated across the border.
Gilmore Township Supervisor Chuck Wise said he saw the gray creek
water when he went to the area to talk to employees. He spoke with
an EQT environmental coordinator at the site and learned they had
already begun cleanup and informed DEP. EQT was setting up silt
fence and straw bales to keep the mud from migrating.
Poister said he expects to receive a progress update by this
afternoon.