Category: Accidents

Man Killed in Accident at Hilcorp Well Pad in Lawrence County, PA

An Indiana County, PA man was working at a Hilcorp drill pad in North Beaver Township (Lawrence County), PA, helping to load “large sections of steel pipeline and drilling equipment” onto a truck when the load became unstable and a large pipe fell from the truck and struck/killed the man. Leonard Clair Long, Jr., 60 years old, died at the scene. He worked for Hilcorp subcontractor Ziegenfuss Drilling.
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Accidents, Energy Companies, Hilcorp Energy, Industrywide Issues, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

CNG Trailer Rolls Over in Upstate NY, Closes Interstate

Credit: Fulton County Area News (click for larger version)

A tractor trailer hauling CNG (compressed natural gas) overturned Sunday morning on Interstate 88 near Cobleskill in Schoharie County, closing the Interstate for a few hours. This is one of those “virtual pipelines” we’ve written plenty about (see our stories here).

3/8/19 UPDATE: The driver fell asleep at the wheel causing the crash. See below.
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Accidents, CNG/LNG, Industrywide Issues, New York, Schoharie County

CNX Faulty Utica Well in SWPA Will Cost Company $30M+

CNX was fracking their Shaw 1G Utica well in Washington Township (Westmoreland County) on Saturday, Jan. 26, when they detected “a strong drop in pressure” and stopped fracking (see CNX Hits Major Problem Fracking Utica Well Near SWPA Reservoir). Turns out the well was “communicating” (i.e. losing gas to) several nearby conventional wells.
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Accidents, CNX Gas, Energy Companies, Industrywide Issues, Pennsylvania, Regulation, Westmoreland County

CNX Rogue Utica Well in SWPA Affects 9 Vertical Wells, Maybe More

CNX was fracking their Shaw 1G Utica well in Washington Township on Saturday, Jan. 26, when they detected “a strong drop in pressure” and stopped fracking (see CNX Hits Major Problem Fracking Utica Well Near SWPA Reservoir). Turns out the well was “communicating” (i.e. losing gas to) several nearby conventional wells.
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Accidents, CNX Gas, Energy Companies, Hydraulic Fracturing, Industrywide Issues, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County

MI NatGas Compressor Stn Fire Leads to GM, Ford Plant Closures

Last week a pipeline at a single Michigan compressor station caught fire and exploded (see Michigan NatGas Compressor Station Catches Fire, Explodes). That single compressor (single point of failure, as it turns out) is responsible for pumping natgas to two-thirds of Michigan residents, including all those big automobile assembly plants Michigan is famous for.
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Accidents, Industrywide Issues, Michigan, Pipelines, Statewide MI

Enbridge Trying to Restore 1 Bcf/d on Exploded Tetco in Ohio

A 30-inch segment of Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission Company (Tetco) interstate natural gas pipeline exploded one week ago today, sending two people to the hospital and destroying two nearby homes when fires from the blast spread (see Texas Eastern Pipeline Explodes in Noble County, OH – Injuries). Enbridge is hoping to restore partial service along the line early this week.
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Accidents, Enbridge, Energy Services, Industrywide Issues, Noble County, Ohio, Pipelines, Statewide OH

Texas Eastern Pipe in Ohio Down Indefinitely Following Blast

Credit: Columbus Dispatch

Some 2.31 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Utica Shale natural gas had been flowing through the Berne Compressor Station in Noble County, OH. Some (most?) of that gas goes to the Gulf Coast. That is, did go to the Gulf Coast–until the Texas Eastern Pipeline (Tetco) exploded earlier this week. That 2.31 Bcf/d coming from Berne has dropped to 0 Bcf/d for the indefinite future.
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Accidents, Enbridge, Energy Services, Industrywide Issues, Noble County, Ohio, Pipelines

Texas Eastern Pipeline Explodes in Noble County, OH – Injuries

Fires from Texas Eastern Pipeline explosion (click for larger version, credit: WTRF Channel 7)

A 30-inch segment of Enbridge’s Texas Eastern interstate natural gas pipeline in Noble County, OH exploded yesterday sending two people to the hospital and destroying two nearby homes. The pipeline was built in the early 1950s and was last inspected in 2012.

NOTE: We’ve added a 1/23/19 update below on how this accident has affected gas flows in Ohio.
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Accidents, Enbridge, Energy Services, Industrywide Issues, Noble County, Ohio, Pipelines

Range SWPA Production Takes Hit After MarkWest Plant Explosion

Range Resources issued an updated 2018 (not 2019) capital spending and operational update yesterday to say (a) they spent about $20 million less last year than originally forecast and (b) the company took a hit on production because of an outage at the MarkWest Houston/Harmon Creek processing facilities.
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Accidents, Energy Companies, Energy Services, Industrywide Issues, MarkWest Energy, Pennsylvania, Range Resources Corp, Washington County

Sad Postscript: Man Dies of Injuries from MarkWest SWPA Explosion

As we previously reported, an explosion and fire last week at the MarkWest Energy natural gas processing plant in Chartiers (Washington County), PA sent four people to the hospital–carried there by helicopter (see MarkWest Plant Explosion in Washington Co. Injures 4; 1 Critical). We are profoundly sad to report that the man who was in critical condition has died. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office reported that Jeffery Fisher, 61, of Salem, WV died at 3:38 p.m. Tuesday at UPMC Mercy hospital. Below is an update on the situation, with additional new details.
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Accidents, Energy Services, Industrywide Issues, MarkWest Energy, Pennsylvania, Washington County