Contractor Fined $13,550 for WV Well Pad Violations/Death in 2014
We don’t normally miss news like an accident at a well pad in the Marcellus that kills someone–but we did this time. At the end of November 2014, Ryan Dunn, a contract worker employed by Precision Drilling, was working at an Antero Resources well pad in Tyler County, WV when he was struck and run over by a front-end loader used to move pipe at the site. Dunn was pronounced dead at the scene. A true tragedy. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) investigated and found a number of problems at the site. OSHA has completed their investigation and is assessing a total of $13,550 in penalties against Precision Drilling. We’ve not spotted anything about lawsuits or about fines by the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection. Here’s what we’re able to locate on the accident and resulting fine by OSHA…
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In February 2014 there was an explosion and fire at a Chevron well pad that eventually spread from one Marcellus well to a second well on the same well pad in Greene County, PA (see 
Traffic along an extended stretch of two Ohio highways in Columbiana County, OH was closed for nearly five hours on April 23 because a drilling rig that was moved leaked “a mineral-based synthetic, a non-hazardous drilling oil compound” for 27 miles as it was moved. Ouch. Somebody’s head will roll. The rig was being moved by a contractor for Chesapeake Energy. You might think somebody would notice something leaking over the course of 27 bloody miles! But apparently not. Fortunately the fluid/oil was not toxic or dangerous in any way, other than perhaps slipping on it…
Yesterday MDN alerted you to the coming buzz saw of media lies about a new study that reportedly shows three Pennsylvania water wells that may have been contaminated by nearby fracking operations (see 
Apparently torrential rains in Marshall County, WV last week softened up the earth and led to soil shifting and two Williams pipelines rupturing–within hours of each other. One of the pipelines is a 12-inch gathering line that runs from wells in the area to the nearby Fort Beeler processing plant. The other pipeline is a 4-inch condensate pipeline. Condensate spilled out of a hole and into the nearby Little Grave Creek. Cleanup efforts are ongoing. For a short time, five families who live near the 12-inch gathering line were evacuated as a precautionary measure–but they returned home within a few hours…
It’s always a sad day when we report a death related to the Marcellus/Utica industry. Thankfully it doesn’t happen often, but the fact it happens at all is almost too much to bear. We know it’s not realistic to expect no fatalities, but still… On Monday afternoon around 2:30 pm a worker at the former Marcus Hook refinery–which is being converted into a natural gas liquids terminal–was killed after a pylon fell on him. The worker’s name has not yet been released, but it is reported he was in his 50s and from New Jersey and worked for engineering firm AECOM, a contractor working at the site. In a profoundly inappropriate manner, a member of the anti-drilling group Protecting Our Waters jumped on the death as an opportunity to push her anti-drilling message…
Local media in West Virginia is reporting that early Tuesday afternoon a Gastar Exploration worker was injured in an accident at a brine injection well (owned by Gastar) in New Martinsville (Wetzel County), WV. The only thing we know is that the man’s leg was injured. We don’t know his condition or, frankly, many other details. Here’s what we’ve been able to find out so far…