OH Injection Well Operator has Until Today to File Remediation Plan
We’ve been following the story of water contamination in close proximity to five injection wells owned by Kleese Development Associates (KDA) of Warren, OH. The wells were shut down when water contamination was found in a local wetland (swamp) and a nearby pond. But after investigating, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) found that the injection wells were not the source of chemical contamination, but rather a salvage yard was at fault (see Trumbull Injection Wells NOT the Source of Wetland Contamination). The salvage yard is also owned by KDA, so the company is certainly not off the hook. The last word we had was that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Ohio Attorney General’s office executed search warrants for KDA looking for evidence of “environmental crimes” (see Youngstown Injection Wells Previously Shut Down Resume Operation). Meanwhile, the injection wells were reportedly restarted after correcting an issue found by the ODNR when they were there investigating. The new news is that Ohio EPA (not the feds, but Ohio) says KDA has until today to file a remediation plan to clean up a local creek affected by the so-far still undetermined source of a chemical spill coming from the salvage yard…
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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…