Accidents

Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Now Fixed, 100% Back Online Today
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

Sometime today, the Appalachia-to-Texas Express (ATEX) ethane pipeline will once again be fully operational. On January 26 a section of the pipeline in Brooke County, WV ruptured and caught fire (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV). The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is investigating but so far they don’t have a final determination. When that section of the pipeline went offline, two of four processing facilities that feed ethane to the line we bumped off. Starting today, all four processing plants will once again be flowing ethane through the ATEX…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

More on that Range Rig Fire in Washington County, PA
February 6, 2015February 6, 2015

Range Resources dodged a bullet with the fire at a well pad in North Strabane (Washington County, PA) on Wednesday. We now know that a hydraulic line leaked oil and that’s what started the fire. Personnel on site tried to extinguish it but enough oil spread on the rubber well pad liner that the liner itself caught fire–essentially like a huge tire burning. Which is what caused the billowing black smoke in the area. The fire spread and consumed the rig, destroying it, and a couple of trailers parked at the site. Range was in the beginning stages of drilling the well. The bullet they dodged is that no one was injured. Equipment can be replaced–people can’t…
Read More “More on that Range Rig Fire in Washington County, PA”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Fire at Range Resources Well Pad in Washington County, PA
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Photo Credit: NewsChopper 2/KDKA

A “large fire” broke out at a Range Resources well pad in Washington County, PA last night. Fortunately no one was injured. The fire was caused by “equipment failure” according to Range. The fire did not at any time involve the well itself. It was a fire in the machinery on the well pad. The details as we know them…
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Accidents | Industrywide Issues

List of Accidents Related Marcellus/Utica Shale Drilling 2010-2015
February 2, 2015February 2, 2015

The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register ran a couple of articles on accidents in the Marcellus/Utica yesterday. One of the articles chronicled a list of 21 incidents that have happened in the Ohio River Valley over the past 4-5 years, since shale drilling has heated up. That got us to wondering–how big a problem are accidents in the Marcellus/Utica region? We condensed The Intelligencer’s list and trolled through the considerable MDN archives (see our Accidents category) to produce a list of accidents since early 2010. Most of the accidents did not involve injuries–but some of them did. More accidents than we’d like to admit resulted in deaths. We must never forget this is a dangerous industrial activity and we must always be on guard to make it safer. We have nothing to hide and reflecting on what’s happened in the past is a good thing…
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Accidents | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Marcellus/Utica – More Dangerous than Other Shale Plays?
February 2, 2015February 2, 2015

The recent ATEX Express pipeline explosion/fire in Brooke County, WV has folks asking questions (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV). It’s not the first accident in Brooke County. In 2013 Chesapeake Energy had a hydraulic line fail at an active drilling site that ended up torching five tractor-trailers and did $8 million in damage (see Update on Chesapeake Energy Well Fire in Brooke County, WV). Over the past 4 to 5 years, since there’s been active drilling in the Marcellus/Utica, there have been 21 serious accidents/incidents in the Ohio Valley alone (and a number of others outside the Ohio Valley, see our companion article today) related to either drilling or pipelines. By comparison, there have been a handful of accidents and incidents in the North Dakota Bakken–and only one pipeline incident to speak of. Is it a fair comparison to make–safety in the Bakken vs. the Marcellus/Utica?…
Read More “Marcellus/Utica – More Dangerous than Other Shale Plays?”
Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

PHMSA Update on ATEX Pipeline Explosion in WV – Faulty Weld?
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

It’s been five days since a section of the Appalachia to Texas (ATEX) Express ethane pipeline ruptured/exploded and burned in Brooke County, WV (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns near Follansbee, WV). Since the pipeline is under the regulatory oversight of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), that organization is doing the investigation into the accident. The rupture and resulting fire burned approximately 24,000 barrels of ethane and scorched some 5 acres of woodland. What has the PHMSA learned so far? Not much. They have some theories, according to an initial report. It appears that the 20-inch pipeline ruptured near a section that had been welded together…
Read More “PHMSA Update on ATEX Pipeline Explosion in WV – Faulty Weld?”
Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

Enterprise Releases 2014 Results – Remains Mum on ATEX Explosion
January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

Enterprise Products Partners, a huge $41 billion midstream company with 51,000 miles of pipelines, and the company that built the Appalachia to Texas (ATEX) Express pipeline, released their 2014 results today. In the update is no mention of the explosion and fire along the ATEX in Brooke County, WV that happened on Monday (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV). We’ve looked, and haven’t found a peep about what caused the explosion. The agency charged with investigating the pipeline rupture is the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)…
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Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV
January 27, 2015January 27, 2015

Yesterday morning a section of the 20-inch ATEX (Appalachia to Texas) ethane pipeline ruptured and caught fire in Follansbee (Brooke County), WV. No one was injured but two families living nearby were evacuated as a precaution. The first calls of an explosion and fire came around 10:40 am yesterday. The cause of the rupture is not yet known…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Triad Hunter

ODNR Still Investigating Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Ohio
January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

On December 13, 2014, Triad Hunter’s Stalder 3UH well in Monroe County, OH experienced a blowout (see Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH – No One Injured). Some 50 residents in 28 homes were displaced–too dangerous to be close to a well venting methane that might explode if an ignition source is close by. Those residents were out of their homes for 10 days but finally returned on Dec. 23 (see Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Ohio Fixed, Residents Go Home). It’s now been five weeks since the blowout. What do we know about the cause? According to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, the “accident” that caused the plugged well to start flowing uncontrollably is still not known…
Read More “ODNR Still Investigating Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Ohio”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Warren Resources | Wyoming County (PA)

Small Explosion/Fire at P&G Well Pad in NEPA, No Injuries/Damage
January 8, 2015January 8, 2015

Not much to report on this, thankfully. MDN has told you in the past one of the most under-appreciated stories we know of is that the only Proctor & Gamble manufacturing plant out of their 150 plants worldwide that is 100% energy self-sufficient is a plant in Wyoming County, PA–near Wilkes-Barre in northeast Pennsylvania (see P&G’s Only Energy Self-Sufficient Plant is Powered by Marcellus). The plant uses Marcellus Shale gas from wells drilled on plant property to power an electric generator that supplies all of the electricity the plant needs–with some left over to sell to the local utility grid. How cool is that? The company, using Warren Resources, continues to drill more wells on the property. One of those operations, as it was nearing completion, accidentally vented a small amount of natural gas that ignited and caused a small explosion yesterday…
Read More “Small Explosion/Fire at P&G Well Pad in NEPA, No Injuries/Damage”
Accidents | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Washington County | Williams

Explosion, Fire at Meter Station Along Williams Ethane Pipeline in SWPA
December 31, 2014December 31, 2014

A meter station along the Williams Ohio Valley Ethane pipeline reportedly exploded and caught fire in in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA–about four miles from Houston, PA–on Christmas Eve. The fire has caused the shut-down of the ethane pipeline that runs some 50 miles from Marshall County, WV to an ethane hub in Houston…
Read More “Explosion, Fire at Meter Station Along Williams Ethane Pipeline in SWPA”
Accidents | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Triad Hunter

Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Ohio Fixed, Residents Go Home
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

On Monday we noted that it had been 10 days since a well blowout at a Triad Hunter Utica Shale well pad in Monroe County, OH with some 50 area residents still displaced from their homes (see Residents Near Leaking Triad Hunter Well in OH Still Displaced). Good news: residents near the well pad will be home for Christmas. Magnum Hunter (parent of Triad Hunter) reports as of yesterday Wild Well Control has successfully replaced the well head and temporarily capped the well. Residents are now home, just in time for the holidays. We sense a new Hallmark Christmas movie coming…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Vantage Energy

Vantage Energy Fined $1M for Multiple Errors at Greene County Site
December 23, 2014December 23, 2014

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection has just slapped Vantage Energy with a $1 million fine for “more than a dozen violations of environmental regulations stemming from a landslide and illegal waste disposal at their Porter Street well pad in Franklin Township, Greene County, earlier this year.” The landslide at the well pad covered over portions of two nearby creeks. Then, to add insult to injury, about six months later two truckloads of frack wastewater got dumped on the landslide area being repaired. The wastewater ended up in the streams. But wait, there’s more! Vantage constructed a new access road next to the streams adversely affected–but Vantage didn’t have a permit to construct the road. Oy vey! Did they do anything right? According to the DEP, Vantage, “to its credit,” is making improvements in their procedures to prevent a future comedy of errors…
Read More “Vantage Energy Fined $1M for Multiple Errors at Greene County Site”
Accidents | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Triad Hunter

Residents Near Leaking Triad Hunter Well in OH Still Displaced
December 22, 2014December 22, 2014

It’s now 10 days since Triad Hunter, a division of Magnum Hunter, lost control of a Utica Shale gas well in Monroe County, OH (see Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH – No One Injured). The problem is, for the 28 homes (50 or so people) who live nearby, they are still displaced–evacuated from their homes. They’ve been allowed back for a few hours at a time, periodically. But the wellhead needs to be replaced and until that’s done, it’s not safe for them to return full-time. Triad Hunter is hoping that Wild Well Control will have the wellhead replaced so that residents can return home tomorrow–December 23rd–and spend Christmas at home instead of at the friends, family and hotel rooms they’re staying in now…
Read More “Residents Near Leaking Triad Hunter Well in OH Still Displaced”
Accidents | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Regulation | Triad Hunter

ODNR Weighs in on Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Yesterday MDN brought you news that Triad Hunter had a well blowout in Monroe County, OH at their Stalder 3UH well (see Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH – No One Injured). We have a brief update from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources on that incident…
Read More “ODNR Weighs in on Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH”
Accidents | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Triad Hunter | Utica Shale

Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH – No One Injured
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

On Saturday, Triad Hunter, wholly-owned drilling subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, lost control of a Utica Shale well in Monroe County, OH. The well had been drilled and temporarily plugged as the company planned to drill three more wells at the pad. However, “the well began to flow uncontrollably while recommencing production operations” according to a statement released by Magnum Hunter. Well pad personnel along with 28 homes located within a mile and a half were evacuated. Wild Well Control of Houston has been contacted and (presumably) now on site to contain the well. No injuries have been reported…
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