Accidents

Accidents | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

Thinning Pipeline Caused Explosion Near Charleston, WV
December 27, 2012December 27, 2012

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), part of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, has issued a corrective order to Columbia Gas (subsidiary of NiSource) dealing with the pipeline explosion near Sissonville, WV on Dec. 11 (see this MDN story). The PHMSA found that the pipeline section that exploded, which was built in 1967, was getting too thin:

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Accidents | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

PUCO Fines Dominion East Ohio $500K for Pipeline Accident
December 14, 2012December 14, 2012

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has fined Dominion East Ohio $500,000 over a natural gas explosion and fire at a pipeline regulator station in January 2011 in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. The resulting fires severely damaged 11 homes and another 150 homes required repair or maintenance of their gas-powered appliances because of the mishap.

From the PUCO press release:

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Accidents | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

Update on WV Pipeline Explosion Near Charleston
December 13, 2012December 13, 2012

On Tuesday, the 20-inch Columbia Gas Transmission natural gas pipeline exploded near Sissonville, WV—about 10 miles from Charleston (see this MDN story). Yesterday, NiSource, the parent company Columbia Gas, issued this update on the explosion:

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Accidents | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

Columbia NatGas Pipeline Explodes Near Charleston, WV
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

This is big news because it’s so extremely rare: A 20-inch natural gas transmission pipeline—the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Nisource)—exploded near Sissonville, WV, 10 miles north of Charleston. The resulting fire burned for more than an hour and has shut down a portion of nearby Interstate 77 for at least two days.

The explosion happened not far from the Lanham Compressor Station, although there is no indication the compressor station had anything to do with the explosion. An investigation into the explosion is just beginning and there are few known facts. The (rather thin) details as we know them:

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Accidents | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Chesapeake Fined $600K by EPA for Building Road in Swamp
December 4, 2012December 4, 2012

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on a tear. Last week the EPA announced a settlement and fine of $177,500 with PDC Mountaineer for draining a one-acre swamp in West Virginia (see this MDN story). Yesterday the EPA settled another Clean Water Act (CWA) case in the WV Marcellus—this one with Chesapeake Energy.

Chesapeake is getting fined a whopping $600,000 and put on two years probation for building a road through a Wetzel County, WV swamp. Seems like the EPA has a fixation on swamps (which are euphemistically called “wetlands”). Here’s the details for the Chesapeake settlement from the U.S Attorney’s office:

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Accidents | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | PDC Mountaineer | Regulation | West Virginia

EPA Fines PDC Mountaineer for Clean Water Act Violations in WV
November 30, 2012November 30, 2012

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the guise of the Clean Water Act (CWA), is poking it’s unwanted nose into Marcellus Shale gas drilling—again. Yesterday the EPA announced a settlement with PDC Mountaineer for what they say are violations of the CWA at four locations (for two gas wells). The company will pay a fine of $177,500, in addition to paying big bucks to restore problems they created while drilling two wells in Harrison County, West Virginia.

What was PDC’s environmental crime? They drained a one-acre swamp (euphemistically called a “wetland”) without getting permission. Even though PDC has agreed to pay the fine and restore the swamp (if they can), as part of the deal they did not admit to any violations of the CWA.

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Accidents | Atlas Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Atlas Fined Twice for Same Incident – EPA Sticks Nose in PA
October 19, 2012October 19, 2012

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to interfere in oil and gas drilling—an activity specifically regulated by states and not the federal government. Yesterday the EPA slapped Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (owned by Atlas Energy, L.P.) with an $84,500 fine over a fire at a Marcellus drilling site in 2010—after the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) had already investigated and fined Atlas $80,000 for the same incident last year.

This is the first time both a state agency and the EPA have fined a Marcellus driller for the same incident.

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Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research

API Says EPA Botched Pavillion, WY Fracking Tests
October 19, 2012October 19, 2012

The American Petroleum Institute (API) issued a press release yesterday taking the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to task over their sloppy work in Pavillion, Wyoming.

You may recall the EPA is on a quest to try and prove fracking has contaminated water supplies in the Pavillion area with fracking chemicals. Never mind that the drilling and fracking done in Pavillion is shallow at around 1,200 feet down (not the one mile or more that’s common in shale plays). Never mind that the water table in Pavillion is deep at 800 feet (not the 300 feet as is typical in the northeast). Never mind that drilling and fracking was done in porous sandstone in Pavillion (not tightly-packed shale deposits). And never mind the EPA drilled just two test wells, one of which didn’t produce enough water for a valid sample. (See this MDN story for more background on Pavillion.)

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Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

MSC Issues Guidance on Reporting Stray Gas Incidents
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Yesterday the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), an industry-backed trade group based in the Pittsburgh area, published the fourth in a series of “guidance documents.” The latest document is titled Responding to Stray Gas Incidents (embedded below) and addresses the issue of what to do when a driller discovers that methane is already present in soil or water, even before they drill.

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Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Changes Notification Policy on Methane Contamination
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) made a policy change in September that’s just now coming to light—and creating a bit of controversy. In the case of suspected methane contamination of water wells near drilling sites, it was standard policy to let the local field office make a determination as to whether or not water test results show possible methane contamination, and whether or not a letter should go out to landowners in the affected area.

The new policy is that someone in Harrisburg at DEP HQ will make the judgment call on sending letters to landowners.

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Accidents | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Chesapeake Pleads Guilty to Enviro Damage in Wetzel County, WV
October 8, 2012October 8, 2012

Two years ago Chesapeake Energy damaged some streams in Wetzel County, West Virginia. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got involved because it involved violations of the Clean Water Act. Last week Chesapeake agreed to settle the case. Here’s the outcome:

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Accidents | Elk County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

Wastewater Truck Accident in Elk County, PA
October 2, 2012October 2, 2012

Accidents involving the shale drilling industry are so rare, when one happens, it’s news. And so we bring you news of a brine truck (shale drilling wastewater) that was in an accident and flipped over in Ridgway, PA (Elk County). Even though it was a serious accident, no wastewater leaked and no one was seriously injured.

Here’s an account of what happened:

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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | PVR Partners

Emergency Shutdown at Gas Deydration Plant in PA
October 1, 2012October 1, 2012

Around 10:30 am Sunday morning a sound described by one neighbor as “deafening” came from the emergency shutdown of a PVR natural gas dehydration station in Monroe Township, PA (near Wilkes-Barre). What happened?

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Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Fracking Opponents Craig & Julie Sautner Sell, Leave Dimock
September 10, 2012September 28, 2012

Dimock Proud, a group of homeowners in and around Dimock, PA who have banded together to defend their town’s reputation against mainstream media news attacks painting the area as a contaminated wasteland, report that two residents who have been among the most vocal critics against drilling and against Cabot Oil & Gas, Craig and Julie Sautner, have settled their lawsuit with Cabot and have left town.

This is an email MDN received from Dimock Proud on Saturday:

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Accidents | Bradford County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

AP Says PA DEP Sec. Krancer Wrong about Methane in Leroy Twp
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

The Associated Press, true to form, continues to take pot shots at hydraulic fracturing whenever it can. In reporting on methane leakage from drilling in Leroy Township, Pennsylvania (see this MDN story for background), the AP breathlessly reports “the problem still isn’t fixed even though PA DEP Sec. Michael Krancer says it’s fixed, so there!” Not in those exact words, but that’s the sum total of their latest drive-by article on fracking in PA.

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Accidents | Butler County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

PA Residents Weary of Fight with Rex over Water Contamination
August 20, 2012August 20, 2012

MDN reported six months ago about an ongoing case 30 miles north of Pittsburgh in Connoquenessing Township, PA, in a community called the Woodlands. Some residents claim their well water was contaminated after Rex Energy drilled at least 15 natural gas wells in the area (see this MDN story). Water buffalos were installed for 11 families, but after a year and extensive testing, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) said that Rex Energy’s drilling was not the cause and Rex-sponsored water deliveries ended.

A new story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette updates the story with this background:

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