Another Explosion on PA Well Pad: Second Accident in Two Days

 
By Jim Hamill

5:18 p.m. EDT, October 7, 2011
For the second time in two days there has been an emergency at a
natural gas drilling site.

Thursday's was in Bradford County. Today there was one in Lycoming
County. State environmental officials said there was an explosion at an Anadarko well pad north of Jersey Shore. Emergency crews responded along Dam Run Road at the Larry's Creek Fishing and Hunting Club a little after noon.

Authorities said a gas production unit, something similar in size to a
backyard shed, exploded. A spokesperson for Anadarko Petroleum said no one was hurt in the explosion and all operations were taken offline.

DEP officials said some gas escaped, but soon after the equipment
safety mechanisms worked. Newswatch 16 was not able to see the site, but the Larry's Creek site has six gas well pads.

According to Anadarko, production at the entire site has been shut down until a complete investigation is done to make sure it is safe. DEP and Anadarko are looking into what caused the explosion and what if any impacts it's had on the environment.

Larrys Creek

Frack Spill in PA (Woodward Township) Accident

Residents near frac truck crash awaiting tests of well water, soil

February 23, 2011 - From staff reports

SWISSDALE - A cluster of residents near the horseshoe curve along Coudersport Pike in Woodward Township are awaiting the results of tests of their well water and soil following the weekend crash of a tank truck hauling frack water from a natural gas well site. The truck was full of frack water when it tipped over on the curve at Berry Lane and plowed through guardrails, spilling its load and injuring the driver, finally identified Tuesday by township police as Richard Hollabaugh, 41, of Morrisdale.

The truck was heading to another well site in Lycoming County and was hauling what officials called filtered frack or flush water about 10:45 p.m. Friday night. Since then, Berry Lane resident Rebecca Dunlap and her family - among the closest to the spill - are not drinking water from their well.

The crash, the second within nine months at the curve involving a gas industry vehicle, was unnerving. Upon hearing the crash, Rebecca said she ran outside to discover the driver, who was trapped in the truck's cab. "I immediately talked to the driver and he was alert. We're thankful he is fine and has been discharged from the hospital," she said.  "I immediately noted water flowing out of the tank," she recalls, so she asked the driver if it was fresh or frack water, and "he said fresh." "I think that maybe his definition of fresh water is different than mine," she said. "I could smell that it was not fresh water."

Emergency crews responded quickly upon receiving calls to the 9-1-1 center. The driver had to be extricated from the cab and was taken to Lock Haven Hospital for treatment, according to township police investigator Miles Houseknecht.

It was early the next morning when the truck was pulled up from the bottom of the embankment and towed away. After being notified, the response by the state Department of Environmental Protection; the owner of the truck, A&A Construction of Clarence; along with officials from Anadarko Petroleum Corp., whose well the truck was serving, also was very quick, she said.  "My husband called the DEP and they responded immediately and identified it as frack water. He said it was 9 percent, but I don't quite understand what the 9 percent referred to," she explained.

The DEP estimates between 3,400 and 3,600 gallons of frack water leaked from the truck. The spill is within about 200 feet of her well, she estimated. "That's concerning. We had our well water tested last year, almost one year to the date, in fact, so that we have a baseline water quality data," she said.  And while her well is on a slight upslope from the spill, she explained, "hopefully, most people understand that geology doesn't have to follow surface contour." 

"I have to say that I contacted Anadarko myself and they immediately called back, insuring they would look into the situation."

Dunlap subsequently arranged for a neighborhood meeting Saturday afternoon, attended by 10 surrounding property owners, three staff members from Anadarko and three from A&A Construction.  Among those attending were Ralph and Cathy Padilla, who live across Route 664. They also are not drinking water from their well for fear of contamination.  Ralph said the truck knocked down power lines, something he noticed upon running to see if the driver was OK. We cleared everyone out of the area after the driver said he was OK but that he was trapped," Ralph said.  Ralph said he also noticed the water leaking from the tank truck.

A&A hired a consultant, GEF, and a respresentative took samples from water wells, then came back and took soil samples, Rebecca said.  "That's where this stands. We're waiting for preliminary analyses from the samples. They'll tell us what they found and we'll go from there," she said. "In the meantime, we're not drinking the water, of course." The family is buying its water for consumption and "Anadarko told us to keep the receipts."

Dunlap said the test results could be available as early as today. The initial report that the truck did not leak water was a "miscommunication," Rebecca surmised.  "We had a huge snow melt Friday and maybe that's why" it was initially unclear to certain emergency responders whether water from the tri-axle truck spilled from its tank, she thought.

This morning, Anadarko issued the following statement, "The safety and well being of these families is our priority, and we are working with the service provider to take action by providing drinking and cooking water, while water sampling is under way. A&A Construction, Inc. has hired independent experts to conduct the sampling on water wells and soil under the supervision of the Pennsylvania DEP."

It was last June 22 when a Florida man driving a tri-axle flatbed truck and hauling a pickup truck crashed through the same guardrail at the horseshoe curve again, right next to Rebecca's home - after coming from a drill site north of Woodward Township. The driver was trapped in the truck for nearly two hours before being freed from the wreckage and taken to a hospital for treatment. That truck was hauling "drill steel" at the time.

LINK  Drilling Concerns
LINK  to article above

Chapman Township (PA) Zoning Board Resigns: Gas Drilling Issues Cited

Boating on the Western Branch Susquehanna River

My hat is off to these three zoning board members in Chapman Township, PA!  Thank you for standing up for the safety of your citizens and the protection of the environment.
Act of defiance

All three Chapman Zoning Hearing Board members resign in protest to water withdrawal

August 27, 2010 - By SCOTT JOHNSON - sjohnson@lockhaven.com

NORTH BEND - In a stunning move Thursday night, all three members of the Chapman Township Zoning Hearing Board resigned minutes before a special hearing to allow a natural gas company to withdraw hundreds of thousands of gallons of water daily from the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

The move left most of the approximately two dozen people at the municipal building speechless, and further drags out the seemingly-endless process by Andarko E&PA Co. LP to acquire a special exception to withdraw up to 720,000 gallons of water daily from the river near Gold Star Mothers Bridge.

They sought, but the zoning hearing board denied, a special exception to the Agricultural-Forest District to allow the water-pumping and hauling operation. The property is owned by Bob Maguire and would be leased by Anadarko. The parties have secured a permit from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to withdraw water at the site, but with limitations. Also, the township planning commission previously recommended the operation be approved, but with limitations.

About 10 minutes after the scheduled 6 p.m. start to the hearing last night, township Solicitor Frank Miceli addressed the crowd, holding three letters in his hand. The letters were, individually, resignations by board members Chairman John P. Rathmell Jr., Alice Tarr and John Drake, and each was turned in about a half-hour before the start of the hearing, leaving officials no chance to have alternates fill their places. Drake had been serving as an alternate for Dennis Trout.

"I've been doing this for 20 years never (have I seen something like this),"

said board Solicitor Stephen Smith after the hearing. The three were ordered by Clinton County President Judge J. Michael Williamson earlier this month to grant Anadarko the special exemption, saying the board's decision to deny the request in May was "arbitrary, capricious (and)... an abuse of discretion and error by law." Instead of going against their wishes - and instead of being held in contempt of court - Rathmell, Tarr and Drake resigned their seats.

Smith said he met the three at Dremel's gas station at 5:30 p.m. and was handed three, sealed envelopes addressed to Miceli. Miceli opened the letters, which turned out to be resignations, mere moments before the scheduled 6 p.m. start, forcing the adjournment due to a lack of a quorum.

Tarr's letter said that, since she was being forced to go against the wishes of herself and the community - and due to the risk of environmental harm - "I can no longer serve and, therefore, resign my position as of 5:30 p.m."

Drake's letter stated,

"After much thought, I cannot morally position our citizens' safety, health and welfare in jeopardy. Therefore, please be advised, as of Aug. 26, 2010, at 5:30 p.m., I am resigning as alternate of the Chapman Township Zoning Hearing Board."

Rathmell's letter gave no reason for his resignation.

"Nobody knew this was going to occur," leaving no time to find alternate members, Miceli said. "I think the only thing we can do is say there can't be a meeting tonight because there's no zoning hearing board members," he said, noting the township supervisors may appoint new members at their next meeting on Sept. 7.

Anadarko spokesperson Mary Wolf commended the board members for their concerns about the safety of the public, saying her firm will enact any measures either the board or the judge will impose to ensure the public's safety and "make the road safer than it is right now." "We will just let the judicial process play out," she said. "That's the beauty of our democratic system, that we have the checks and balances with the judicial branch, with the citizens, the zoning hearing board and the planning commission. It worked. It's just taking a little longer."

After three hearings that spanned three months, the zoning hearing board unanimously denied Anadarko's request in May, saying the water-withdrawal operation will cause a travel hazard on Route 120 and negatively impact the environment and property values. Earlier this month, Judge Williamson reversed that decision and ordered the board to approve the request with several conditions, including:

n No vehicles associated with the site shall be parked along Route 120 or by the Fish and Boat Commission access road from Route 120 to the river.

n The intake pipe shall be marked and flagged at least 50 feet in all directions with appropriate warning signs posted.

n Anadarko remains subject to SRBC regulations regarding river water levels during pumping activity.

n Anadarko will work with the township to request PennDOT install a traffic control device or sign to alert oncoming traffic near the entrance of the site of slow-moving trucks.

n No hauling of water will be scheduled or performed during the Hyner Mountain Challenge, the first weekend of fishing season, the three-day bear season and for a five-day period commencing the Monday after Thanksgiving Day of each year.

n The perimeter of the facility shall be fenced to a high of six feet with a gate regulating access.

n No more than seven vehicles capable of storing or hauling water shall be on the site at any time.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILTY!