Posted on 09/23/2009 6:51:48 AM PDT by Born Conservative
A frac fluid that leaked an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 gallons from a pipe into a stream at a natural gas drilling site resulted in a fish kill last week.
A fluid material, described as "frac gel," at a Cabot Oil and Gas Co. well site on the Heitsman property off Troy Road in Dimock Township leaked from a pipe and entered Stevens Creek and a nearby wetlands area Sept. 16.
According to Mark Carmon, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, the pipe leaked twice on Wednesday.
DEP is currently investigating a third spill of the same material that occurred Tuesday morning at the same site, according DEP Oil and Gas Division spokesman Dan Spadoni. The first leak, holding the equivalent of around 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of material, was followed by a second spill of approximately 6,000 gallons.
Spadoni said the spill Tuesday was probably in the hundreds of gallons, not the thousands.
Cabot spokesman Ken Komoroski said the spill - which contained a gel - was, however, comprised of 99.5 percent fresh water.
DEP's environmental cleanup team and representatives from the oil and gas division were on site Thursday and Friday and have reviewed material safety data sheets, Carmon said.
He added that although the sheets were "relatively vague, they pointed us to look at volatile organic materials."
The company recovered as much of the material as physically possible, said Carmon, who also noted that much of it went into Stevens Creek and the wetlands.
"A lot of the material was recovered but we don't know how much is in the wetlands or downstream," said Carmon.
He said DEP has asked Cabot to perform a full site characterization to see what kind of impact there is on the area.
Water samples were taken upstream and downstream from the spill. Testing was conducted this past weekend.
As of Tuesday, DEP's oil and gas division was reviewing the test results. There will be post-remediation samples taken to make sure nothing harmful remains, according to Komoroski, and Cabot was waiting for sample results Tuesday.
Komoroski said site remediation had been completed by Tuesday and work at the site has resumed.
"Due to the dilute circumstances, we don't expect to find anything," said Komoroski.
Spadoni said there have been no unexpected problems in regards to the spill cleanup.
According to Bryan Bendock, waterways conservation officer for the state Fish and Boat Commission, no large fish, like trout, were killed but dozens of minnows and tadpoles were affected.
Bendock is also waiting on the DEP results to see if there are any potential long-lasting effects from the spill. He said a penalty will be assessed by the Fish and Boat Commission.
Several sub-contracting companies were also working at the site at the time of the fluid leak. But according to Carmon, Cabot is currently being held responsible for the spill because it is their permitted well site.
That’s one county over from me, about a half hour away. They are absolutely fuming over this, on alot of levels.
I live in Columbia County, and there have been property owners in the northern part of the county who have sold gas rights, but I don’t think there has been any drilling yet, as we are the the southernmost area of the Marcellus Shale.
HOLY COW BATMAN! DOZENS OF MINNOWS AND SOME TADPOLES ! ! !
Interestingly, the author chose not to say "Leak at drilling site causes minnow and tadpole kill in Dimock Twp."
That, of course, would sound just as stupid as it actually is.
From what I understand, people are moreso PO’ed about the contamination of their drinking water (a good percentage of that rural area use well water) and the sulfur smell.
Indeed, and they made quite a bit on it. I work with three guys who sold drilling rights, although two now regret it.
I had to REALLY dig to find this paragraph. DOZENS of minnows? The words "fish kill" conjures up images of hundred or thousands of dead fish floating on the surface of all shapes, sizes and varieties. Amazing how language can be used to deceive.
I noticed that too, as well as the frac gel being 99.5% fresh water.
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