Posted on 06/05/2010 4:29:16 PM PDT by Qbert
PENFIELD, Pa. – An out-of-control natural gas well in a remote area of Pennsylvania shot explosive gas and polluted water as high as 75 feet into the air before crews were able to tame it more than half a day later, officials said Friday. The gas never caught fire and no injuries were reported, but state officials worried about an explosion before the well could be controlled. The well was brought under control just after noon Friday, about 16 hours after it started spewing gas and brine, said Elizabeth Ivers, a spokeswoman for driller EOG Resources Inc. Pennsylvania, historically an insignificant source of natural gas, is trying to adapt its laws to respond to a furious rush to tap a gas-rich shale formation under its land. The blowout could test the ability of state regulators, who promised an aggressive investigation into the accident. "The event at the well site could have been a catastrophic incident that endangered life and property," Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said in a statement. "This was not a minor accident, but a serious incident that will be fully investigated by this agency with the appropriate and necessary actions taken quickly." If the agency finds that mistakes were made, it will take steps to prevent similar errors from repeating, he said. He said it was too early to tell the extent of any environmental damage.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Let's see, failed blowout preventers, regulators desiring more power, gas spewing from an out of control well for hours...
A coincidence??
Good thing it was on land, huh?
There is no such thing as a coincidence.
Ignorant wenches...Water was polluted 75’ above ground? wow...From what I read, EOG did a good job of getting the well under control. I have been on 5 blowouts, and all of them were completed successfully. The best example is a well that my company owned had been shut in for 3 years. We were forced to plug it, and when we opened it up, gas came to the surface at a rate of 5 million cubic feet a day because that was the residual gas that was left..it lasted 3 whole hours after igniting. The newspapers reported the next day that our company was “capping” a 5 million a day well, implying that we were trying to drive the prices up. All of these reporters should take a freshman Geology course.
Exactly. We’re witnessing sabotages. The coal mine disaster, deepwater oil disaster, now this. 9-11 would’ve been sold to us as an “accident” had not it been so damn obvious to all that we were attacked.
As I understand it, empty suit Bob Casey is planning on proposing a shut-down of fracking .. an operation that releases a lot more NG from permeated shale.
He'd just LOVE this little tidbit.
I tell you what ... the willful ignorance of the public about what we do for a living shocks me.
I just know some basic geology and listen to the experts ma’am.
Boys we got plenty of Haynsville Shale gas need to shut that drilling down in PA and get the price back up the American people are getting soft on these cheap prices. LOL
wow 75 feet?
Debbie Stupidcow is demanding that Canada stop drilling under lake Erie.
Oh, not you, by any means. There are those around here who seem to think (for instance) that BP knows how to cap the well but won’t do it ... or that it’s as easy as stopping your commode from leaking ... GRRRR.
I’m pissed at BP but know they can get the job done if left alone to do it.
There’s no money in dumping oil.
Notice how they fail to tell you HOW they stopped the wild well?
Was it dynamite, relief wells, religious incantations?
HOW WAS THE FRICKIN’ GAS WILD WELL PUT OUT YOU STUPID JOURNALISTIC SWINE?
ANSWER ME!!!!
It’s the Gulf (not golf), Stupid.
Barry’s Problem (BP)...47 Days....and counting..
Xena if you don’t stop fighting with these ignorant twits who know nothing about the oilfield you will get ulcers. They all think that because THEY have never heard of these problems before, there were no problems.
Yes
I just can’t resist! But you’re right. It’s crazy-making.
Good thing it was on land, huh?
Penfield???
Holy cow... I know where that is....
I used to live near there, way back during the late '70s & early '80s.
There's a LOT of good hunting/fishing in that neck of the woods.
I hope the polluted water that gushed out of this well didn't taint the trout streams.
Trout need pristine conditions and can't tolerate crappy water like carp and catfish and other crappy species.
Or it could be (in addition to poor oversight) all the earthquakes in the US unsettling the well equipment.
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