Pennsylvania well brought under control after natural-gas explosion
Associated Press
Posted: 06/04/2010 03:30:12 PM EDT
HARRISBURG - Natural gas and polluted drilling water from an out-of-control well shot 75 feet into the air in a remote area of Pennsylvania before crews were able to tame the flow of explosive gas more than half a day later, officials said Friday.
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. She said she could not immediately respond to questions about how the accident happened.
The well never caught fire and no injuries were reported, but state officials had worried the gas might explode before the well could be controlled.
State environmental authorities promised an aggressive investigation of the circumstances surrounding the blowout, which they said shot gas and water 75 feet into the air.
"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 did not elaborate on any environmental damage.
There were no homes within a mile of the well, and polluted drilling water was prevented from reaching a waterway, said
Dan Spadoni, an agency spokesman.
The well is on the grounds of a hunting club in Clearfield County, near Interstate 80 and about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Houston-based EOG was drilling into the Marcellus Shale reserve, a hotly pursued gas formation primarily under Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and Ohio that some geologists believe could become the nation's most productive natural gas field.
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