Fracking Spill In Pennsylvania Prompts Chesapeake Energy To Suspend Gas Drilling Across State

CANTON, Pa. -- A natural gas company has suspended "fracking" at all of its wells throughout Pennsylvania until it figures out the cause of a spill in the northern part of the state.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Thursday that crews have significantly reduced the flow of chemical-laced water from its out-of-control well near Canton in Bradford County.

Spokesman Brian Grove says that the exact cause of Tuesday night's breach is unknown, but that it's located in a wellhead connection.

Thousands of gallons of drilling fluids were spilled. They escaped containment, crossed over farm fields and went into a stream.

Grove says initial testing of area waterways has shown "minimal impact, if any."

Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing and involves injecting chemicals into the ground to release natural gas.

Comments

[Kassandra]

10:01 AM on 04/24/2011

This technology is almost as stup!d as nuclear.
Trailer Talk's Frack Talk: New York Attorney General Threatens to Sue Feds If They Don't Study Impact of Fracking
"We can't afford to get this wrong even once." Delaware River Basin residents talk about their fracking concerns.
Nor could we afford to nuclear wrong, but we have:
You won't hear this on any mainstream news!!! (Nuclear Fallout)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMXvpWoHzeE&feature=share

[jdjason]

02:40 PM on 04/23/2011

Hi folks, I am just trying to get more educated on this whole process. Does anyone know the average life of a well and how productive they generally are? And once the wells are dry, do they seal them somehow or they just leave the pipe in there with all that fractured area around it?

[Kassandra]

10:02 AM on 04/24/2011

Oh, I bet you can extrapolate from previous actions what will happen.
How many corporate Superfund sites have we cleaned up?

[Robin Brenizer]

01:20 PM on 04/23/2011

Check this out...Cheney poisons our water....One man so much damage to the U.S.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/cheney-poison-water

[Malcolm Hensley]

02:43 PM on 04/23/2011

Oh yea, they don't have any political bias. Try quoting a scientific paper that's survived peer review.

Fictional propaganda does more hard to the environmental movement than the Tea Party!

[Robin Brenizer]

02:55 PM on 04/23/2011

I'll make sure I do that. In the meantime, why is it that many of my fellow Coloradans can light their water on fire? OUT OF THEIR TAP????

[TheIndependenceParty]

09:23 PM on 04/24/2011

Or "harm", ... perhaps ios what you meant!

The blowout in Bradford County is a deiversions, of course. The spill was local, ... and did not involve water treatment and release into streams or rivers. This was a direct spill of fracking fluind onto the landscape and adjoing waterways.

The PA DEP now claims the future will be better, ... but to assure Pensylvanians, and the folks downstream in many states that we are not allowing drillers to pour their filth into rivers is a ruse, ... a red herring.

Gas Drillers in PA and around the country, have been, in will soon be again, ... pouring chemicals, unknown, and known, ... at very high pressure down deep wells in hopes those holes will belch up natural gas. Some may have limited usability, ... containing radioactive gas that makes it unsuitable for domestic use. Some of the wells may release excess volume of gass that will cause blowouts like we have seen at various sites in the country, ... and fracking fluid release when the well "vomits" up the very fluid that was pumped dow to release the gas. Ooops!

Our Governor and the DEP are continuing the same old fraudulent practices.

First! Tax the industry to assure there are fiscal resources to make Pennsylvanians whole in a disaster like Bradford County.

Second! Get out of bed with the industry, and show us proof our water is not at risk in Pennsylvania, ... and we are not poisining our neighbors.

[Robin Brenizer]

01:19 PM on 04/23/2011

Oh and by the way, we have just gutted the EPA by cutting 1.6 billion from it's budget. But it doesn't matter. Fracking is EXEMPT from regulation thanks to Dick Cheney - literally. It was exempted from the Clean Air and Water Act. Haliburton created the process in the 1940s.

[DorianCorso]

06:28 PM on 04/22/2011

Mr. PA GasDriller finally provided a working link to this. It is a bit short of 650 to 750 chemicals typically used in proprietary fracking fluid ,but it is something .

* stewpid character limit.

[DorianCorso]

06:28 PM on 04/22/2011

Chemicals Used by Hydraulic Fracturing Companies in Pennsylvania
For Surface and Hydraulic Fracturing Activities
Prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Oil and Gas Management
Compiled from Material Safety Data Sheets obtained from Industry
1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene Glycol Ethers (includes 2BE)
1,3,5 Trimethylbenzene Guar gum
2,2-Dibromo-3-Nitrilopropionamide Hemicellulase Enzyme
2.2-Dibromo-3-Nitrilopropionamide Hydrochloric Acid
2-butoxyethanol Hydrotreated light distillate
2-Ethylhexanol Hydrotreated Light Distilled
2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one Iron Oxide
5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazotin-3-one Isopropanol
Acetic Acid Isopropyl Alcohol
Acetic Anhydride Kerosine
Acie Pensurf Magnesium Nitrate
Alchohol Ethoxylated Mesh Sand (Crystalline Silica)
Alphatic Acid Methanol
Alphatic Alcohol Polyglycol Ether Mineral Spirits
Aluminum Oxide Monoethanolamine
Ammonia Bifluoride Naphthalene
Ammonia Bisulfite Nitrilotriacetamide
Ammonium chloride Oil Mist
Ammonium Salt Petroleum Distallate Blend
Ammonia Persulfate Petroleum Distillates
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Petroleum Naphtha
Aromatic Ketones Polyethoxylated Alkanol (1)
Boric Acid Polyethoxylated Alkanol (2)
Boric Oxide Polyethylene Glycol Mixture
Butan-1-01 Polysaccharide
Citric Acid Potassium Carbonate
Crystalline Silica: Cristobalite Potassium Chloride
Crystalline Silica: Quartz Potassium Hydroxide
Dazomet Prop-2-yn-1-01
Diatomaceus Earth Propan-2-01
Diesel (use discontinued) Propargyl Alcohol
Diethylbenzene Propylene
Doclecylbenzene Sulfonic Acid Sodium Ash
E B Butyl Cellosolve Sodium Bicarbonate
Ethane-1,2-diol Sodium Chloride
Ethoxlated Alcohol Sodium Hydroxide
Ethoxylated Alcohol Sucrose
Ethoxylated Octylphenol Tetramethylammonium Chloride
Ethylbenzene Titaniaum Oxide
Ethylene Glycol Toluene
Ethylhexanol Xylene
Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate
Formaldehyde
Glutaraldehyde

[DorianCorso]

06:31 PM on 04/22/2011

I'm sure everyone wants this in their drinking water.

[PAGasDriller]

06:55 PM on 04/22/2011

http://bit.ly/gSna5

Industry provided, so I'm sure you'll just dismiss it, but this gives a bit of perspective into the constituents the one half of one percent of fracking fluid that is comprised of chemicals.

[PAGasDriller]

06:52 PM on 04/22/2011

On any one well, of the many chemicals that HAVE been used, only about a dozen or so are employed at any one time. Several of them are completely benign (like hydrochloric acid, which is dumped by the gallon into millions of public swimming pools every day to control pH).

[aligatorhardt]

07:27 PM on 04/22/2011

Fish cannot stand sudden changes in pH. Any animals coming in contact with concentrated amounts of any of the chemicals would be killed. The heavy metals remain on the river bed, poisoning eggs and bottom dwellers. The toxic chemicals poison all animal life in the river. It is never acceptable to dump hazardous compounds in waterways. If I dumped diesel in your well I would be found guilty of attempted murder. This chemical assault is mass murder.

[LeaderofMen]

09:57 AM on 04/22/2011

Grove says initial testing of area waterways has shown "minimal impact, if any."

Uh, spokesmen are PAID to lie.

[ttp 001]

09:44 AM on 04/22/2011

CSI last night (Thursday) was about fracking and its devastating effects on water, animals, people, communities, and lives. I'm pleased that this criminal process is getting media attention. The EPA says they're on the front lines of this issue, but I'm guessing they're talking about being in the front of the payoff line.

http://www.frackinginsider.com/regulatory/senators-hold-hearing-on-fracking-surprising-epa-answers/

[PAGasDriller]

11:08 AM on 04/22/2011

ROFL @ people getting their info from GASLAND and CSI.

[DorianCorso]

05:23 PM on 04/22/2011

What is in the fracking fluid ?

C'mon Mr Expert , why can't any of you paid shills answer this simple question?

[DorianCorso]

05:49 PM on 04/22/2011

Do you know what an MSDS is ?

Do you know that typically the law requires disclosure about chemicals used in and around a worksite ?

Can you explain why fracking is exempt ?

Hello ? Still waiting on answers here , Mr. fracking expert.

[OkieMon]

08:25 AM on 04/22/2011

this is a complete fubar....because states have no money they have no way to even inspect these companies to keep them honest...PA's new republican administration isn't even given fines anymore and a corporate republican natural gas man was appointed to oversee all this.....all this was put on the states when bush/chainy exempted all this from the fed safe drinking water act in 05 and this fracking technology just took off completely unregulated....wonder why....

[PAGasDriller]

11:12 AM on 04/22/2011

Actually, the PA DEP has increased fees on well permits and is funding its oil and gas department quite nicely. Over the last year and a half, the PA DEP went on a hiring spree, going from 88 inspectors to well over 200. There is almost a one inspector per rig ratio here in PA.

To say that the new DEP is not giving fines anymore is also B.S. They merely said that any proposed fines need to get approval from the higher ups TEMPORARILY because the different regional offices of the DEP were not applying violations and fines to the same standard so they're trying to get them all on the same page.

And this was not "all put" on the states because of the safe water drinking act. It's ALWAYS been on the states.

[koffi]

11:22 AM on 04/22/2011

Regardless, the drillers are still not required to say what is in the toxic stew they inject. Who needs clean, drinkable water anyway? There is $ to be made here, so I guess we should all just be quiet and get out of the way?

[OkieMon]

02:59 PM on 04/22/2011

volumes and hence everything else increased 100-200 fold since this practice was exempted in 05....so what did that do to the entire system?

[Arjala]

08:11 AM on 04/22/2011

The fracking process causes radioactivity and the chemicals and water cannot be purified.

The frack chemicals are being dispersed in rivers and streams.

The ponding around the wells are left to blow away in the wind.

[batmanindy]

09:01 AM on 04/22/2011

100% wrong arjala. I work in the gas field and your blathering could not be more incorrect.

[Gail Zawacki]

09:35 AM on 04/22/2011

Well, I guess since you're getting paid by the gas company that explains your perspective!

[aligatorhardt]

07:35 PM on 04/22/2011

Look at the picture on the article. Do you see a containment berm? Have you not read that fracking fluids are being dumped in waterways?

[PAGasDriller]

11:13 AM on 04/22/2011

The water can most certainly be purified, it just can't be completely purified by your standard municipal water treatment facility, which by the way the PA DEP just issued a statement saying it wants all Marcellus drillers to stop taking water to such facilities within 30 days, so that will soon be a non-issue.

[aligatorhardt]

07:37 PM on 04/22/2011

What kind of people poison water supplies to start with? It has been illegal for many years to dump toxins in waterways.

[nebbluedot]

12:14 PM on 04/23/2011

Oh, that solves it.... Yeah, right.

[Longtimeliberal]

06:30 AM on 04/22/2011

Why aren't the media talking about what else is going on with energy that is positive. Right now Conneticut is building and installing hydrogen systems to petrol cars that reduce the cost of gas by 1/2. These systems can be ordered for $300 if you install them. Hydrogen breakthroughs have been made all over the place and in the UK especially. We have Joule Energy that will be in production next year with bio-engeneered diesel for $30.00 a barrell. Bloom energy is big in California. If we put a little push to the future we would not need oil in just a few years. Why keep polluting our planet, air water earth when we are almost there and this time it won't be stopped as the world is in competition.

[trubador1]

08:16 AM on 04/22/2011

Could you post links to the hydrogen and other info?

[batmanindy]

09:02 AM on 04/22/2011

Yes longtime... where can we go in Connecticut to get the $300 hydrogen booster?

[tresluv]

05:36 AM on 04/22/2011

Just watch the documentary.

http://gaslandthemovie.com/

[vietveter]

06:54 AM on 04/22/2011

Good lord!

I just watched the snippets on the website; http://gaslandthemovie.com/
And it was frightening and infuriating. I am not surprised, just pizzed off.

That (mistaken) 2005 law can be thrown in the dead pile

IF OBAMA HAD A PAIR.

Poisoning Americans for profit is not what America should be all about
For everyone’s sake – call your congressman and senator to task

[batmanindy]

09:03 AM on 04/22/2011

So blown out of proportion -- the Dimock, PA peoples wells were full of gas before Cabot drilled well one. You people are fools -- just a propaganda-filled movie.

[vietveter]

04:54 AM on 04/22/2011

Why is it legal to inject poison into the earth?

I am not a hard core bunny hugger but this sounds wrong in so many ways. What would be wrong with injecting fresh water into the ground? Isn’t pressure – pressure. Isn’t one (uncompressible) liquid just as good as another?

Why inject a poison that will eventually get into the drinking water?

This is the worst idea I have ever heard of in my 65 years on the planet.

STOP THIS STUPIDITY - please

[UncleSquinky]

05:33 AM on 04/22/2011

It's legal because Cheney and Bush II put an exemption to the Clean Water Act for fracking fluid into their energy bill, the rationale being that the fluid is "removed" after wards -- even though at most only 80% of such fluid is ever removed after fracking -- so it is not permanently put into the ground.

I'm am not saying this is a good reason; this is just the legality behind it. Seems like a legal case can be made that since all of the fluid is not being removed, that this exemption is bogus. Furthermore, since people's water wells are being poisoned, this seems like attempted murder. And attempted murder is still against the law.

[vietveter]

06:34 AM on 04/22/2011

Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.

If, as you say 20% or so of the poison remains that sounds like sufficient cause for action by the responsible authority

O M G !!! how stupid of me

There are no competent, responsible authorities; this is America 2011 and hard in the jaws of the FASCISTS.

[Longtimeliberal]

06:34 AM on 04/22/2011

There are all kinds of chemicals in fracking and Penn is the worst for regulation. There are even some companies injecting diesel which is illegal. On top of that when fracking other chemicals that are carcinogens are released from the shale. Penn then sends this water to local plants that can't clean the fluids and it goes back to our water. The other option is they just dump it thus also getting to our water. More responsible states are more stringent in containment but who can watch these guys 24/7?

[tokyomary]

04:37 AM on 04/22/2011

We're so sorry, we won't do it again until next time, and next time, and the time after that - until there is no more ecology to regulate for. Their children's children will suffer horribly, but that doesn't matter - they have their big payday now.

[roderickjanes]

02:43 AM on 04/22/2011

Frack you, and frack her, too.

[Blackorpheus]

02:30 AM on 04/22/2011

Frack fracking.