Questions remain in gas well accident

Published: January 29, 2010

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By C.J. Marshall

TUSCARORA TWP. - An accident Thursday at the Mowry natural gas well on Clapper Hill Road sent three people to the hospital and sparked an investigation into how the incident occurred.

Although scanner reports from Wyoming County Communications termed the accident an "explosion," Brian Grove, a representative from Chesapeake Energy Corp., which owns and operates the well site, insisted that no explosion occurred during the situation. Instead, Grove explained, what occurred was a "forceful uplift in tubing," which launched sections of tubing from the well bore into the derrick.

Two employees of a contract company at the scene were transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment of non-critical injuries, according to the press release. They were later released after treatment. A third contractor, who also suffered non-critical injuries, was later taken the hospital for treatment as well, and remains hospitalized as of 6 p.m. Thursday.

In a press release issued by Chesapeake Energy, the accident occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m., and was caused by equipment failure that occurred during completion work on the well.

According to information provided by Grove: "Tubing is in the completion and production phases, not drilling. During completion, tubing (which is a small diameter steel pipe) is used to lower and raise equipment in and out of the well to clean it out before bringing the well into production. In the production process, tubing is used to transport gas from the bottom of the well to the surface. This incident occurred during the clean up phase of completion."

In an interview, Grove explained that the cause of the mechanical equipment failure is unknown at this time, and is currently being investigated. He said Chesapeake will provide information on what caused the equipment failure when the investigation is concluded. However, Grove was unable to say precisely when that will occur.

Grove reported it was pressure from within the well - which occurs because of the natural gas - that caused sections of the tubing to uplift from the well bore when the equipment failed. He said that the tubing released were contained within the derrick.

Grove said that no explosion occurred during the accident, no fire broke out at the site, no chemicals were released, and the surrounding community was in no danger during the incident.

Bradford County Emergency Management Director Jim Vajda, who was at the scene following the accident, concurred with Grove's contention that no explosion occurred at the site during the accident. Vajda described the incident as a "blow back because of gas pressure" due to equipment malfunction. Vajda said that the two workers initially sent to the hospital were working on a service rig, and jumped down when the accident occurred. The third worker, Vajda explained, was running to turn a value during the incident, and slipped on the ice and wrenched his knee.

"I have no idea what caused it," Vajda said about the accident. "It's one of the hazards of the trade."

Asked if there was an explosion, Vajda said: "Definitely not. There was no release of any chemical of any kind. There was no fire."

In addition, Vajda was also asked if there was a risk to the community from the incident, to which he replied: "None whatsoever."

Vajda also said he contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, although nothing occurred during the accident to require it, and also contacted the state fire inspector, although no fire broke out.

The initial emergency responder at the scene was the Laceyville Fire Department, with Laceyville Fire Chief Scott Fisher conducting an investigation. Fisher informed The Daily Review on Thursday that he cannot provide information about the accident until the investigation is complete. The Review left a message at Fisher's residence but he had not returned the call as of 9 p.m. Thursday.

C.J. Marshall can be reached at (570) 265-1630; e-mail: cjmarshall@thedailyreview.com.

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Loaded, then maybe you shouldn't be so quick to "boo-hoo" people. Until you understand where other people are coming from keep your immature derogatory remarks to yourself!

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Annoyed, 02/01/10 11:07

By the way BC, PA may be taxing the heck out of folks (and I am not so sure about all the details of this, are you?) yet they are not taxing the Gas Companies. We do NOT have the severance tax, the only gas producing state without a severance tax on gas production.

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informed citizen, 01/31/10 12:37

In response to BC resident the PA DEP recently announced that it used the permit fee money to hire new staff for their gas and oil division.
Heres a link to the story,
http://paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2010/01/governor-dep-hire-68-more-staff-to-deal.html

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informed citizen, 01/31/10 12:35

What about the PA government who is taxing the heck out of everyone who gets money from the gas wells and the Gas Company fees for applications, permits,ect. So where is all of that money going into? I don't see no huge project in Bradford County or Susquehanna County going on since the gas exploration started. Some of it should be for Fire saftey training and all other emergancy response training for specailized emergancies with gas wells. Also to purchase more or specailized equipment for all of the responders in case of a incident. We all need to take a step back and look at the big picture. Stop with the blaming and face reality that the Gas Companies are here to stay for a long time. We used to be a farming County well now we are into Gas exploration.

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BC Resident, 01/30/10 10:46

regarding fire companies, B, and "fire officers who think in this manner" --- they are volunteers. they already put their lives on the line for neighbors and strangers. I'm asking about the new and very increased risk and danger, and thinking it's really an unfair burden to put on a volunteer while the gas companies, the landowner, and the ancillary businesses are all gaining financially. What ARE the gas companies procedures? I tried asking Chesapeake (they keep the PR spin going, and say "just ask us! at askchesapeake.com,) but do NOT reply. They didn't provide written testimony, either, for the BOGUS info they supplied at the housing hearing. We've got problems here, and we NEED to DO something besides deny or bicker. But WHAT? We're NOT getting the info!!!

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need info please, 01/30/10 8:14

Rumor has it that there was some difficulty in determining which well to respond to. I know that there is more than one Mowry pad. I don't know if this was the cause of confusion or something else. Some places with gas drilling have dealt with the response confusion issue by requiring that all well pad sites have 911 addresses. I think that Bradford County should require this. Maybe this is something J. Vajda could look into.

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Need to know where to go, 01/30/10 5:40

I have yet to see any fire company or ambulance refuse to assist at a gas well. They gas companies have their own procedures, and everyone follows those. Only backwards thinking fire companies would refuse to help. Maybe it's time for fire officers who think in this manner, to step out of the way?

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B, 01/29/10 6:32

BRC - yes i am benefiting from this... my house is not on the land i speak of, otherwise i may think differently...

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loaded from my land, 01/29/10 5:10

"Accident". This wasn't an accident, it was a test by the Obamanater to see if we were paying attention! Run folks run, run for your lives!!!

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Oh No!, 01/29/10 4:56

Need info, Haven't you heard? Our first responders aren't sure if they would want to help anyways, due to all of the legalities. It seems to me that this is just one more thing for us to be concerned about. Do the land owners have to worry about lawsuits when this kind of stuff happens? I was just curious.

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W, 01/29/10 2:44

Loaded, obviously you're benefitting from the land but the majority of this area is also concerned with peoples safety. If the gas companies aren't going to double check all of their so-called faulty equipment then I sure as hell don't want them on my land!

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BRC, 01/29/10 2:32

So what if it was you don't see any one having this kind of fit when P&G has a fire or some kind of emergency even though it could take out half of mehoopany or what about all the other plants that have been around it all because it new. all the big company's have there down falls so why not just let them do there job.

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a.w, 01/29/10 12:48

i think people are just mad because they have no land and thus no gas money... boo hoo!

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loaded from my land, 01/29/10 10:00

Explosion - A violent bursting as a result of internal pressure.

Call it what you will Mr. Grove but it was by definition an EXPLOSION.

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Bill Wheeler, 01/29/10 9:53

Typical of this newspaper. Report it first as an explosion, then when that is proven wrong lead with a headline like "questions remain" when really there are none.

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Signor, 01/29/10 9:46

"Forcful uplift of tubing". That describes the event but not the cause. For anything to "forcefully uplifted" there needs to be a sudden exertation of pressure in a given direction. This exertation of pressure was caused, I would speculate, by a failure of equipment to control natural gas that is under pressure. This can cause severe damage and injury depending on the amount pressure released.

It would seem that Chesapeake's spokesman, as with any corporate spokesman, is seeking to minimize the impact of the event to his company. Not especially reassuring. Hopefully the appropriate investigative agencies will look into it and we will have something other than the warm, fuzzy corporate PR statement. People were hurt.

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GeologyStudent, 01/29/10 9:38

SO WHAT. This is on the level of the National Enquirer!

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Glenn, 01/29/10 9:21

If there was an explosion it definately would of been heard and felt for miles. Sounds like an exaggeration to me.

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BS, 01/29/10 8:23

No explosion. Temporary reverse gravity phenomenon.

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Isaac Newton, 01/29/10 8:05

okay, so it's not an "explosion" - THIS TIME. but it IS "one of the hazards of the trade" and there will be more - and there WILL be an explosion eventually. Please let us know what the emergency management plans are to deal with that eventuality. We have volunteer responders, with limited experience. I'm thinking a drill explosion will be beyond their experience and the dangers should certainly NOT be borne by volunteers. Do the gas companies have their OWN fire response teams, or is that one of the additional costs our communities will be bearing?

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need info please, 01/29/10 7:59