On this West Virginia Morning, we cover several energy stories from the latest on the gas well explosion in Pennsylvania to what the West Virginia Legislature is considering to help protect gas well workers. Also, solar energy discussions, and a ride on a snowtube.
Tag: Gas Drilling
Taylor Co. Drill Site Blast Leads to Pollution Violation
State regulators have issued a pollution violation notice to an oil and gas drilling company following a tank explosion at a Tyler County well site.
The Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday that the tank ruptured on Jan. 2 at Jay-Bee Oil & Gas’ Lisby gas well pad. Fluid leaked from the tank onto grounds surrounding the well pad.
One worker was injured.
The DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas issued the violation notice to the company Tuesday, along with an order to stop well operations at the site.
Jay-Bee must abate the pollution and submit a report to the state by Jan. 14. The report must demonstrate the company’s ability to safety resume operations.
Supervisors at Jay-Bee’s office in Cairo didn’t immediately return a telephone message Wednesday.
Energy Corporation of America Still Gathering Information on Possible Injection Well
Energy Corporation of America still hasn’t decided whether to turn one of its former gas wells in northern West Virginia into an underground injection well.
ECA is thinking about putting an underground injection well in Preston County, near Decker’s Creek. The company is still investigating this proposal and hasn’t come to a conclusion about what it will do.
This possibility has upset many recreationists who use and want to preserve the Decker’s Creek Watershed. Earlier this year, the Friends of Decker’s Creek held a public meeting about the proposal. The group’s executive director, Elizabeth Wiles, says it would harm the watershed, which is bouncing back from years of acid mine drainage problems.
“We have implemented a number of water quality improvement projects that have shown water quality is improving, fish populations are coming back, especially in the areas upstream of where this well would be located,” said Wiles earlier this year.
If ECA decides to go through with the project, it would be establishing a Class Two injection well, which basically takes brine water and fluids from natural gas drilling operations and injects the waste into the ground.
Will fracking waste soon hit the Ohio River?
The waste is a byproduct of the drilling process, and it can include both man-made chemicals and naturally occurring heavy metals and radiation. The waste fluids are currently stored at drilling sites or transported by truck or train to treatment plants and deep underground injection disposal wells. The Coast Guard says some companies want to use barges instead of trucks to move the waste to disposal sites.
One such company, GreenHunter Water, recently purchased an 11-acre barge terminal site in Wheeling that sits along the Ohio River. The company is converting the former gasoline storage facility into a shale wastewater handling and storage site designed to recycle and/or dispose of gas drilling water.
Phase two of the company’s plans will use river barges to transport waste fluids to various injection disposal sites, but those plans are contingent upon the Coast Guard permitting the transport of fracking waste on inland waterways.
Some environmental groups says the comment period should be longer than 30 days and that the proposal is flawed because it doesn’t mention environmental safeguards. The Coast Guard is accepting comments until Nov. 29. The official title of the proposal is Carriage of Conditionally Permitted Shale Gas Extraction Waste Water in Bulk.