The Pennsylvania Natural Gas Industry Wall of Shame
On February 2, 2009 Cabot spilled 100 gallons of diesel fuel at Dimock, PA (DEP, "2009 Marcellus Violations--violation #575007"; iStockAnalyist, "Trucking Firm Ordered" [2/24/09]).
In May 2009 a leaking waste water pipe from a Range Resources gas well polluted a tributary of Cross Creek Lake in Washington County, PA. The spill killed fish, salamanders, crayfish, and aquatic insects (Pittsburgh Post Gazette "Waste from Marcellus" [6/05/09]; DEP, "2009 Marcellus Violations--violation #564165"; Range Resouces Report).
On October 22, 2009, PA DEP fined Cabot $56,650 for three separate spills of a water/liquid gel mixture into Stevens Creek and a wetland near Dimock, PA. The spills totaled 8,000 gallons (DEP, "DEP Fines Cabot" [10/22/09]; DEP "2009 Marcellus Violations--violations #572252, 572258").
On January 20, 2010 the Pennsylvania DEP fined M.R. Dirt $6000 for spilling 7 tons of "gaswell drilling wastewater sludge" in Avis, PA. The dump truck driver drove away even though he saw the spill (DEP "DEP Fines M.R. Dirt" [1/20/10]).
On February 1, 2010 the Pennsylvania DEP fined Fortuna Energy $3500 for various infractions at a Bradford County site, including the discharge of fracking fluid into a tributary of Sugar Creek (DEP, "DEP Fines Fortuna" [2/1/10]; DEP "2009 Marcellus Violations--violations #565284-87, 564580-88, 569257-61").
On March 15, 2010, a foamy substance, was detected running into Pine Creek, near Waterville. The DEP has determined that the substance was Airfoam HD, a chemical used in the drilling process. The substance came from a drilling site run by Pennsylvania General Energy. Almost a year later, the DEP fined the company $28, 960 (DEP, "DEP Fines"; "2010 Marcellus Violations--violations #583315-38").
On March 26th, 2010, Anadarko Petroleum spilled 8,000 to 12,000 gallons of synthetic-based mud at a drilling site in the Sproul State Forest in Clinton County (DEP, "2010 Marcellus Violations--violations #583988, 584932, 584934"; LH Express, "Drilling Mud" [4/9/10]).
On April 23, 2010, The Pennsylvania DEP fined Stallion Oilfield Services of Canondale, PA $6,500 for operating an illegal fracking water transfer station. Inspectors found a 450 square foot area where fracking water had spilled onto the ground (DEP, "DEP Fines Stallion" [4/23/10]).
On May 13, 2010, PA DEP fined Rex Energy of State College, PA $45,000 for various environmental violations at its Clearfield County site (DEP, "DEP Fines Rex" [5/13/10]; DEP, "2010 Marcellus Violations--violations #595298-99, 583061").
On May 14, 1010, PA DEP fined Range Resources $141,175 for spilling 250 barrels of fracking fluid into a high-quality waterway in Washington County in October 2009. Range failed to report the spill immediately (DEP, "DEP Penalizes Range" [5/14/10]; DEP "2009 Marcellus Violations--violations #573283-4, 574350").
On June 15, 2010, Anadarko Petroleum discharged 150 gallons of hydraulic fluid onto the ground at a drilling site in Centre County (DEP, "2010 Marcellus Violations--violations #589566, 589952")
On June 3, 2010, a gas well that was being fracked by EOG Resources in Clearfield County experienced a blowout and raged out of control for 16 hours, shooting fracking fluid and gas 75 feet into the air. EOG, whose spokesperson insisted that protecting the environment is of "utmost importance" to the company, waited five hours before contacting the Department of Environmental Protection (Centre Daily Times, "Gas Spews" [6/4/10]). The PA DEP has determined that the accident was caused by "untrained personnel and the failure to use proper well control procedures," and they fined EOG and its contractor C.C. Forbes $400,000 (DEP, "Independent Report" [7/13/10] DEP, "2010 Marcellus Violations--violations #589126-31, 589901-02").
On July 1, 2010, the PA Department of Agriculture quarantined 28 cows after they came into contact with drilling wastewater from a leaking containment pond that was part of a drilling site operated by East Resources in Tioga County (DEP, "Cattle from Tioga County" [7/1/10]; DEP, "2010 Marcellus Violations--violations #588949-50").
On August 2, 2010, the DEP fined Talisman Energy USA $15,506 for spilling 4,200-6,300 gallons of used fracking fluid into an unnamed tributary of the Tioga River in Bradford County (DEP, "DEP Fines Talisman" [8/2/10]; DEP "2009 Marcellus Violations--violations #5777167, 577585-87").
On August 17, 2010, the DEP fined Atlas Resources $97,350 for allowing used fracking fluid to overflow a waste water pit and contaminate a tributary of Dunkle Run, a high quality watershed in Washington County. Atlas failed to report the spill to DEP (DEP, "DEP Fines Atlas" [8/17/10]; DEP "2009 Marcellus Violations--violations #577286-92").
In September 2010, the DEP began investigating the source of stray methane gas that was detected bubbling from the Susquehanna River and in six private water wells in Bradford County. The DEP believes that nearby wells drilled by Chesapeake Energy are the source of the problem (DEP, "DEP Investigating" [9/07/10]).
On October 7, 2010, the DEP fined Seneca Resources $40,000 for building an illegal impoundment on exceptional value wetlands in Tioga County (DEP, "DEP Fines Seneca" [10/7/10]).
On October 25-27, 2010, the Pennsylvania State Police inspected 1175 fracking wastewater trucks as part of Operation FracNet. They issued 1057 traffic citations, and removed 207 trucks and 52 drivers from service due to safety violations. Earlier FracNets yielded similar results: in September 959 citations were issued, and 208 trucks and 64 drivers were removed; in June 669 citations were issued, and 250 trucks and 45 drivers were removed (PA State Police, "Latest Operation FracNet" [11/09/10]; "State Police Place" [10/6/10]; "State Enforcement Blitz" [6/23/10]).
The Pennsylvania Land Trust (PLT) has reported that according to DEP records, PA natural gas drillers have amassed 1614 violations between January 2008 and August 2010. The PLT deemed 1056 of these violations as "most likely to harm the environment." That averages out to 80 violations/month, and 52 serious violations/month. (ConserveLand.org, "Marcellus Shale Drillers" [9/1/10]). DEP has recently made it easier to access their records so that we now can see all of the industry's violations (DEP, "Marcellus Infractions").
On November 22, 2010, the DEP announced that it was investigating a large spill of hydraulic fracturing fluid at a site run by XTO Energy. The spill has been estimated to be 4,275 gallons, which contaminated a unnamed tributary of Sugar Run, a spring, and two private wells. A DEP investigator discovered an open valve that was discharging the fluid from an unattended tank. (DEP, "DEP Investigating" [11/22/10], Williamsport Sun Gazette, "Cleanup Continues" [12/15/10]).
On January 6, 2011, the DEP fined Talisman Energy $24,608 for a "large diesel fuel spill" in Bradford County (DEP "DEP Fines Talisman" [1/6/11]).
On January 7, 2011, the DEP fined Chief Oil & Gas $34,000 for illegally discharging 25,200 gallons of hydrostatic testing water at a pipeline project in Lycoming County. Chief also allowed "an unknown industrial waste" to mix with the water before it was discharged (DEP, "Chief Oil and Gas" [1/7/11]).
On January 10, 2011, Minuteman Environmental Services was fined $7000 for illegally dumping and storing natural gas drill cutting waste at two sites in Clinton and Union counties (DEP, "DEP Announced" [1/10/11]).
On January 17, 2011, a well operated by Talisman Energy blew out and for several hours discharged sand and fracking fluid into state forest lands in Tioga County (timestribune.com, "Talisman Cited" [1/26/11]).
On January 29, 2011, a truck carrying used fracking fluid from a well operated by Anadarko Petroleum, rolled off the road and spilled "a small amount" of fracking fluid above the headwaters of the South Renovo water supply in Clinton County (LH Express, "Frac Water Truck" [2/1/11]).
List of pipeline accidents
2000s
2000 On January 27, in Winchester, Kentucky, a pipeline accident released about 490,000 gallons of crude oil. NTSB investigators found a dent on the bottom of the pipe in the rupture area. Marathon-Ashland spent about $7.1 million in response to the accident.[182][183]
2000 On February 5, a pipeline failed and spilled over 192,000 gallons of crude oil in the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Pennsylvania. The source of the spill was a break in a miter bend in the pipe, which was estimated to be at least 50 years old. [184][185]
2000 A petroleum pipeline failure in Greenville, Texas, on March 9. A 28-inch-diameter pipeline ruptured and released 13,436 barrels (about 564,000 gallons) of gasoline. The released gasoline flowed a few hundred feet across the surrounding terrain and into a dry creek bed, which was a tributary to East Caddo Creek. From the tributary, the gasoline flowed downstream into East Caddo Creek. The banks of the tributary and creek contained the escaping gasoline as it flowed away from the ruptured pipe. The probable cause of the pipeline failure was corrosion-fatigue cracking that initiated at the edge of the longitudinal seam weld at a likely preexisting weld defect. Contributing to the failure was the loss of pipe coating integrity.[186]
2000 A pipeline released fuel oil near Chalk Point, Maryland, on April 7. The Piney Point Oil Pipeline system, which was owned by the Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco), experienced a pipe failure at the Chalk Point Generating Station in southeastern Prince George’s County, Maryland. The release was not discovered and addressed by the contract operating company, Support Terminal Services, Inc., until the late afternoon. Approximately 140,400 gallons of fuel oil were released into the surrounding wetlands and Swanson Creek and, subsequently, the Patuxent River as a result of the accident. No injuries were caused by the accident, which cost approximately $71 million for environmental response and clean-up operations.[187]
2000 On June 7, a stopple fitting weld failed on a pipeline, causing a rupture releasing 75,000 gallons of gasoline into the environment, and causing the evacuation of more than 500 homes in Blackman Charter Township, Michigan. The failure caused the shutdown of 30% of Michigan's gasoline supplies for nine days, contaminated a creek which flows into the Grand River, and a railroad track near the failure site was shut down for a week. Later tests found 715 anomalies in this pipeline.[188]
2000 A 30 inch diameter natural gas pipeline rupture and fire near Carlsbad, New Mexico killed 12 members of an extended Family camping over 600 feet (180 m) from the rupture point. The force of the rupture and the violent ignition of the escaping gas created a 51-foot-wide crater about 113 feet along the pipe. A 49-foot section of the pipe was ejected from the crater in three pieces measuring approximately 3 feet, 20 feet, and 26 feet in length. The largest piece of pipe was found about 287 feet northwest of the crater. The cause of the failure was determined to be severe internal corrosion of that pipeline. On July 26, 2007, a USDOJ Consent Decree was later entered into by the pipeline owner to do pipeline system upgrades to allow better internal pipeline inspections. (August 19, 2000)[189][190][191]
2000 For the second time in 24 hours, a state contractor building a noise wall along the I-475 in Toledo, Ohio struck an underground pipeline, and for a second time the contractor blamed faulty pipeline mapping for the accident. In this incident, the pipe was a six-inch gas pipeline. The crew was digging a hole with an auger for a noise-wall support on September 8, when it hit the underground pipe less than 500 meters from the previous day's incident.[1]
2000 A Bulldozer ruptured a 12 inch diameter NGL pipeline on Rt. 36, south of Abilene, Texas, on September 7. A police detective, with 21 years of service, was killed. Nearby, a woman saved herself by going underwater in her swimming pool. Her house was destroyed by the explosion & fire.[192][193][194]
2000 On November 3, a front end loader punctured an 8 inch diameter pipeline carrying diesel fuel in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Diesel fuel sprayed 40 feet into the air. The fuel flowed for over 2 hours before stopping, and contaminating the area with more than 40,000 gallons of diesel fuel.[195]
2001 A 12-inch natural gas pipeline exploded in Weatherford, Texas on March 22. No one was injured, but the blast created a hole in the ground about 15 feet in diameter and the explosion was felt several miles away.[1]
2001 On April 1, a Dome Pipeline in North Dakota carrying gasoline ruptured and burst into flames a few miles west of Bottineau, North Dakota. An estimated 1.1 million gallons of gasoline burned before the pipeline could be shut down. The company attributed the break to damage by an "outside force," which A Bottineau County Sheriff said appeared to be frost that melted at uneven rates, twisting and breaking the pipeline.[183]
2001 On June 13, in Pensacola, Florida, at least ten persons were injured when two natural gas lines ruptured and exploded after a parking lot gave way beneath a cement truck at a car dealership. The blast sent chunks of concrete flying across a four-lane road, and several employees and customers at neighboring businesses were evacuated. About 25 cars at the dealership and 10 boats at a neighboring business were damaged or destroyed.[1]
2001 On July 24, a pipeline ruptures and spreads burning gasoline near Manheim, Pennsylvania.[196]
2001 At approximately 5:05 a.m. MST, on August 11, a 24 inch gas pipeline failed near Williams, Arizona, resulting in the release of natural gas. The natural gas continued to discharge for about an hour before igniting.[197]
2001 On August 17, an Oklahoma crude oil pipeline ruptured after being struck by a machine cleaning roadside ditches, sending oil 30 feet (9.1 m) into the air and damaging nearby cotton crops with up to 150,000 gallons spilled.[153]
2001 December 14, an anhydrous ammonia spill near Algona, Iowa killed nearly 1.3 million fish- the largest fish kill on state record to date, Iowa state officials said. More than 58,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia over a 9 hour period spilled from a broken pipeline owned by Koch Industries Inc. into Lotts Creek and the Des Moines River killing minnows, bass and other game fish. Koch Pipeline, a Texas company that owns the 8-inch pipeline, was doing maintenance work on a valve on the pipeline. Officials said the plume drifted over a six-mile (10 km) area causing officials to evacuate residents in its path.[153]
2002 On March 15, a failure occurred on a 36 inch gas pipeline near Crystal Falls, Michigan. The failure resulted in a release of gas, which did not ignite, that created a crater 30 feet deep, 30 feet wide, and 120 feet long. There were no deaths or injuries.[198]
2002 On April 6, a BP-Amoco pipeline ruptured and released about 100,000 gallons of oil into a coastal area known as Little Lake in Louisiana.[153]
2002 A rupture of an Enbridge Pipeline and release of crude oil near Cohasset, Minnesota, on July 4. The pipeline ruptured in a marsh near Cohasset, in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (~250,000 gallons) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for 1 day and created a smoke plume about one mile (1.6 km) high and five miles (8 km) long.[199]
2002 On August 5, a natural gas pipeline exploded and caught fire west of Rt. 622, on Poca River Road near Lanham, West Virginia. Emergency workers evacuated three or four families. Kanawha and Putnam Counties in the area were requested Shelter-In-Place. Parts of the Pipeline were thrown hundreds of yards away, around, and across Poca River. The Fire was not contained for several hours because valves to shutdown line did not exist. The Orange Glow from the fire at 11 PM; could be seen for several miles.[1]
2003 An Enbridge crude oil pipeline ruptures at a terminal in Douglas County, Wisconsin on January 24. Some of the crude oil flowed into the Nemadji River. Over 100,000 gallons were spilled.[183]
2003 A natural gas pipeline ruptured near Viola, Illinois on February 2, resulting in the release of natural gas which ignited. A l6-foot long section of the pipe fractured into three sections, which were ejected to distances of about 300 yards from the failure site.[1][200]
2003 On March 23, a 24 inch diameter gas pipeline near Eaton, Colorado exploded. The explosion sent flames 160 meters in the air and sent thousands of Weld County residents into a panic, but no one was injured. The heat from the flames melted the siding of two nearby homes and started many smaller grass fires.[1]
2003 Excavation damage to a natural gas distribution line resulted in an explosion and fire in Wilmington, Delaware on July 2. A contractor hired by the city of Wilmington to replace sidewalk and curbing, dug into an unmarked natural gas service line with a backhoe. Although the service line did not leak where it was struck, the contact resulted in a break in the line inside the basement of a nearby building, where gas began to accumulate. A manager for the contractor said that he did not smell gas and therefore did not believe there was imminent danger and that he called an employee of the gas company and left a voice mail message. At approximately 1:44p.m., an explosion destroyed two residences and damaged two others to the extent that they had to be demolished. Other nearby residences sustained some damage, and the residents on the block were displaced from their homes for about a week. Three contractor employees sustained serious injuries. Eleven additional people sustained minor injuries.[201]
2003 On July 30, A Kinder Morgan pipeline in Tucson, Arizona ruptured and spewed 10,000 to 19,000 gallons of gasoline on five houses under construction, flooding nearby streets. The resulting pipeline closure caused major gas shortages in the state. The U.S. Office of Pipeline Safety had warned carriers previously that pipe of the type that Kinder Morgan had in Arizona had manufacturing defects that could grow over time. A hydrostatic test that was performed on this pipeline after repairs failed 40 feet from the first failure.[183][202][203]