Fraccidents
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Caryl's Lake - Worcester, NY
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List of Pipeline Accidents in the U.S. 2010 & 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pipeline_accidents#United_States
Associated Press
Published: July 16, 2012 - 11:19 PM | Updated: July 17, 2012 - 12:04 AM
BOLIVAR: A storage tank at an oil and gas well site exploded and shot flames at least 50 feet into the air on Monday, killing an employee.
Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blast, which happened near Bolivar. Tuscarawas County coroner Jim Hubert said the employee had been performing maintenance on the tank, which was adjacent to the well. Bolivar Fire and Rescue confirmed the man was painting the tank.
Hubert said the man was “in the immediate vicinity” of the receiving tank for the oil when it exploded. He said a law enforcement officer had to be treated after he was overcome by the petroleum fumes from the explosion.
Nathan Mutschelknaus, an employee at a nearby group home, told the Times-Reporter in the Dover-New Philadelphia area that he felt the ground shake and looked toward the oil well. Mutschelknaus said the cover of the storage tank shot about 100 feet into the air and fuel leaked down a driveway and into a field.
“I was out back, pressure-washing the porch and moving some of the furniture when the ground started to shake,” he said. “I was looking over at the oil well, wondering what was shaking. Next thing I know, I heard the loud explosion and felt the shock wave.”
Mutschelknaus told the newspaper he saw the tank’s green cap land about 50 yards away from its original location.
State fire marshal spokesman Shane Cartmill said officials were working with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to have a better assessment on the cause of the explosion in the next 24 to 36 hours.
Responders from more than a half-dozen emergency departments helped to get the resulting fire under control. Hazardous-materials crews were sent out to contain the fuel spill.
http://www.ohio.com/news/ohiocentric/blast-at-ohio-oil-and-gas-well-site-kills-1-worker-1.320726
A storage tank that landed near homes along State Route 212 near Huffman Square NE, Monday in Bolivar, Ohio. Firefighters say one person was killed in the explosion. (AP Photo/The Times Reporter, Pat Burk)
Fracking materials involved in Oklahoma explosion, fire
By BOB DOWNING Published: August 13, 2012
From Okalohoma media reports:
ELK CITY, Okla. -- An explosion at a trucking company involved materials used in hydraulic fracturing, a fire official in Elk City said Sunday.
About 100 people were evacuated from their homes Saturday after the explosion that injured two people and sent flames and a plume of black smoke into the air about 9 a.m. at Hodges Trucking, 2491 S Merritt. Firefighters remained on the scene until 7 p.m., about the same time those evacuated were allowed to return home, Elk City Fire Department Capt. Jackie Addington said.
Addington said the explosion was in the business's yard and described the material inside a "frac tank" apparently involved in the incident as "highly explosive."
According to its website, Hodges Trucking is an oil-field and heavy haul transportation company and an affiliate of Chesapeake Energy Corporation.
Elk City is about 100 miles west of Oklahoma City.
One injured person was taken by air to Oklahoma City for treatment, Addington said. Another victim was taken to Great Plains Medical Center in Elk City.
A man was treated and released at the medical center, said Monte Deramus, a Great Plains hospital administrator.
Addington did not have information on the victims' names or conditions.
No firefighters were injured in the blaze, which remains under investigation, Addington said.
Bob Jarvis, manager of corporate communications for Chesapeake Oilfield Services, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, said by email Sunday the investigation to determine a cause of the fire is ongoing. The person being treated in Oklahoma City is expected to be released in the next day or two, he said.
http://www.ohio.com/blogs/drilling/maps%E2%80%8F
Pa. fines Chesapeake Energy $565K for violations
The Associated Press
Feb. 9th 2012
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined a gas driller more than $500,000 for three separate violations.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. agreed to pay $565,000 after state regulators found the Oklahoma City-based driller in violation of rules protecting streams and wetlands.
In one high-profile case, Chesapeake lost control of a gas well in Leroy Township, Bradford County, in April, allowing fluids from the well to enter Towanda Creek. Regulators found contaminants in the water but no lasting damage.
In Potter County, the company allowed sediment from an access road and well pad to discharge into a high-quality stream. The sediment damaged a municipal water authority's treatment filters.
A third case involved damage to a wetland.
A Chesapeake spokesman said Thursday that the company has worked hard to improve its operations.
Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/02/09/3861381/pa-fines-chesapeake-energy-565k.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.bradenton.com/2012/02/09/3861381/pa-fines-chesapeake-energy-565k.html
Blowout in Canton-Chesapeake Energy Corp
DEP halts Carrizo fracking at Susquehanna County site after gas well failure
BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER)Published: February 11, 2012
An out-of-control Susquehanna County natural gas well released waste fluids to a Forest Lake Twp. well pad early last week, leading state regulators to halt all activity at the site.
Two valves failed during fracking at Carrizo Marcellus' Baker 4H well during the afternoon of Jan. 30, according to a Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman and a violation report issued by the agency.
Read the notice of violation HERE
The company was in the fifth stage of hydraulically fracturing the well, a process that generally involves injecting chemically treated water and sand at high pressure underground to free gas from rock. Company representatives told regulators at the site that they were injecting water and sand without chemical additives at the time of the failure.
Regulators asked again later if additives were used in the well, and the answer is "pending," DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said.
"We didn't get reports of any injuries or any contamination to the nearby area but our investigation is continuing," she said.
Regulators noted that the fluid coming out of the well was "relatively clear." Radiological tests and measurements of methane in the atmosphere showed nothing higher than normal background levels at the well pad, she said.
The department did not release an estimate of how much fluid escaped from the well, but Ms. Connolly said the fluid was flowing out at a rate of about 300 to 400 gallons a minute for less than half an hour. According to a violation notice issued to the company, the well control specialty firm Boots & Coots arrived at the site and helped Carrizo personnel shut down the well completely at about 6 p.m.
The department "strongly" recommended that Carrizo halt all fracking operations in the state "until the cause of this problem and a solution are identified," regulators wrote in the violation notice.
Inspection reports from this week noted operations at the Baker site were shut down at least through Wednesday, but Ms. Connolly did not know Friday if operations are still on hold.
Efforts to reach a Carrizo Oil and Gas spokesman at the company's Houston, Texas, headquarters were unsuccessful.
Inspection reports show workers successfully replaced the failed valves and completed the initial cleanup at the site by Tuesday. Boots & Coots performed an audit of the problem wellhead and fracking equipment on Wednesday.
Carrizo was to submit a report to the state by Tuesday detailing what was in the spilled fluid and how it was contained before it reached a nearby waterway, as well as an explanation of the failure's root cause and a sampling plan for any impact to the well site.
Ms. Connolly said the company submitted its response but she did not have a copy of the report to release on Friday.
Carrizo has drilled 67 wells in Pennsylvania, most of them in Wyoming and Susquehanna counties, according to state data.
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com
Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/dep-halts-carrizo-fracking-at-susquehanna-county-site-after-gas-well-failure-1.1270468#ixzz1m7TrDoAO