Explosive Awakening Highlights Need for Caution

June 4, 2010 | Restoring Rivers, Most Endangered Rivers, Clean Water, Protecting Rivers

Jessie Thomas-Blate
Coordinator, Most Endangered Rivers

Early today there was a blowout at a Marcellus Shale natural gas well in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.  Natural gas and toxic fluids spewed out of the well 75 feet into the air for 16 hours.  They were worried that the well might explode.  Luckily it was in a remote area… for people anyway.  The fish in Laurel Hill Run (a tributary of the Susquehanna River) may not be so fortunate.

I keep reading that some industry representatives claim that events like this are very rare.  A quick search online leads me to believe that may not be accurate.  In Pennsylvania alone, there was a natural gas well explosion on March 31 of this year in Washington County.  There was another explosion in Dimock Township  January 2009. 

Apparently, these wells (like those involved in the massive oil spill in the Gulf) involve a series of valves called a blowout preventer.  The valves allow workers to control the pressure inside the well.  This type of preventer was supposed to shut off the flow of oil in the Deepwater Horizon, but we all know how spectacular that has turned out.

Some people wonder why we have listed the Upper Delaware and Monongahela Rivers for natural gas drilling impacts on our America’s Most Endangered Rivers™ list this year.  This incident just highlights the level of caution that we must take to ensure our communities and surrounding environments are safe and healthy. 

After all, no one wants toxic fluids and gas in their drinking water.  So, we need to know what chemicals are going into these wells, and we need to have thorough environmental assessments of hydraulic fracturing so that we can prevent a disaster like what is happening in the Gulf from happening in the Marcellus Shale. 

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