Marcellus Shale - Gas Wells

August 25, 2010

Methane found in wells after lid blow-off

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Three drinking-water wells near a Chesapeake Energy gas well in Bradford County were found to be polluted with methane gas after the lid blew off one of the water wells last week.

Dan Spadoni, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Northcentral Regional Office, said Chesapeake notified DEP on Aug. 4 that bubbling could be heard in three private drinking-water wells about 3,500 feet north of the Dan Ellis well pad in Monroe Township.

It’s DEP policy not to identify the owners of private drinking-water wells, Spadoni said.

Of the three wells, two serve mobile homes and one serves a single-family home. Spadoni believes the well cover blew off a water well used by occupants of one of the mobile homes.

Spadoni said Chesapeake dispatched several teams to perform methane screening investigations at structures and water wells with a half mile of the contaminated wells and found no additional contamination.

DEP officials were on-site to investigate on Aug. 6 and had a number of meetings with Chesapeake officials since then. Chesapeake supplied the affected families with potable drinking water and installed a methane monitor in the basement of the affected home, Spadoni said.

Chesapeake conducted additional cementing of the Dan Ellis 3H well on Aug. 10, Spadoni said.

DEP on Aug. 6 sent Chesapeake a “Notice of Violation” letter that spells out various requirements Chesapeake must meet.

“Obviously, we’re going to investigate this and monitor the situation very closely because gas-migration issues need to be taken very seriously because of the potential harm that could be done,” Spadoni said.

Examples of potential harm include contamination of water wells and, if levels of methane were high enough, an explosion in a residence, Spadoni said.

Chesapeake spokesman Brian Grove said in a prepared statement the company has been investigating in cooperation with DEP and “proactively assisting the affected residents.”

“Chesapeake is treating the situation very seriously and we are monitoring the affected residence and water wells daily,” Grove said, adding that the screening of nearby residences “indicates that this is an isolated occurrence, limited to the residence and three water wells initially identified.”

Grove noted that according to Penn State and DEP, methane does not pose a health risk when present in drinking water, but methane buildup in confined spaces such as houses or water wells does present significant risk of explosion when it reaches certain levels.

The residence in which methane was detected did not exceed those levels, but the home and three water wells are being monitored and vented, he said.

Three natural gas wells have been drilled on the Dan Ellis pad. Drilling began April 24 and ended July 12. None of the wells has been hydraulically fractured.

“The investigation is ongoing and has not reached a conclusion at this time,” Grove said.

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