XTO Fracked Gas Well Out of Control in Ohio Valley

From WTRF News 7, Wheeling, WV, February 24, 2018

POWHATAN POINT, Ohio ——————————————-

UPDATE 2/24:

XTO Energy’s well control team continues working to control the well while monitoring weather conditions to ensure safe operations as rain is expected throughout the day, according to XTO Energy officials.

Worker and residential safety remains a top priority, and the air monitoring continues without disruption. There are four homes that are still in the half-mile evacuation zone.

The claims office remains open, and claims adjusters and XTO representatives are on site to assist with the community’s needs.

Any local residents who may have been impacted by this incident are encouraged to call 855-351-6573 or visit XTO Energy’s community response command center at the Powhatan Point Volunteer Fire Department at 104 Mellott Street, Powhatan Point, OH, 43942.

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UPDATE 2/23:

According to XTO Energy officials, current weather conditions have slowed operations to contain the well, but XTO Energy’s well control team is continuing to work to get the well under control.

In these conditions, officials say that worker and residential safety remains a top priority. Four homes remain in the half-mile evacuation zone, and air monitoring will continue.

Any local residents who may have been impacted by this incident are encouraged to call (855) 351-6573 or visit XTO Energy’s command center at the Powhatan Point Volunteer Fire Department at 104 Mellott Street, Powhatan Point, OH 43942.

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UPDATE:

According to a press release, XTO Energy crews have restored electricity to homes that lost power as a result of weekend flooding in Powhatan Point.

Now that power is restored, XTO Energy is working with residents in the cleared home to return at their convenience. Four homes remain in the half-mile evacuation zone.

The well control team is continuing to clear debris and made progress Tuesday in assessing the wells on the pad to safely stage the area to contain the well.

Ohio EPA and XTO Energy will continue to monitor air quality.

Any local residents who may have been impacted by this incident are encouraged to call XTO Energy’s claims phone number at 855-351-6573 or visit XTO Energy’s community response command center at the Powhatan Point Volunteer Fire Department, located at 104 Mellott Street, Powhatan Point, OH, 43942.

XTO representatives and claims adjusters are on site to assist with the community’s needs.

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UPDATE:

Manager of Public and Government Affairs at XTO Energy, Karen Matusic, issued the following statement:

XTO Energy’s well control team has cleared a safe path to the pad and continues to work on clearing debris to stage the area for shutting in the well. On Monday, the evacuation zone was reduced to a half-mile radius of the well pad, with XTO Energy working with state and local agencies to conduct air quality tests at homes and around the perimeter to ensure safe re-entry. Crews are actively working to restore power to residences that lost power as a result of weekend flooding. Five homes remain in the evacuation zone. XTO Energy continues to work with the Ohio EPA to continue monitoring air quality. Any local residents who may have been impacted by this incident are encouraged to call XTO Energy’s claims phone number at 855-351-6573 or visit XTO Energy’s community response command center at the Powhatan Point Volunteer Fire Department, located at 104 Mellott Street, Powhatan Point, OH, 43942. XTO representatives and claims adjusters are on site to assist with the community’s needs.

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UPDATE:

According to XTO officials, the evacuation has been lifted for anyone living outside of a 1/2-mile radius of the gas well pad.

If you have not been contacted by XTO Energy officials, you are urged to call (855) 351-6573 to schedule an appointment with a representative to go into your home and conduct a precautionary room-by-room air check.

Residents living inside of the 1/2-mile radius are not permitted to return to their homes.

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ORIGINAL:

Thirty homes remain evacuated as a result of the XTO gas well fire that happened last Thursday in Powhatan Point.

Officials with the company say they are working as quickly and safely as possible to get everyone and everything back to normal.

After monitoring the air quality along with the Ohio EPA, they are happy to report that they have not found any contaminants in the air. Officials are continuing to monitor the situation, and once they are certain that everything is under control, they plan to conduct air quality testing inside the homes affected.

XTO is continuing to reimburse and pay residents for the inconveniences related to the evacuation. If any resident is not returned to their home before school on Tuesday, XTO will arrange transportation to get them to school.

Claims adjusters are on site, or can be reached by phone at (855) 351-6573.

Experts from CUDD were finally able to get to the well pad on Sunday to remove debris from the explosion. The fire is reportedly out.

Entire small town evacuated in SW Penna.

From an Article by Chuck Goudie and Barb Markoff and Christine Tresse, ABC Eyewitness News, August 03, 2017

An entire Pennsylvania town is still evacuated after a freight train from Chicago ran off the tracks and burst into flames.

At least 32 cars of a CSX freight train derailed an hour before sunrise on Wednesday. Two of the rail tankers, carrying propane and molten sulfur according to investigators, burst into flames. CSX officials said authorities were letting fires burn out, as the 800 residents of Hyndman were jolted from their sleep and then evacuated.

Some people refused to leave their homes according to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, even though they were living within the danger zone. No injuries have been reported.

The train was headed from Chicago to Selkirk, New York near Albany when it derailed and caught fire. Investigators said they didn’t know what caused the train to run off the rails.

“CSX’s top priority is to work cooperatively with first responders and other officials to protect the public’s safety” said railroad spokesman Rob Doolittle. “CSX personnel are on the scene assisting first responders, providing information about the contents of the train and expertise on responding to railroad incidents,” Doolittle said.

There have been more than 1000 freight train derailments in each of the last two years, according to federal railway safety records. Through May of 2017 there have been 455 freight train derailments in the U.S., some of them involving hazardous materials.

The train that ran off the tracks in Pennsylvania on Wednesday included five locomotives and 178 rail cars total. Of those, 128 cars were carrying mixed freight, including construction materials, paper and wood pulp along with the flammable materials that are burning. Authorities also reported 50 empty rail cars on the train.

The wreckage appears similar to so-called “bomb trains” first reported by the I-Team more than four years ago involving crude oil transports. While it is not believed that the train in Pennsylvania was carrying crude oil, there do appear to be numerous tanker cars derailed and piled up along the tracks.

Since the DOT-111 tankers were found to be prone to splitting during derailment, U.S. and Canadian regulators have ordered strict new crashworthiness standards. The move followed a July 2013 oil tanker derailment that wiped out downtown Lac Megantic, Canada and left 47 people dead.

In May 2015, the Federal Railroad Administration and Transport Canada announced specs for a new DOT-117 tanker that would have to be in place by May 2025.

WV Derailment, Explosion, Fire; One of Many

CSX Ordered to Clean-up the Areas Impacted by WV Train Derailment

Press Release, US EPA (David Sternberg), March 6, 2015

Philadelphia, PA - CSX has agreed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up and restore the areas affected by the February 16 train derailment in Mount Carbon, W. Va. Twenty-seven cars derailed from the 109-car CSX train carrying more than three million gallons of crude oil from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. The derailment resulted in an explosion, fires, loss of a house and required nearby residents to evacuate.

The settlement signed by CSX and EPA was filed on March 3 and replaces EPA’s order for cleanup and restoration issued last week on February 27. Within the next 21 days, CSX has agreed to submit a comprehensive long-term plan for cleaning up and restoring areas impacted by the derailment.

CSX has committed significant resources to respond to the derailment and has worked closely with the Unified Command at the scene. Under the agreement CSX will continue the shorter-term cleanup efforts that are already underway. This includes air and water monitoring and testing; recovering oil from Armstrong Creek, the Kanawha River and their tributaries and shorelines; and educating residents about the potential effects from the incident including potential health threats, protective measures, wildlife preservation, and claims and notification procedures.

“The agreement between CSX and EPA provides a framework within which CSX can work, with oversight from EPA and West Virginia, to ensure that oil contamination from the derailment in Mount Carbon continues to be safely contained and that long lasting impacts are mitigated to protect human health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin.

EPA and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection have worked closely together to ensure proper cleanup and minimize any immediate or lasting environmental impacts.

The initial emergency response was conducted under a Unified Command with federal, state and local agencies and CSX responding. The response was conducted during and affected by harsh winter weather conditions. The residents were able to return to their homes in six days after being evacuated. Clearance for their return was based on verification from consistent monitoring and testing of air, drinking water and surface water. The roadway and the railroad track are now open.

The agreement is available here:

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National Public Radio Report (Listen to the Interview)

Crude Oil Volatility Excessive in WV Unit Train Derailment, Explosions & Fires

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: Dangerously high levels of combustible gas – that’s what tests show about the crude oil in the freight train that derailed in West Virginia late last month. Dozens of train cars burst into flame and exploded into huge fireballs. No one was killed, but 200 people from nearby towns were forced to flee their homes. The fire burned for more than three days. The train was carrying crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields and Russell Gold, who covers energy for The Wall Street Journal, has seen a lab report analyzing that oil. He joins me now – welcome to the program.

BLOCK: Russell Gold, what does that lab report show?

GOLD: Well, the lab report, which was a test of the crude oil in North Dakota, showed that it had a vapor pressure of about 13.9 pounds per square inch, which is very, very high for oil. Most oils or average oil might be somewhere around six pounds per square inch. That’s actually above – a new state rule says you can’t ship oil if it’s above 13.7.

So when North Dakota adopted this rule right at the end of last year, there were a lot of people that said we’re glad you’re regulating this, but it’s very high. Can’t you make it lower? And what’s really remarkable is that the oil in the train that derailed in West Virginia was even higher than that standard.

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Oil cars catch fire as freight train derails in Illinois

From an Article of the Quad City Times, March 5, 2015

Galena, Illinois — At least two oil tank cars continued to burn late Thursday after they derailed in a rural area about 3½ miles south of this Jo Daviess County community of 3,429, a spokesman for the railroad said.

Andy Williams, public affairs director for Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, said five cars from the 105-car train derailed about 1:05 p.m. Of the 105 cars, he said, 103 were filled with Bakken crude oil, while two cars at each end of the train were filled with sand as buffers.

Of the five that landed on their side, two ignited, Williams said.

See WTOV9.com for Video News Report

Mandatory evacuations for gas well leak has been lifted – WTOV9 Steubenville

Updated: Wednesday, October 29 2014, 07:26 AM

JEFFERSON COUNTY, OH — The mandatory evacuation in Jefferson County is over at this time. Residents that were forced to leave their home overnight Wednesday due to gas leak along township road 187 can return home. Officials say the well site owned by American energy partners is secured at this time and there is no current danger to the public.

ORIGINAL STORY:

JEFFERSON COUNTY, OH — A gas well leak is causing major evacuations in Jefferson County. Officials say it happened near Fernwood State Park and the Mingo Sportsmen’s Club. The specific location is along Township Road 187 near County Road 26. We’re told the call came in around 7:45pm.

Officials say residents could hear and smell the gas, which we’re told is natural and methane gas. Officials believe that a well head owned by American Energy Partners sheered off. There is no fire but that is a concern. The Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency has issued a 1 mile radius mandatory evacuation.

Officials have opened up the community center in Brilliant for residents if they need a place to stay. Residents will be unable to return to the area until the leak is fixed.
To do that, a specialized group from Houston is being brought in.

Here are the roadways affected by the mandatory evacuation:

Township Rd 177 – Cross Creek
Township Rd 177A – Cross Creek
Browns Hill Rd – Cross Creek
Sheep Rock Rd

Call United Way at 2-1-1 for information. United Way is providing shelter at the Wells Twp. Senior Center, Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department, and Buckeye North Elementary in Brilliant.

See the Video News Report here. And, stick with NEWS9 and WTOV9.com for continuing coverage.

Response to Marcellus Well Off-Gases

Purge Gas Streaming at Lisby Pad Creates Public Hazard

YouTube Post on Mar 30, 2014:

On March 27 2014 an extremely strong chemical smell was reported coming from the Lisby well pad operated by Jay-Bee oil and gas on Big Run Road in Tyler County, WV.

Emergency fire personnel were called, they were threatened with arrest by Jay Bee employees if they tried to do their job. Several people got sick from the exposure. This is the same pad that was ordered to cease and desist operations from the January 3rd explosion. A few weeks later there was a spill on the pad. (Jay-Bee has had over 20 environmental violations and 38 OSHA violations and is still allowed to do business in the state, according to the post.)

The audio/video here captures some of the communications among emergency personnel dispatched to the site. See and hear this communication exchange on YouTube:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=3uRfTrLwXM4

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Marcellus gas well purge gives off fumes in Tyler County, WV

News from WTOV, Channel 9, March 28 2014

TYLER COUNTY, WV — Crews are purging a new well at the Lisby Pad along Indian Creek Road about 8 miles south of Middlebourne. EMA Director Tom Cooper said that work is giving off fumes. Thursday night into Friday morning, people within a couple of hundred yards of the site were evacuated from their homes. Officials said it was precautionary and was largely due to the smell. Those families have since returned to their homes. Cooper said the work is almost finished.