Frack Check WV » school buses

West Virginia Roads Not Built for Frack Trucks and School Buses

Duane Nichols — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 13:57:10 +0000

Truck & School Bus Collide in Wetzel Co. (11/19/15)

Wetzel School Bus Routes Hit by Heavy Drilling Truck Traffic

From an Article by Dan Heyman, WV Public News Service, September 21, 2015

Charleston, WV — A local emergency medical technician says natural gas drilling in Wetzel County has damaged roads so much that it’s occasionally unsafe for school buses to take their normal routes.

Ray Renaud is a Wetzel County emergency medical technician who handles oil and gas-related road issues for local emergency services. He says at times, two or three rural school bus routes have been unsafe for the buses to use, because of damage caused by the large number of heavy trucks.

“These are very limited-access highways, not much more than one lane to start with,” he stresses. “And typically what you have is, one of the shoulders will totally give way.”

An official with the state Department of Transportation insists that drilling traffic is not causing safety issues for school buses. He says the state checks the roads before drilling starts, and requires that road conditions be as good when drilling is finished.

The Wetzel County Schools’ transportation office refused to comment, although an official said bus drivers always have the right to refuse to take their normal route if weather or any other road condition makes it unsafe.

According to Renaud, that’s how the process has worked – including on roads with damage from heavy truck traffic. “The bus driver usually is the one that initiates the action,” he explains. “He has the authority to not run a road.”

Everyone contacted for this report said the drilling companies have been responsive when an issue has come up. For example, the drillers try to keep their trucks off the roads at certain times of day to make way for the school buses.

Renaud says he knows of “10 or so” sections of Wetzel County road that are unsafe because of drilling traffic. He says one very steep hill has an intersection with a main artery at the base – and a drilling truck fails to stop there every couple of months.

Road conditions are a topic of local concern, says Steve Conlon, a farmer and activist. “The only roads that haven’t been impacted are the roads that they can’t use with the big trucks,” Conlon maintains.

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See also: Tensions High At Oil And Gas Meeting, Safety of Children an Issue Among Residents, Lauren Matthews, Wetzel Chronicle, January 13, 2016

Drilling Rig and Truck Accidents Continue in Northern West Virginia

Duane Nichols — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:06:05 +0000

: Wetzel Chronicle photo

Drilling rig worker dies in accident at Marion County preparation plant

From Associate Press report, January 14th

FAIRVIEW , WV — Federal regulators said Tuesday the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has jurisdiction over a fatal accident involving a gas-drilling rig at a coal mine prep plant.

An unidentified worker died Monday night when the rig overturned and crushed him at CONSOL Energy’s Loveridge Mine preparation plant in Fairview, said Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesman Jesse Lawder.

The rig was doing exploratory work on Marcellus Shale gas deposits, he said, drilling 30-foot holes and setting off explosives for seismic testing.

The state Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training said it had turned the case over to OSHA because the accident didn’t occur on bonded mine property.

Pennsylvania-based CONSOL, meanwhile, said it’s cooperating in the investigation. CONSOL had given Seitel Inc. access to its property, and the Texas-based company had obtained the necessary permits, said spokeswoman Lynn Seay. “The independent testing was not associated with CONSOL Energy’s active coal mining or gas operations,” she said.

Seitel officials referred questions about the accident to Omni Energy Services Corp. of Louisiana. Vice President Mark Stipe acknowledged the accident involved one of his employees but declined to identify him. “The accident investigation is ongoing at this point, and we are cooperating fully with government officials,” he said in an email. “We mourn the loss of our employee, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”

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Truck accidents cause delays in Wetzel County

Article by Amy Witchey, Wetzel Chronicle, January 16, 2013

On January 9th at approximately 9:50 a.m. a drilling rig owned by Sun Energy Drilling went into the ditch from the northwest-bound lane of state Route 20 on the northwest side of Reader. Sheriff John Brookover said the driver of the truck said an oncoming truck crowded his side of the road-leaving him the choice of hitting the truck or the ditch. He chose the latter.

The drilling company reportedly had to bring a wrecker out of Morgantown to handle the incident. By the time it got to the scene, it was already afternoon and nearing time for school to release.

The incident caused some major transportation problems. Wetzel County School Transportation Director Brian Jones said several buses, ones from Valley, Shortline, and special needs from New Martinsville, had to be re-routed. “It caused a lot of trouble,” said Jones. Of extra concern were the special needs students, said Jones, “When their schedules are disrupted, sometimes that’s not a little thing.”

“Courtesy is they could have and should have waited until our buses got the kids out (to block both lanes for the recovery),” said Jones, who added that it also stopped some parents from getting to schools to pick up students. “The truck traffic, the industry, needs to be more considerate of our most precious commodity, our children. There’s nothing more important than the safety of the students in Wetzel County.”

Jones also cited three more truck wrecks — at Galmish, Fallen Timber, and American Ridge –since that incident that affected bus routes. However, he said, “Those were minor things.”

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Water tanker truck rolls over in Marshall County

Article by Laurie Conway, Digital Journalist – October 9, 2012

MOUNDSVILLE, WV - A man was taken to the hospital early Tuesday morning after the truck he was driving rolled over in Marshall County. The West Virginia Department of Highways will investigate the accident

According to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, a water tanker truck flipped over on Route 250 near Wayman’s Ridge. The water in the truck was reported to contain no chemicals.

Gas Industry Is Trying to Reduce Explosions, Fires, and Accidents

Duane Nichols — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:34:11 +0000

There have been two or three major explosions at Marcellus shale drill sites in the northern panhandle of WV. Fires and flares are not uncommon, resulting in substantial concern with the residents. One explosion occurred in June 2010 when workers at an AB Resources well site hit a “shallow pocket” of methane gas a little more than 1,000 feet below the ground. In addition to injuring several workers, this ignited a large fireball that burned for days.

According to Casey Junkins of the Wheeling Intelligencer:

Smaller fires and leaks throughout Marshall County on sites operated by Gastar Exploration and Trans Energy Inc. have also taken place, while traffic accidents related to drilling continue. Other problems include allegedly unauthorized stream fillings by Chesapeake and alleged water pollution by natural gas processor Caiman Energy.

Chesapeake’s Senior Director of Corporate Development Stacey Brodak acknowledges that natural gas operations are not without their challenges. However, she said her company has “continuously reviewed and improved our operations” since beginning to work in the Mountain State’s Northern Panhandle four years ago.

Brodak said Chesapeake has spent about $70 million to upgrade and repair 83 miles of damaged roads in the Mountain State’s Northern Panhandle. “In some cases, we’ve implemented pre-emptive road maintenance to strengthen and improve roads before our operations begin,” she said. “Our repair projects have been well received as we leave the roads in better shape than they were in before we arrived.”

Matt Pitzarella, director of corporate communications and public affairs for Range Resources Corp., said, “We’re high tech and dynamic. So we’ve pretty dramatically improved how we work, which is now more efficient and productive. “The big thing for us is we’ve learned that we are not an industry that will operate below the radar,” he admitted. “People have questions and they have the right to have their concerns, real or perceived, to be addressed in an honest and transparent way.”