Gas Drilling Emergency in Bradford County

[aquart]

Source: WNEP2

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is at a natural gas drilling site in Bradford County where, officials said, crews were fracking when a well blew out near the surface.

A massive operation is underway in Bradford County to deal with a spill at a natural gas well in LeRoy Township near Canton.

DEP, Bradford County public safety, Chesapeake Energy and more are very active in the farming community.

Bradford County's director of public safety said a Chesapeake well went out of control late Tuesday night. That means the well blew near the surface, spilling thousands and thousands of gallons of frack fluid over containment walls, through fields, personal property and farms, even where cattle continue to graze.

-more-

Read more: http://www.wnep.com/wnep-brad-leroy-gas-drillingemergency20110420,0,1884646.story

---

OUT OF CONTROL?

[Champion Jack]

1. more here too:

http://www.desmogblog.com/breaking-pennsylvania-fracking-spill-haunting-reminder-bp-anniversary

Bradford County's director of public safety said the well, operated by Chesapeake, blew near the surface, spilling thousands and thousands of gallons of frack fluid over containment walls, through fields, personal property and farms, even where cattle continue to graze.

[xchrom]

2. ...

:mad:

[Blue Owl]

3. Fuck that wretched fracking

Who are the stupid idiots running oil and gas corporations that keep sticking their hand in the fire?

Time for them to start paying for their reckless actions that are destroying the planet.

[BobbyBoring]

11. I wouldn't care if it was THEIR hands

They keep sticking us in the fire. This has got to stop and only we can stop it. BP has destroyed the Gulf of Mexico and the natural gas companies have destroyed the drinking water for millions. They won't do anyting in a safe fashion because it will cut in to profits.

Fuck these assholes~

[PCIntern]

4. You get more fracking fluid from eating a banana than you do

from a blowout.

Hysterical tree-huggers....

:sarcasm:

[Matariki]

5. I believe my cousin has wells on my grandparents farm

I am deeply saddened by this. He did it because he could barely afford the property taxes on the farm. Sad, huh?

They are in Bradford or Tioga county.

[enough]

7. Glad you mention this. So much of this fracking/drilling around the US goes on in places

where people are poor and barely hanging on. Outsiders can rail against them making deals with the gas companies, but
they are extremely vulnerable to offers of money.

Most rapacious exploitation of the environment doesn't happen where people are rich.

[Matariki]

10. It really sucks, yes.

The farm has been in my family for four generations. My great-grandfather built the house himself. So there is no mortgage on the place. It's a mid-sized dairy farm with about 100-150 cows and also corn, wheat and oat fields. The cows require a fair amount of grazing land and there's also a sentimental value to the land of course. What I mean to say by all this is that my cousin isn't an extravagant person - he's put his kids through college, sure, but other than that his expenses shouldn't be so high. He's told me that the taxes are a constant source of worry to him.

[onehandle]

6. Pennsylvania Fracking Spill: Natural Gas Well Blowout Spills Thousands Of Gallons Of Drilling Fluid

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/20/pennsylvania-fracking-spill-gas-blowout-2011_n_851637.html

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. Chesapeake cleaning up well accident in Bradford County

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Cheasapeake-cleaning-up-well-accident.html

has a statement from the company

Video report from Noon
http://www.wnep.com/videobeta/e9d61ffe-f432-46ab-84f8-9c67c433695e/News/Newswatch-16-at-Noon-4-20

[starroute]

9. The head of Chesapeake is also involved in the Michigan development deals

See the thread at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x926731

"In Saugatuck, Congressman Fred Upton helps get a judge appointed who then rules quite favorably for one of Upton's relatives, Aubrey McClendon, in a shoreline development dispute. Meanwhile, in Benton Harbor, both the Upton and McClendon families benefit financially from another shoreline development at the expense of the local residents -- a project that Upton himself helped to push. ... Aubrey McClendon is the CEO of Chesapeake Energy. His relative and golf buddy, Congressman Fred Upton, is the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. And Fred Upton is trying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases. Natural gas obtained using hydraulic fracturing, as McClendon's company does, has recently been found to emit more greenhouse gases than coal."

It seems like Chesapeake Energy needs to go on the same list as Koch Industries. McClendon isn't as rich as the Koch brothers, but he's deeply entangled in the same pro-privatization agenda.

[valerief]

12. I don't want to eat fracked-up fruits and vegetables or drink fracked-up milk.

Shit, how do we avoid this bullshit?

[glinda]

13. Apparent to me they are polluting on purpose at this point. Wreck it and then you can have it all.

Seriously, can this many accidents just happen all the time? Id so, it should all stop. But I think it is on purpose. They kill it, dirty it up and they can go whole hog at it.

[pootbutta]

14. no fracking

i'm glad to see this post... but obviously not glad to see what happened.
and our Gov will not only NOT stop this, but won't even tax it!!!!!!!!!!!

[cory777]

15. Major fracking spill happening now in Pennsylvania

Source: grist

We have the makings of an environmental disaster in northern Pennsylvania at the moment. According to local Pennsylvania television station WNEP, a natural-gas well blew out in the middle of the night while crews were engaged in "fracking" activities:

Bradford County's director of public safety said a Chesapeake well went out of control late Tuesday night. That means the well blew near the surface, spilling thousands and thousands of gallons of frack fluid over containment walls, through fields, personal property and farms, even where cattle continue to graze.

DEP is taking ground water and stream samples to determine the extent of the spill.

Officials said fluids from the well have, in fact, contaminated Towanda Creek which feeds into the Susquehanna River.


Read more: http://www.grist.org/natural-gas/2011-04-20-major-fracking-spill-happening-now-in-pennsylvania

---

Uncensored Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. What can I say at this point?

[Wilms]

17. K&R n/t ?

:shrug:

[krispos42]

18. Remember, folks... fracking fluid is natural, so it's okay

Just like crude petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico... natural!

[HankyDubs]

19. this can't be true

I just saw another commercial telling me how green and clean natural gas is.

[PatrynXX]

22. Up until Gasland, I thought it was clean

Until they abused it. This one is totally on Cheney's head. The legacy of deregulation. still concerned about earthquakes and fracking and this bullshit happens.

[ejpoeta]

25. omg!! my husband said after five minutes of that movie he would never allow that

here!! i would hope they wouldn't do it here as we border a wildlife preserve. I don't think people look past that money.... how much does it end up costing them again in poisoned water, resale value of their property, their health? uggh!! i did not realize you could have a natural gas spill either. i figure they are filling that hole with so much toxic crap that will make it's way into the whole area.....

[katnapped]

33. Yeah seriously!

Just look at those farmers and old people praising "mah natchrul gas compnee Range Resources". Surely the commercials wouldn't lie?

[SkyDaddy7]

20. Will the MSM even cover it?

Me doubt it!

[Enthusiast]

29. It will not be mentioned.

Except on MSNBC.

[SkyDaddy7]

21. I hope some gets a sample of the fracking fluid...

to test what is in it!!

[SpiralHawk]

23. "None of your business." - RepubliFrack, Inc. (R)

"You citizens and landowners can just STFU and sit down. Sneer."

- RepubliFrack, Inc. (R)

[SkyDaddy7]

48. EXACTLY! "We are regulating ourselves!" nt.

[Selatius]

26. Not to be cynical, but it's probably safe to assume something that gives you cancer. nt

[SkyDaddy7]

49. Right! They have been refusing to tell the EPA what they use...

I think this would be a good time to get a sample & have it tested! If someone was not quick thinking then they have already blocked folks from getting anywhere near the spill.

[PVnRT]

41. It could be anything

Water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, air to unspecified "foams" or "gels."

[Chef Eric]

24. Thanks for the deregulation, Gov. Corbett. nt

[katnapped]

34. He has no problem with it

Long as the profits and campaign funds keep rolling in. As for all those unfortunate people, "They gots bottled water they sell in stores now, y'know" :sarcasm:

[barbtries]

27. get some of that water

and find out what's in it. this sucks.

[wickerwoman]

28. What does "frack" mean in a non-Battlestar Galactica context?

And BTW clearly I've wasted my life.

[tclambert]

30. Hydraulic fracturing. They pump fluid into the ground at high pressure to fracture the rock

which makes it easier for natural gas and/or oil to move through the rock to the well, after the fracking fluid is pumped out again. What is in fracking fluid? Sorry. That's proprietary. (Means awful, awful stuff.) What happens to it after they fracture rocks with it? They pump every single drop of it out again, and keep it in carefully isolated retention pools, so none of it can ever, ever get into your drinking water. They're professionals, so you can trust them. Just like those guys at BP. They've looked at every possible scenario and worked out exactly what to do in every contingency to make sure they can make a profit.

In other words, frack means the exact same thing as it does in BSG.

[wickerwoman]

36. Thanks for the explanation.

This story makes slightly more sense now.

:hi:

[sofa king]

40. That's sure to be the funniest thing I've read all day.

In a sad, sad way, unfortunately, but still an excellent conclusion.

[florida08]

31. hells bells

Are they just trying to kill us and the planet?

Chemicals used..or yeah and Groundwater protection is priority 1..guess they didn't see Gasland
http://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used

Map of intensive fracking
http://8020vision.com/2011/04/17/congress-releases-report-on-toxic-chemicals-used-in-fracking/

[katnapped]

35. Of course

Can't leave all that untapped money in the ground, now can we?

[florida08]

46. yeah..that's their thinking alright

yet there's a 500 fine for littering :eyes: but poisoning ground water..nah it's all natural chemicals..mostly sand and water.

[Butch350]

47. When it's done for a Buck...

...they don't Give-A-F**K !

[JJW]

32. Recent Sudy -Dirty as coal

Recent study from Cornell says the release of methane make natural gas dirtier than burning coal. PA politicians should be in jail for being environmental terrorists.

[Hubert Flottz]

37. "Atomic Douche Water is as safe as clown's milk"...

"Nothing to see here, now move out smartly"

The turd polishing Chesapeake PR team will be right on it.

They're "fracking" our American dreams as I type.

[HolyCity2012]

38. "Fracking Spill"?

You people do realize that even if this stuff is used 100% correctly it is still 100% dangerous?

Spilling it or pumping it into the ground, as it is intended, it's all bad.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

39. What news to wake up to...

How, when, what can be done to stop these monsters...

[RoccoR5955]

42. Corporations are killing the planet for profit.

It's time to end Capitalism as we know it. First of all it is flawed on its main premise, whereby there are unlimited resources. We live on a planet with a finite amount of natural resources, and we should conserve them for the future, not try to get as much as we can for them and make more money. Time to share things, and live lower on the hog than we have been.

[chillspike]

43. As George Costanza would say

That's just fabulous.

[DCKit]

44. 33 recs and 24 posts, and the defenders haven't shown up yet.

It's a DU record!

[H2O Man]

45. Damn it.

This is so upsetting.

I've been working with anti-fracking groups in NYS and PA. There is no satisfaction in saying, "Told you so" to those who favor this dangerous exploitation of the earth's resources.