July 24, 2010- An explosion at an Indiana Township gas well Friday morning killed two workers and ignited a fire that burned for 10 hours before being extinguished.
The fire was put out about 7:45 p.m. and the well capped about 9:30 p.m., said Helen Humphreys, spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection.
Specialists from Houston-based Wild Well Control Inc. flew to the region and put the fire out by using a process that included forcing water into the well and displacing the gas, Humphreys said.
Allegheny County emergency officials had allowed the fire to burn until the specialists arrived.
“We could have put the fire out, but that would have been reckless and dangerous,” said county Emergency Services Chief Bob Full, citing the potential for another blast. “It’s not unsafe to the people or to the community, but it is unsafe at the scene for firefighters.”
The explosion occurred in a remote, wooded area off Rich Hill Road at 9:48 a.m., shaking nearby houses and sending a plume of black smoke into the air, officials said. The power of the blast flung a nearby oil storage tank that measured 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide more than 70 yards, Full said.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office did not release the workers’ identities yesterday. At least three other workers were at the site when the explosion occurred, but they were not injured, officials said.
The more than 200 firefighters who responded faced obstacles: from the sweltering heat and humidity and hilly terrain to the lack of easy access to the site or water lines. Tanker trucks were brought in from neighboring departments, and firefighters had to stretch hoses for more than two miles. Four firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.
The shallow oil well, which is owned by Monroeville-based Huntley & Huntley, has produced natural gas since it was drilled two years ago. The well is 3,500 feet deep.
Huntley & Huntley President Keith N. Mangini said subcontractors were performing routine maintenance work on one of two oil storage tanks at the site when the blast occurred. Humphreys said workers had been welding.
“Our deepest sympathies and heartfelt prayers are with the families of the victims of this accident,” Mangini said. He did not identify the workers or their employers.
The explosion was the region’s third industrial blast in 10 days. The Indiana Township explosion, along with blasts at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Works and Horsehead Corp.’s zinc smelting plant in Beaver County, combined to kill four workers and injure 21.
Mangini said Huntley & Huntley was cooperating with investigating agencies, including DEP and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The company has more than 350 gas wells in the region. DEP has cited Huntley & Huntley for four violations since 1998. The company was cited twice but not fined in February 2000 for failure to submit an annual production report. It was cited twice and fined $8,425 for unspecified violations in November 1998. None of its wells in Indiana Township received DEP permits prior to 2004.
Wild Well Control was called in last month to plug the Marcellus shale well that blew up in Clearfield County.
As one of the first well safety companies in Western Pennsylvania, Wild Well Control handles most of the business in the region, running safety seminars in addition to its emergency work, said Matt Pitzarella, spokesman for Range Resources-Appalachia.
Neighbors were shaken by the explosion.
“My wife, she heard the explosion, and it shook the trailer where we live,” said David Louis, who lives and works at Teen Challenge, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility about a half-mile from the accident. He saw thick black smoke and smelled something burning just before police arrived.
“It was like a small little earthquake,” he said. “It was powerful enough to shake the ground.”
Louis remembers when the gas wells were started, and the drill would run all night. He didn’t used to worry about safety around the gas wells, but he will now.
“I have four kids, and I take them on walks in the woods past the wells. I definitely won’t be doing that anymore. I’m concerned now,” he said.
Some neighbors feared an incident like this would happen.
“We had been talking about the potential for problems for a long time,” said Jim Biernesser. “I don’t understand how they can come into a residential neighborhood and drill all these wells.”
Added Anne Arnold, 48, whose family has lived in the area since the 1940s: “It was noisy when they put them (wells) in, and now it’s a worry. We were used to peace and quiet and the animals. Then they came in. It’s an invasion of our privacy.”
Original source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/lifestyles/s_691713.html
