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This story was updated on January 4, 2012. What if a predrill water well test conducted during the biggest boom for natural gas became meaningless? At least one predrill test in Pennsylvania has been deemed insufficient by natural [...]
Under a Consent Order and Agreement, or COA, Chesapeake will pay DEP $900,000 for contaminating private water supplies in Bradford County, of which $200,000 must be dedicated to DEP’s well-plugging fund. Under a second COA, Chesapeake will pay $188,000 for a Feb. 23 tank fire at its drilling site in Avella, Washington County.“It is important to me and to this administration that natural gas drillers are stewards of the environment, take very seriously their responsibilities to comply with our regulations,...
Eleven hours after giving Galeton the check, a Chesapeake Marcellus well site two hours east had so much 'flowback' from hydraulic fracturing that the toxic fluids could not be contained, spilling over into a tributary of the Susquehanna River and leading to the evacuation of seven families. The well leaked fluids, and then natural gas, for over two days before Chesapeake gained control.
Where the drilling and fracturing happened, water wells sometimes became contaminated. Waste pits leaked into aquifers. Large quantities of fresh water were used. Mountain glaciers and Wyoming valleys became shrouded in smog. Reports began to emerge that natural gas might cause almost as much greenhouse gas pollution as coal. Now the industry is at a crucial point. Even as the hard lessons have come into focus, the myriad opportunities presented by this vast fuel source have made its development inevitable.