Posts Tagged ‘Cabot Oil & Gas Co.’

DEP probes Cabot Oil & Gas query about “discharge of black water” in Dimock Twp.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

DIMOCK TWP. – The state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating a possible leak or spill at a natural gas drilling site in Susquehanna County.

Mark Carmon, DEP spokesman at the Wilkes-Barre office, said the department received a call to its emergency response line from Cabot Oil & Gas Co. on Sunday afternoon informing the department that employees found “a discharge of black water” at the site.

The call was referred to the department’s Gas & Oil Program team, which operates from DEP’s Williamsport office.

Dan Spadoni, DEP spokesman at that office, said the team is investigating “the possibility of a spill or leak at Cabot’s Hibbard drill pad” since Monday, but has not yet determined if there was a spill or leak at the site.

Spadoni said there are two wells on one pad at the site, and no drilling activity is currently taking place. He said the team took samples from a private drinking water well that is currently not being used, from two nearby springs and from the site pit.

The samples are being analyzed at DEP’s lab in Harrisburg.

“We need to see those results to see what our future course of action will be,” Spadoni said.

He expected lab results back in a week or two.

Spadoni said Cabot’s consultant also collected samples and the drill cuttings in the pit for analysis. Site pits, which are lined, are where the residue from the drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes ends up, he said.

There was discussion on an online Susquehanna County gas forum about the possibility of a nearby pond being drained, but Spadoni said he had no information about the pond and no samples were collected from it.

He confirmed Cabot had a vacuum truck on-site “in response to where this dark fluid was observed. It was a voluntary measure on their part,” he said.

Spadoni said he believes there was no recent drilling activity at the site. The site had not been shut down because of the discovery of the liquid, he said.

Ken Komoroski, spokesman for Cabot Oil & Gas, said there was no indication of any environmental contamination or pollution.

“Discolored water was observed over the weekend and Cabot immediately responded to observing water in a ditch. We notified DEP and took the additional measure to have a vacuum truck remove water from ditch,” Komoroski said, adding that employees noticed the water while driving by the site on Route 29.

Cabot also drained the pit to check if it was possible the water was leaking from the drill pit, but the pit liner was “completely intact. All indications are that it was not a result of Cabot activities,” Komoroski said.

Komoroski said the drill site has been in existence “for quite some time, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason” for the discolored water to appear “since it hasn’t been active site. We were not able to identify any potential cause or relationship.”

He said the water was found “in the vicinity of the site, but close enough that we wanted to consider the possibility that it was related to our activities.”

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

Copyright: Times Leader

In addition to anticipated jobs and profits from natural-gas drilling, water usage should increase as regional operations get under way.

That could mean more income for water haulers and sanitary authorities.

Drilling companies have been ramping up activities because an underground rock layer known as Marcellus Shale is expected to contain billions of dollars in natural gas deposits.

Each well-drilling operation could require up to 1 million gallons of water. While the water can be reused, it eventually must be disposed of at a treatment facility.

The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority hasn’t accepted any well-drilling wastewater, but it is interested.

“If it’s not hazardous to our plant, and if DEP approves us as a disposal site, we would consider it,” executive director Fred DeSanto said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection recently sent a letter to sanitary authorities advising them that wastewater from the drilling can be harmful to certain treatment systems and cause them to violate their discharge permits. The water must be tested and approved by DEP.

Such contracts could be lucrative, but have potential problems. WVSA, the major wastewater treatment facility in Luzerne County, charges 3.5 cents per gallon for treatment of up to 2 million gallons and 3 cents for quantities beyond that.

That could help offset the estimated $6 million in upgrades the authority said it needs to meet Chesapeake Bay watershed agreement discharge standards.

That quick influx, however, creates a problem.

Sandy Bartosiewicz, WVSA’s financial and budget officer, said the authority has never been in a situation where it accepted “that amount of volume at one time.”

It will also have an impact on wastewater haulers.

“The volume of the material is significant,” said Chris Ravenscroft, president of Honesdale-based Koberlein Environmental Services. “I don’t think there’s any one company out there that has the capacity for the volume. … So I think there’s a large volume of work that will be generated.”

He said his company is actively seeking energy companies that are looking for haulers and treatment facilities. Gas companies are investigating drilling possibilities through the Marcellus region, which stretches from upstate New York through northern and western Pennsylvania, including the upper fringe of Luzerne County, and down into Virginia. Several wells have been drilled in this region, according to DEP spokesman Mark Carmon.

Cabot Oil & Gas Co. announced recently a well in Susquehanna County became its first to generate income.

Copyright: Times Leader