Pennsylvania Fracking Spill: Natural Gas Well Blowout Spills Thousands Of Gallons Of Drilling Fluid
Huffington Post reports Environmental Fracking Disaster
Thousands of gallons of fracking fluid have spilled following an accident at a natural gas well in Pennsylvania, WNEP reports.
The Chesapeake Energy well in Bradford County lost control late Tuesday night.
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.
Francis Roupp, deputy director of the county emergency management agency, told AP that there were no injuries, and that although fluids have reached a small stream, “no adverse effects” have been reported.
Roupp suggests a cracked well casing could be the culprit behind the fracking spill, but that certain details won’t be known until the situation is under control.
Pennlive.com reports that seven families have been evacuated as a result of the spill.
The chemicals used in fracking fluids have been a contentious subject, as many energy companies have long guarded them as a “trade secret.” A recent report released by three House Democrats says that millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens, such as methanol, have been injected into wells across the country by energy companies using the controversial fracking method.
Developing reports of the fracking spill in Pennsylvania come at a time when the fossil fuel industry is facing intense public scrutiny, as today marks the one-year anniversary of the Gulf oil spill.
