Jan 26, 2011 2 min read

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – State environmental authorities said Tuesday they were investigating a minor blowout at a Marcellus Shale natural-gas well in a public forest in northern Pennsylvania that sent polluted drilling wastewater and sand shooting into the air but caused no injuries.

The Department of Environmental Protection said specialists regained control over the Talisman Energy Inc. well in rural Tioga County after several hours on Jan. 17.

There was no fire or explosion, and no significant amount of natural gas was released, the agency said.

It cited a Talisman subsidiary for violating state laws governing clean streams, solid waste management and gas drilling. Spilled fluids appear to have been limited to the lined well pad, DEP said.

Soil samples were still being evaluated, the agency said.

The well remains shut down, the agency said.

A DEP notice of violation sent to Talisman on Monday cited the company as saying that a needle valve on a casing wing valve failed at 12:10 p.m.

A spokesman for Calgary-based Talisman had no immediate comment Tuesday.

Talisman is an international exploration company and plans to drill 100 wells in the Marcellus Shale in 2011, down from the 170 it expected in 2010.

Blowouts are rare.

The last one reported in Pennsylvania by the DEP was in June, when an EOG Resources Inc. well went out of control for 16 hours and sent polluted drilling water into a couple of nearby creeks.

A state consultant’s investigation found that EOG did not use a proper backup pressure-control system and had taken similar safety shortcuts on at least some of its other wells in Pennsylvania.

Local emergency responders, well-control specialists and department officials all showed up at the scene of the Talisman well.

DEP spokesman Dan Spadoni said a Talisman official alerted the agency’s emergency response hotline about 90 minutes after the company lost control of the well.

CUDD Well Control Services already was on site, the DEP said.

Talisman was fined earlier this month for spilling diesel fuel at another well in northern Pennsylvania that required the excavation of contaminated soil and the collection of contaminated water.

The Associated Press

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