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BN 09/07 20:36 *PA. DEP SAYS CHESAPEAKE PROVIDED WATER TO AFFECTED RESIDENTS
BN 09/07 20:35 *PA. DEP BELIEVES CHESAPEAKE MOST LIKELY SOURCE OF GAS :CHK US
BN 09/07 20:35 *PA. DEP SAYS VIOLATION NOT RESOLVED BY CHESAPEAKE :CHK US
BN 09/07 20:35 *PA. DEP SAYS ISSUED VIOLATION NOTICE TO CHESAPEAKE :CHK US
BN 09/07 20:30 *DEP PROBING STRAY METHANE GAS DETECTED IN SUSQUEHANNA RIVER
PRN 09/07 20:15 DEP Investigating Source of Stray Methane Gas in Bradford County
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Chesapeake Gas Wells May Cause Susquehanna's Bubbles, State Says
2010-09-07 22:33:25.24 GMT
By Jim Efstathiou Jr.
Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Methane gas detected in the
Susquehanna River and at six private water wells probably came
from Marcellus Shale wells drilled by Chesapeake Energy Corp.,
Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection said.
Chesapeake was issued a notice of violation and is working
with regulators to determine the source of the gas, the state
agency said today in a statement. Regulators received a report
of water bubbles in the river on Sept. 2 and a day later learned
of water bubbling in private wells in Wilmont Township, Bradford
County, according to the statement. The town is about 30 miles
(48 kilometers) northwest of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
From December 2009 through March, Chesapeake drilled six
wells about 3 miles northwest of the river in the Marcellus
Shale, a gas-rich rock formation from New York to West Virginia.
New York has banned new drilling in the Marcellus Shale pending
studies into potential impacts on water supplies.
"Chesapeake Energy has been working at the direction of
DEP to determine the source or sources of the stray gas," John
Hanger, secretary of the state environmental department, said in
a statement. "Gas migration is a serious, potentially dangerous
problem."
Shale gas is produced by hydraulic fracturing in which
millions of gallons of chemically treated water are forced into
wells to break up rock and allow gas to flow. The wells
suspected of being the source of the migrating gas haven't been
fractured and aren't producing gas.
Biogenic methane can form at shallow levels from natural
decomposition of organic waste, according to the statement.
Thermogenic gas in deeper geologic formations is typically
developed commercially.
Company and state regulators took water samples at the gas
and drinking wells to fingerprint the methane and determine its
source. Results are expected within two weeks.
Chesapeake installed methane monitors, ventilators and has
provided drinking water to residents affected by the gas. No one
has been evacuated. Since 2008, 1,785 gas wells have been
drilled in Pennsylvania's portion of the Marcellus Shale,
according to the DEP website.
For Related News and Information:
Top government stories: TOP GOV <GO>
News on U.S. utilities: TNI UTI US <GO>
Top energy news: ETOP <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
--Editors: Steve Geimann, Larry Liebert
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at +1-212-617-1647 or
jefstathiou@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
liebert@bloomberg.net.
