Equitrans Midstream says the well at its Rager Mountain storage facility is venting about 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
By MICHAEL BIESECKER and MICHAEL RUBINKAM, The Associated Press
If accurate, that would total 1.1 billion cubic feet in emissions so far, which would equal to the greenhouse gas emissions from burning 1,080 rail cars of coal. The Rager facility is in Jackson Township, at the heart of the Marcellus Shale formation which has seen a boom in gas production since the introduction of hydraulic fracturing more than a decade ago. Residents living as far as four miles away from the leak told The Associated Press on Friday they could hear the roar of pressurized gas escaping from the well and could smell the fumes.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is colorless and odorless. But when the gas is processed for transport and sale, producers add a chemical called mercaptan to give it a distinctive “rotten egg” smell that helps make people aware of leaks. The Rager facility has 10 storage wells with a total storage capacity of 9 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Equitrans announced Thursday the leak had been stopped when workers flooded the leaking well, but the hiss of venting gas returned early Friday morning.
The citations issued against the company by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection include failures to properly maintain and operate the gas facility, creating a public nuisance and producing a “hazard to public health a safety.” The company was also cited for failing to provide state inspectors “free and unrestricted access.”
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