DEP Fines Talisman Energy for Diesel Spill at Marcellus Well

Today the PA Department of Environmental Protection announced that it has fined Talisman Energy (formerly known as Fortuna in these parts)  $24,608 for a large diesel fuel spill that occurred in March 2010 in Bradford County. The spill happened at the Putnam 77 Marcellus natural gas well pad in Armenia Township.

According to DEP North-central Regional Director Nels Taber, the diesel spilled off the well pad and into a neighboring farmer’s field. “Talisman is extremely fortunate that it did not impact surface water or wetlands,” Taber told the press.

The company reported the spill to DEP, but has been unable to explain the cause.

According to the DEP press release, discharging the diesel fuel without a permit violates the Clean Streams Law, and failing to manage the waste properly violates the Solid Waste Management Act.

Cleaning up the spill required the excavation and removal of 3,800 tons of contaminated soil. It also meant collecting some 132,000 gallons of contaminated water - from which 450 gallons of diesel fuel was recovered. You can read the DEP press release here.

Update on Spill as Stoscheck Well in Van Etten, NY

Last Monday, March 8, an operator for Talisman Energy (aka Fortuna) discovered brine dripping from the valve of a storage tank during a routine well inspection at Stoscheck well in Van Etten, NY. He reported the spill to NY Department of Environmental Conservation(DEC). At that time he reported that the valve on the brine tank froze and broke.

This Monday (March 15) someone at DEC kindly e-mailed me a spill report form with comments by the investigator, Chad Kehoe. In case you want to look up the spill on DEC's spills incident database, here's the spill number: 0912761.

On Tuesday, March 9 Kehoe visited the site, meeting both Joe Yarosz (DEC) and Jeff Bower (Fortuna). According to Bower, the valve in the brine tank drain line had frozen, damaging the inner seals. 
The pipe cap was also found to have been damaged - either by ice or possibly by cross threading.



The tank was "supposedly" measured on March 3 and had, since then, lost 18 inches of brine - equivalent to 18 barrels or 756 gallons. Upon finding the leak Fortuna drained the tank below the drain line and replaced the valve.

According to Fortuna, the Stoscheck well (drilled into the Trenton-Black River formation) produces a low volume of brine that is fairly dilute. According to Bower, it is less saline than sea water.

Fortuna agreed to dig a couple of test pits and sample soil and groundwater to determine what impacts have resulted from the spill. The first tests are of soil samples dug near the tank - they were sent to Benchmark Labs for analysis and results haven't been returned yet. The need and scope of additional sampling will be determined once the initial results are back.

Brine Spill at Stoscheck Well, Van Etten NY

added on March 15: The spill number for this incident is #0912761

 On Tuesday, March 9, NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) spill team responded to a brine leak reported at the Stoscheck Well in Van Etten (Chemung County), NY.

Paul Bollard, an operator for Talisman Energy (previously Fortuna Energy) discovered brine dripping from the valve during a routine well inspection late on Monday afternoon. He called in the leak and by Tuesday morning the DEC responded with a spill team.

 The leak was caused by fresh water freezing in the valve fitting, Bollard explained. It froze because the brine produced from the Stoscheck well is less salty than the brine from some of the other Trenton-Black River wells.

 Because the high water table is so high in the area – groundwater is found at six feet – Talisman (Fortuna) collected soil samples from different depths at the spill site. The samples have been sent to a laboratory for analysis, but it will take a few days before results are known.

Joseph Yarosz, a mineral resource specialist for Region 8 DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources, suggested some steps Talisman might take to remedy the situation. “Raise the brine tank and build a secondary containment around it,” Yarosz said. He acknowledged that while secondary containment dikes are recommended in the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), they are not required by regulations.

DEP Fines Chesapeake, Schlumberger for Spill in Bradford County, PA

Today the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that they have fined Chesapeake Appalachia LLC and Schlumberger Technology Corp. $15,557 each for a 295-gallon hydrochloric acid spill at Chesapeake’s Chancellor well site in Asylum Township, Bradford County.

"Fortunately, this hazardous waste spill was promptly reported, which proved critical in limiting the environmental damage," DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell told the press. Here is the information DEP released today:

Chesapeake staff notified DEP on Feb. 9 that a 21,000-gallon tank containing 36 percent hydrochloric acid was leaking. The acid was used for hydraulic fracturing.

When a DEP inspector arrived at the site, it was determined that the tank had two leaks and was losing about 7.5 gallons per hour of hydrochloric acid.

Chesapeake’s emergency contractor arrived that evening and removed free-standing acid from the ground with absorbent pads; excavated trenches to contain the acid; neutralized acid-contaminated soil with soda ash and hydrated lime; and transferred about 11,000 gallons of acid from the leaking tank to two temporary tanks.

About 126 tons of contaminated soil had to be excavated, and more than 13,800 gallons of a hydrochloric acid and water mixture were removed from the well site.