Pennsylvania natgas well has blowout during fracking

20 Apr 2011 20:38

Source: reuters // Reuters


* Pennsylvania natgas well blows out during fracking( slang term for hydraulic fracturing.)

* Local residents have been evacuated

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - A natural gas well was spilling thousands of gallons of fracking fluid water in Pennsyvlania on Wednesday after a blowout during the process of fracturing the bedrock, state and local regulators said.

The well, operated by Chesapeake Energy CHK.N, suffered a blowout during the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the state environmental regulators said. .

The well began spewing water at 11.45 p.m. on Tuesday and local residents have been evacuated from Leroy Township, Bradford County, the company said in a statement. No one was hurt, it said.

"An equipment failure occurred during well-completion activities, allowing the release of completion fluids," the statement said.

Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used to release natural gas trapped in shale rock by blasting it with a mix of water, sand and chemicals. Environmentalists and some neighbors of wells have complained that the process can pollute water supplies.

Local authorities have expressed concern about the environmental impact of the spilling fluid, said Francis Roupp, deputy director of Bradford County emergency management agency. (Reporting by Janet McGurty, Edward McAllister and Kristina Cooke; Editing by David Gregorio)