NORWICH – Members of the Chenango County Planning Board were surprised to learn Tuesday that what was described as an “explosion” had occurred at a natural gas well in Preston last month.
Central New York Landowners’ Coalition member Todd Barnes asked the group whether they knew anything about the incident. “The DEC (the state’s environmental regulating authority) checks well sites. Do they know about this explosion? I’d like to know how much is known at the state level about this, and just what was blown out,” Barnes said.
“Who knows about this?” Chenango County Planning and Economic Development Committee Chair Linda E. Natoli asked. After ascertaining that not one of 15 county and municipal level planners in the boardroom had been informed, Natoli, R-City of Norwich, responded: “Somebody’s been trying to keep this a secret.”
One construction worker at the site was taken to Chenango Memorial Hospital for ear drum and eye injuries, according to the well’s operators, Nornew, Inc. Due to privacy policies, hospital officials could not confirm nor deny if or when anyone was treated for injuries related to a gas well accident.
Barnes told the Planning Board that he had personally seen an 18-inch by 2-foot chunk of well casing that had been blown into the air.
The well was drilled into the Oneida substrata on property owned by Edgar and Evelyn Blood. The couple leased a portion of their Preston land to Nornew, Inc. five years ago. When contacted following the meeting Tuesday, Edgar confirmed that an accident did occur in early July as the result of a faulty valve. He said it sounded “like an express train going through.”
Blood said construction workers were checking, or “burning off,” the gas to measure pressure and clarity. After it had burned off to their satisfaction, and the workers were setting the well head on, the final valve blew off.
“It took them about a half to three quarters of an hour to get it back under control,” Blood said, adding that several people were watching the operation, but were not visibly afraid.
“We had heard the terrific noise from when the gas escapes several times when they were testing the well. They control it pretty thoroughly, with people watching 24 hours a day. But, we hadn’t heard such a sudden thing like this. This one was uncontrolled.”
Nornew, Inc. spokesman Dennis Holbrook said, “There was no explosion; there was pressure testing. The incident occured while workers were engaged in pressure testing.”
Holbrook confirmed that a worker was treated and released from the hospital for related injuries. “The way the well produces is because the gas is under pressure. It is possible for equipment to malfunction. The important thing is that this was immediately addressed,” he said.
NYDEC spokesperson Diane Carlton said the only element that would have escaped from the well during the incident would have been methane. Hydrocholoric acid, a chemical used to keep natural gas pores open down deep within the well, would have been highly diluted by water.
“Any acid that was being used would have been long gone by the time the accident happened,” she said.
The Central New York Landowners Coalition, which represents 750 landowners and a total of 80,000 acres from 11 counties, was on hand at the monthly meeting of the county’s planning board. The Coalition, formed in May, has not submitted its final bid package to prospective gas companies yet because it is still weighing environmental issues.
“We don’t have a close date yet. It’s too early. We want to make sure our protections are there, especially for our water. We are, most of us, farmers, and will be out of business without water,” Barnes said. Barnes and Charlie Rowe, both members and volunteers on the Coalition’s steering committee, have been educating many groups throughout the region about natural gas drilling.
In addition to the Preston incident, Barnes told the group he was aware of a well pit containing drilling sludge and water that had remained exposed for two months.
“There was no fence to keep animals out. And, I don’t want to think what would have happened if we’d had these heavy rains before they covered it. It would have flooded that right out,” he said.
Rowe passed out a sample letter for property owners to submit if choosing to legally contest seismic testing along right-of-ways. The letter states, “The county only has the right on roadways for the purpose of transportation of vehicles, and seismic testing does not fall under the jurisdiction.”
“Property owners pay taxes to the center of a town or county’s right-of-way and should, therefore, be consulted before seismic testing is permitted. They (the companies) are getting data off you without your consent,” Rowe said.
Chenango County and other municipalities have allowed seismic testing on multiple town and county roadways. Chenango County Pubic Works Director Randy Gibbon said he was aware of the sample document, but had not been instructed to halt permitting. “That paragraph about right-of-way permitting for transportation only is simply not true,” Gibbon said this morning.