A vent at an underground natural gas storage well in Western Pennsylvania has been emitting massive amounts of methane into the atmosphere for more than a week and attempts to plug the leak have failed.
According to initial estimates, the well at Equitrans Midstream's Rager Mountain storage facility is capable of releasing 100 million gallons of natural gas per day.
It would equal the greenhouse gas emissions from burning 1,080 rail cars of coal if it were true.
The company was issued a notice of possible violations. The FAA restricted flights from within a mile of the leaking well as a precautionary measure.
The company has been working with a specialty well services company to plug the leak and there are no immediate public safety concerns.
The Rager facility is located in Jackson Township, which has seen a boom in gas production since the introduction of hydraulic fracturing. People living as far away from the leak as four miles told The Associated Press on Friday that they could hear the roar of gas escaping from the well.
The air and noise at her house are so bad that she can't sleep.
The mother said it sounded like a jet plane taking off when she was laying in bed. Everyone tells us we are safe. It doesn't feel safe if you can't smell it.
Natural gas is a mixture of methane and other gasses. mercaptan is added to the gas to make it smell bad and make people aware of leaks.
The earth-warming power of methane is 83 times stronger than the carbon dioxide that comes from cars and power plants. Oil and gas companies are the top industrial emitters of methane, which will be disrupting the climate for a long time.
The EPA updated proposed new rules to cut harmful emissions from oil and gas operations.
There are 10 storage wells at the Rager facility with a total storage capacity. The leak had been stopped when workers flooded the well, but it came back early Friday morning.
The company wouldn't be able to provide an accurate account of the gas lost until an inventory verification study was completed, according to Cox.
If the initial estimate is correct, the Rager leak would be comparable to the worst gas leaks in the U.S.
The company has been cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for failing to maintain and operate a gas facility. State inspectors were not given free and unrestricted access.
When the state emergency response team arrived at the site, they were told that access was restricted to critical personnel only.
Cox said that when the state team arrived, Equitrans' contractors were still in the process of implementing a safety boundary to avoid introducing a potential ignition source.
The vent is designed to relieve pressure in the well and prevent a blow up. Cox said the company is withdrawing gas from four storage wells to decrease the pressure in the field. Efforts to plug the leak were expected to go on through the weekend.
People nearby said a resolution can't be too long.
Edana Glessner runs a wedding venue that is 3.6 miles from the well site.
She said that it could be heard during the last wedding they had. Everybody was okay with the smell. We apologized.
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Rubinkam came from northeastern Pennsylvania.
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