Toxic fluids in the creek...coming soon to our valley?

[Towntalk]

If you are going to cite specific incidents go to the news sources closest to the incident and not rely on fourth or fith hand reports. FYI - The AP (Associated Press) draws from member newspapers for a large quanity of articles that it places on its news service and in this case it was the Williamsport Sun Gazette since Pine Creek is located there as the unincorporated village Waterville is an unincorporated community in the dense woods of the GlaciatedAllegheny Plateau in south-central Cummings Township. It lies in the deep valley of Pine Creek, Pine Creek Gorge, at the mouth of Little Pine Creek. Pennsylvania Route 44 travels through Waterville, heading south-southeastward along Pine Creek to the borough of Jersey Shore.^[7] The city of Williamsport, the county seat of Lycoming County, is to the east. Pine Creek Gorge is also known as the Grand Canyon of the East.

By going to my web site Reporters Notebook you could quickly find all the newspapers in America to get the full story and not have to rely on third or fourth party articles written by folks who don't even know where Williamsport is.



Here are two more Williamsport, Pa. sources.

WNEP-TV

Crash Spills Fluid from Gas Drilling into Creek

http://wnep.com/2012/09/26/crash-spills-fluid-from-gas-drilling-into-creek/

Video included.


Williamsport Sun Gazette

About 4,500 gallons of treated water enters creek

http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/583822/About-4-500-gallons-of-treated-water-enters-creek.html?nav=5011

[Why?Town]

This is the kind of disaster we need to be prepared for in Mahoning County, yet Ohio law forbids our emergency responders to have a plan specific for dealing with oil & gas accidents, we can only have a general plan for any industrial accident or hazmat spill.

If the the law actually forbids a specific plan as opposed to not requiring one, I agree this is a problem with state law as having a specific plan shouldn't pose a problem to anyone.

I don't know enough to say oil and gas need a specific plan or not, but again, it shouldn't pose a problem.

[Why?Town]

After a little more searching I did find the story on a legitimate news site.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-27/tanker-spills-drilling-wastewater-in-pa-dot-creek

JERSEY SHORE, Pa. (AP) — A tanker carrying 4,600 gallons of fracking wastewater has spilled its load near a storm drain that empties into Pine Creek, a popular fishing spot in Pennsylvania's Lycoming County.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says the truck spilled treated wastewater on State Route 44 in Watson Township on Wednesday afternoon. DEP says it's not clear how many gallons have spilled. The agency has sampled various spots on Pine Creek and says it has not detected any harm to fish.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the technique used by drillers to tap into deep reserves of natural gas. Each fracked well can produce millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater.

Funny (sad actually) how the "Green" websites all seem to link to each other, clog up the search engines and don't even get the story quite right. I'm especially surprised they used a smaller number of gallons than what was potentially spilled.

[Why?Town]

According to readings from the USGS station in Waterville, Pine Creek is currently flowing at about 2,300 gallons per second. Gordon of Minuteman said that 3,600 gallons of treated water were released. Responsible Drilling Alliance is still trying to understand what impact the accident will have on the creek.

I can't imagine there would be much, if any, impact at all. Even with absolutely no intervention by anyone, at that flow rate the amount treated water to creek water was down to 26 PPM (parts per million) after ten minutes, 4.35 PPM after 1 hour and less than 2/10 of one percent after 24 hours.

And remember this was treated water. Water that per the article has had been through "a chemical precipitation process that removes heavy metals, minerals, and other constituents".


BTW, when did this occur? The only thing I can find on a spill into Pine Creek is from March 2010 and didn't mention any truck wreck.

[Rick Rowlands]

Had a tanker truck flip over on the 711 ramp a few months ago spilling diesel fuel...  We all survived.

[irishbobcat]

This is the kind of disaster we need to be prepared for in Mahoning County, yet Ohio law forbids our emergency responders to have a plan specific for dealing with oil & gas accidents, we can only have a general plan for any industrial accident or hazmat spill.

3,600 gal. spill "Hydraulic Stimulation Fluid" into Pine Creek, Pennsylvania 9/26 "Minuteman Environmental Services truck released 3,600 gallons of HydroRecovery LP's "Hydraulic Stimulation Fluid" into Pine Creek after crashing into a cliff along Route 44 yesterday afternoon. Firefighters placed booms in the creek to mitigate contamination. By the time Emergency Response arrived on the scene, the tanker had drained completely. The valve had been severed from the tank." tip via Responsible Drilling Alliance & Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air

http://responsibledrillingalliance.org/index.php/education/violations/389-pine-creek-spill