Health and Toxics: In the News

Ohio State Report Links Gas Well to House Explosion and Water Well Contamination, Paul Thomas, www.WKYC.com, 5/15/08. 

BAINBRIDGE TWP. -- Dozens of homeowners had no say in the matter when a gas well was drilled close to their homes in Geauga County last fall.  Less than two months after the drilling started, more than two dozen families were evacuated from their homes because of gas in their water wells.

A new report by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mineral Resources Management, found that problems with the construction and venting of the gas well led to the contamination of private water wells and a house explosion. Click here for report

In December, Thelma and Rick Payne were jolted from their bed after their house was blown off its foundation. Methane gas leaked into the Payne's water well and was ignited by the home's heating system.  The state report traces the problems back to the gas well operator, Ohio Valley Energy Systems Corporation.  In a letter to affected residents, ODNR found that a cement job at the bottom of the gas well was "deficient."

The investigation also revealed that gas pressure within the confined well area was allowed to build up to the point where the gas eventually forced it's way up into surrounding bedrock and water wells.

Deputy Chief of Division of Mineral Resources Management Scott Kell wrote, "Ohio Valley Energy erred in closing the wellhead valve rather than temporarily venting or flaring the annular gas, prior to completing remedial cementing operations."

The following articles ran in the Spring/Summer 2006 edition of the Oil and Gas Accountability Report.

ALABAMA: Residents along Old Stage Road in Conecuh County, Alabama, have been experiencing headaches, open sores, miscarriages and other health effects, which they believe are related to air and water contamination.

In March, 2006, an oil and gas company operating in Conecuh County was fined for releasing unpermitted emissions of various compounds including hydrogen sulfide, a potentially deadly gas often associated with oil production in south Alabama. Residents of Old Stage Road have also noticed thick, unidentified foamy substances in water they say is connected to their water wells.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management, while not admitting that contamination of water wells has occurred, has agreed to help get them connected to city water. Sources: Mobile Press Register. March 28, 2006. "ADEM proposed big fine for oil company polluting in Conecuh."

Sources: CBS 8 TV, Montgomery, AL. "Complaints of Contamination-Whistleblower Special Report"

COLORADO: Last fall, Michael Cervi, a Colorado rancher and rodeo producer was sent to federal prison for violating the Safe Drinking Water Act. Cervi's violation was related to his side business - an oil and gas waste recycling and disposal company called Envirocycle.

Cervi and his employees were caught "tampering with monitoring equipment to hide leaks in the underground storage of chemical-laced wastewater left over from oil well drilling." These acts resulted in the contamination of soil and groundwater with oilfield wastewater that contained benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene.

Sources: Rocky Mountain News. September 10, 2005. "Weld rancher sentenced for violating safe water law."  And U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Colorado. May 27, 2005. Press Release.

COLORADO: On May 10, 2006, a fire at an EnCana natural-gas condensate tank and pit burned for five hours near Rifle, CO. According to a local resident, nearby landowners were "terrified" by the 200-foot flames. Residents were unable to get answers about potential health impacts from the burning wastes, since neither the company nor local or state authorities bothered taking air quality samples during the blaze.

Sources: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. "Fire burns at gas well site" (05/10/2006); "Observing the clowns in the gas drilling circus" Letter to the editor (05/15/2006).

MICHIGAN: "Big Oil in Small Town America," is a new book that documents a Michigan community's struggle to get oil and gas companies, and various government agencies charged with protecting citizens, to take responsibility for what the citizens claim were illegal emissions of hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic by-product of some oil and gas operations. The book's author, Jaime Long, suffered a stroke, which she attributes to oil and gas chemical exposures.

For information: http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=33861

NEW MEXICO: At around 10 p.m. on June 7, 2006, a spill of hydraulic fracturing fluid at a Halliburton facility created a toxic cloud that caused a mass evacuation of 200 residents from a nearby neighborhood.

Between 30 and 60 gallons of an "acidizing composition," which is used while hydraulically fracturing some oil and gas wells, spilled while Halliburton employees were mixing the fluid. The city fire chief said that the product may cause skin and respiratory burns, is harmful if swallowed, and will combust at 103 degrees F. One resident said that she was nauseous and vomited clear liquid for several hours after being exposed to the toxic cloud.

Source: Farmington Daily Times. July 7, 2006. "Halliburton spill results in acid cloud."

OKLAHOMA: The McQuay family of Eufala, Oklahoma did not expect to receive hazardous waste when it accepted "fill dirt" from an oil company. But hazardous it was.

The dirt came from an old drilling pit, and the company, West Bay Exploration, was supposed to transport the waste to a commercial waste disposal site. Instead, they offered it as clean fill to the McQuays.

When the dirt was found to contain high levels of arsenic, dioxins and total petroleum hydrocarbons, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered West Bay Exploration to remove the contaminated dirt. After the initial removal, tests showed continued contamination, but instead of requiring additional excavation EPA gave the company the option of covering up the contaminated areas.

Julie McQuay feels betrayed by the EPA. "There's no need to let this land, when there was nothing wrong with it to begin with become a covered up, contaminated waste site."

Source: KOTV News Oklahoma. Oct. 14, 2005. "Eufala Owners deal with dirt problems."

TEXAS: There is extensive hydrocarbon pollution in the skies above North Texas, home to the Barnett Shale oil and gas boom. Hydrocarbons are at a level equivalent to what was once considered to be the entire country's annual hydrocarbon emissions level.

A number of area residents are concerned about the effect of the drilling boom on the environment and human health locally. Researchers from the University of California and the University of North Texas Institute of Applied Sciences, agree that there is a need to better understand the contribution of the oil and gas industry to the air pollution in the region.

Although both the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Railroad Commission are empowered to monitor oil and gas industry emissions, neither agency does so.

Source: Denton Record-Chronicle. May 30, 2006. "Cars not only culprit for smog."

For More Information

Other stories on potential health impacts related to oil and gas development:

• Residents in the gas-fields of Colorado have been experiencing numerous health-related illnesses. Find out more. 
  
• Condensate pit odors and fires affect Colorado residents
  
• Drilling fluids seep from waste pit and taint Colorado landowner's drinking water
  
• Colorado family's water well contaminated after hydraulic fracturing near their home
  
• Alabama family suspects health problems linked to coalbed methane hydraulic fracturing of coalbed methane wells