Category Archives: Nuisance

Drill Site Accident in Pennsylvania

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Well, the unusual news just keeps coming.  Over the long weekend there was a fire on a drill site in Pennsylvania.  Rice Energy was fracking a well and a fire started in one of the frack trucks.   Four frack trucks were damaged along with six frack pumps.

A couple that lives less than 200 yards from the site (poor guys) said the explosion shook the house.  They had lots of neighbors calling to tell them to evacuate, and they did.

16 fire departments responded, most of them to provide water through their pumper trucks.

It’s just a reminder that even though (most) oil and gas companies go out of their way to make things safe, accidents still happen.  Make sure if you sign a lease or a surface use agreement that you consider what will happen if something catastrophic happens.  Think about how much light the drill rig will put off at night, how much noise the flaring operation will make, how much noise the daily operations will make, how much dust and noise all the trucks will bring, and how the operation might affect any unique aspects of your everyday life.

Another Pipeline Rupture: Ash Coulee Creek, ND

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A six-inch oil pipeline in North Dakota has sprung a leak.  The amount of oil spilled is unknown at this time.  The oil has entered Ash Coulee Creek, and the company, Belle Fourche Pipeline Company, has placed booms and a siphon dam across the creek to minimize future damage.

It’s surprising how often these leaks go unnoticed for long periods of time.  The companies promote their electronic sensors as safe and reliable, but well over half of all spills and leaks are discovered by people, not technology.  Even when they do get discovered, they sometimes don’t get fixed, such as this natural gas pipeline near Franklinville, New York.

Five days after the original news of the spill broke, it turns out the spill was over 176,000 gallons of crude.  That’s about 4,190 barrels.

WVU Research Says Fracking Waste is Not Very Radioactive

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WVU Test Wells

WVU Test Wells, Morgantown in the background

West Virginia University has been drilling and fracking two research wells.  They are using the same techniques that the industry uses and doing science on it all.

One conclusion they reached is that the cuttings (crushed rock brought to the surface) are not very radioactive at all.  They believe this was influenced at least in part by using a particular drilling mud.  The conclusion about radioactivity is interesting in light of the recent Kentucky investigation into the radioactivity levels of West Virginia fracking waste.

Another conclusion they reached was that produced water is not safe to drink or discharge into streams.  No surprise there.

The nice thing about this project is that it’s not funded by either the industry or environmentalists.  It’s paid for by the University.  That doesn’t mean that someone on the team isn’t biased, but hopefully the science will be done with a minimum of bias.  We’re looking forward to seeing more of their work reported in the future.

Really Old Wells and Horizontal Fracking

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Bloomberg has an interesting article about old wells in Pennsylvania and how they can affect or be affected by a horizontally fracked well.

West Virginia has the same problem.

The first thing to know about old wells in West Virginia is that we don’t know where they all are.  West Virginia didn’t start assigning API numbers to wells until 1929, at least forty years after oil and gas development really boomed in West Virginia, and at least seventy years after the first oil wells were drilled.  That means there are a lot of well locations out there that are unknown.  How many?

A quick Google search turned up some great photos that can help us get an idea.  The following were taken from a web site about the Kanawha and West Virginia Railroad.  There are many more on other sites.

The photo below was taken in 1913 on Blue Creek in West Virginia.  You can plainly see at least six wells, and possibly another six or seven.  When you look at the larger photo it’s possible that some of what looks like oil derricks are actually just ageing or smudges on the photo.Blue Creek, WV Oil Wells

 

 

This photo of oil wells in West Virginia was taken at another location on Blue Creek, possibly about the same time as the one above.  There are clearly ten oil wells.Oil Derricks on Blue Creek near One Mile Fork

 

 

 

 

 

None of those wells would have had API numbers, and their locations were never recorded by anybody.  Nobody thought they would be important.  They are the kinds of wells that we are concerned with, and they exist all over West Virginia.

Many of these old wells were not properly plugged when they were abandoned.  Someone might have thrown old lumber or trees down the hole, filled it with dirt, and called it a day.  Others might have gotten a little better treatment with some cannon balls or scrap metal thrown in for good measure.  Very few were plugged with cement, and many were just left open.

This can be a real problem when a horizontal well is drilled nearby.  Some of the old wells were drilled down thousands of feet, a few even into the formations that we are fracking today.  When we frack, the pressure can push fluids into the old wells, either directly by way of the induced fractures or through existing faults in the rock.  It’s called well communication in the industry.

It could lead to contamination of a water well, or fracking fluids on the surface, or natural gas spewing into the air.  Nobody wants that.  Even the companies doing the fracking don’t want that as it lowers the amount of pressure in their well, leading to fewer, shorter, and smaller fractures and lower production.

So what can be done about it?  It’s hard to do much about it.  Many of these old wells don’t show above the surface, so getting eyes in the field isn’t going to help.  A metal detector will find a lot of them, but some of these old wells were lined with wood.  Even the wells the were lined with metal often had the casing pulled out for use on another well.  It’s a real problem, and there isn’t an obvious and good solution.

The reason we’re writing about it is to point out to people one way that their water wells can be contaminated with fracking fluid.  If you think you have a water well that’s been ruined by fracking you can get help.  It’s going to be an uphill battle proving that fracking did it, but it can be done.

Call the office at 304-473-1403 and find out what you can do.

 

West Virginia Nuisance Lawsuits Against Oil and Gas Companies Sent Back to Mediation

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There are around 200 people who have filed nuisance lawsuits against two oil and gas companies here in West Virginia.  Judge Moats has ordered them back to mediation, telling the parties that fixing the problem is worth more than money.  The parties previously went to mediation.  Perhaps having the judge encourage the parties to settle will help mediation move along a bit.  We think Judge Moats’ words were well chosen.  They could be interpreted to hint that the judge is leaning either way.  Perhaps it’s better to say that neither party can say that the judge is leaning toward their own side.

In related news, we have heard through the grapevine that SB 508, which would have severely limited the ability of landowners to bring nuisance lawsuits against any company operating nearby, has been defeated.  It’s a little too soon to say for sure that’s the case, but the word out of Charleston is that the House Judiciary is unlikely to pass the bill out to the full House.

West Virginia Nuisance Lawsuits Against Oil and Gas Producers

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There seem to be more and more nuisance lawsuits filed in West Virginia these days.  Property owners who are affected by oil and gas development, but who aren’t benefiting from it in any way, are resorting to legal action to protect their property.

The big problem with nuisance lawsuits is that they usually don’t pay for themselves.  You can count on getting a judgment, but that judgment usually won’t even cover the cost of the attorney or law firm you hire.  You can protect your property, but it’s going to cost you.  A lot of surface owners in West Virginia simply don’t have the resources to take on that cost.  Lawyers won’t (usually) work for free.

That hasn’t stopped every West Virginian, though.  This article over at E&E Publishing covers the subject pretty well.  It’s worth a quick read.

 

Well Pad Pipeline Rutpures, Burns, but Doesn’t Explode

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Danger SybmolWe’re not sure how this happens, but a new pipeline at a drilling site in Tyler County, West Virginia, burst and burned.  News reports say that the pipe didn’t explode.  That’s a little odd.  So is the fact that it’s a rather new pipe.  The usual reason given for pipeline ruptures is that the pipe corroded and failed.

The fire occurred at the Jay-Bee’s Gorby pad in Big Run to the east of Middlebourne.Big Run, Tyler County, WV

We’re all for oil and gas development, but we don’t pretend that there are no risks.  You’ve got to go into this kind of thing with your eyes wide open and ask questions.  Do some research.  Don’t make snap decisions.  Sleep on it at least once.  You’ll be glad you did.  That way when a truck meets you coming around a narrow blind curve, a hill slips, a pipeline bursts, the well is flared off, the compressor station noise keeps you up at night, or there’s natural gas filling your hollow, you can at least say you thought about it.

 

Pipelines and Compressor Stations: How to Live with the Noise

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Compressor Station

When we talk with people about pipelines we make sure to discuss noise.  Most people don’t realize that there could be a lot of noise associated with a pipeline.  The pipeline itself won’t make noise, but the associated machinery could.  The gas needs to be compressed for transportation, and if you’ve signed a pipeline agreement you may have given them the right to put a compressor on your property, too.  Compressors make a lot of noise.

As you could see in that video, a lot can be done to muffle the sound of the compressor station.  Make sure when you negotiate for pipeline or compressor station rights of way that you address the noise issue.  You’ll be sorry if you don’t.

 

Nuisance Lawsuits in West Virginia

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Frack Truck Country Road

 

 

 

 

 

West Virginia Public Broadcasting did a short segment on what it’s like to live next to Marcellus Shale drilling and production activities.  It’s not real pretty.  While I’m all for oil and gas development here in West Virginia, I also think that the oil and gas companies should really go a little more out of their way to allow the neighbors to maintain their standard of living.  That standard of living isn’t usually extravagant, but it’s often comfortable, quiet, and chosen.  It’s Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.

The people that the oil and gas company contract with usually get enough to make up for the disruption in lifestyle.  It’s the neighbors who don’t have anything the company wants that get the short end of the deal.  They put up with big trucks on little roads, gigantic potholes made by those trucks, noise and light from the drilling rig, the intense rumble of gas being flared off the well when it’s first brought in, and the dust, smoke, and gas from the trucks, rigs, pipelines, and machinery necessary to process the gas.  The companies don’t usually do anything about it.  People can call and complain all they want, but it won’t usually do a lick of good.  The neighbors don’t have any way of forcing the companies to make up for the disruption to their lifestyle, and the change in their environment, other than to file suits.

The article states that over 100 people filed nuisance lawsuits in West Virginia last year against oil and gas production companies of various sorts.  50 of those suits were compiled into a mass litigation suit.  Dave McMahon of WVSORO fame noted in the article that there would probably be a lot more of these kinds of suits if there was more money involved.  It’s hard for an attorney to take on a nuisance case because there’s often not much of a payday in it.

I’d like to see the companies take more initiative to clean things up.  I’ll give them credit, they mostly do a pretty decent job of restoring their well sites to previous contours and otherwise abiding by state regulations.  It’s just not enough.  The companies are affecting peoples’ lives, making it impossible (not just hard) to live the way they did before the gas wells and pipelines came around.  It’s not fair or right that the companies can affect West Virginians’ property and lifestyle without compensating for it.

Perhaps we need a law that allows for double or triple damages in a nuisance lawsuit involving corporations.  Or perhaps we need larger setbacks for certain processing facilities and well pads.  We certainly need better regulations on trucks and roads.  Whatever we do, it should be done soon, before we drive more people out of West Virginia and before the natural gas boom dies off completely.

Frack Water Found in Water Wells! But it’s not as Bad as it Sounds.

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Blowback Water Impoundment

A Penn State study from a few years ago has found its way into the news.  Marcellus Drilling News has posted an article here.  If you have trouble viewing the article through that link, do a Google search for “Penn State Finds Chemical Migration in 3 PA Water Wells from 2010”.  MDN links to a bunch of the articles that have been published about the study.

The gist of the articles you will find at most news sources right now is that frack water is bad, and was found in three water wells, so fracking must be bad.

The reality is that the researchers thought the frack water had come from a bad casing job in the vertical portion of the well (the part that is not fracked) or from a frack water containment pit on the surface that was shown to be leaking.  It is splitting hairs to say that fracking is not the cause as it was a fracked well that was the cause, but the reality is that the actual fracking was not the cause.  If one reads far enough into most of the articles at most of the news sites one will find that they all point to something other than the actual fracking being the cause.

I can guarantee that fracked wells communicate with other wells in the area, pushing gas through naturally-occurring weaknesses in the formations between them, and probably pushing some frack fluid through, too.  It’s quite possible that fracked wells communicate with water wells and the surface.  There is not solid evidence yet that that’s the case.

Evidence of communication with the surface and with water wells has probably been covered up by oil and gas companies.  Affected landowners have most likely been given excellent settlements with confidentiality agreements attached.  If I were an oil and gas attorney working for one of the development companies, that’s what I would try to do.  One of these days a surface owner is not going to take the settlement, a case will go to court, and then we’ll all have the evidence at our fingertips.  Until then, it’s all just “he said, she said” and hearsay.  If anyone out there has hard evidence to the contrary, please give this office a call.