Incident took place at Chevron-operated well in southwestern Pennsylvania
An explosion at a natural gas fracking well in Pennsylvania on Tuesday has sent one person to the hospital, left one person injured and sparked a fire that could take days to contain.
“We’re being told … the site itself, that fire, will not be contained and we will not have access to that property for at least a few days,” Trooper Stefani Plume said at a press conference.
Local ABC affiliate WTAE reports:
[Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John] Poister said Chevron had previously completed drilling and hydraulically fracturing, or fracking, the well and was in the final stages of using steel pipe to hook it up to a pipeline distribution network for production.
Complicating the fire, which continued to burn into the afternoon, was the fact that a propane-holding truck was on the well pad and also exploded, Poister said.
The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined.
A team from Wild Well Control, a company that specializes in dealing with well blowouts, has been called in to assist with the efforts, and state police have set up a half mile perimeter as a safety precaution.
Responding to the incident on Twitter, some environmental voices said the explosion was further evidence fracking should be banned:
Today’s explosion in Pennsylvania once again shows that the hazards of#fracking are unacceptable. http://t.co/PwbbFmlhRG
— Food & Water Watch (@foodandwater) February 11, 2014
.@NYGovCuomo see this KDKA photo of #natgas well explosion in PAhttp://t.co/YB5cANnC43 – ban #fracking! pic.twitter.com/arqpcZzsR0
— FrackAction (@FrackAction) February 11, 2014
More explosions, more spills, when will we learn? – Natural gas well explosion and fire in PA http://t.co/GF9gIRNayg
— Waterkeeper Alliance (@Waterkeeper) February 11, 2014