47-039-06155
Well drilled in 2008
Producing formation(s): Berea Sandstone, Lower Huron Shale, Rhinestreet Shale, Marcellus Shale
Geographic location: latitude 38.576027, longitude -81.700511
Visited in 2011
In April 2011 we made our first visit to this vertical Marcellus well site in Kanawha county. We've made subsequent visits with the surface owner. Recorded video interviews with the surface owner is incorporated in two YouTube videos, You Get Used To It and Bottled Water.
In the first video the surface owner explains how the operator sprayed hydraulic fracturing flowback fluid toward the pit, rather than into the pit. Overspray went into the forest killing large trees as it drained down the hillside to the stream below the pad. In the second video the surface owner describes the contamination of their drinking water supply by the well's drilling and hydraulic fracturing causing adverse health effects. We created a YouTube video based on our site visit.
The large plastic condensate storage tank tipped and floating within its secondary containment was the first thing we saw when we entered the site.
A large number of dead trees are found beyond the edge of the pad at the end, past the former location of the pit.
And below the fill slope.
These dead trees went all the way down to the stream below the site.
There were two large bare areas on the pad. Surface soil samples from both found chloride at 595 ppm.
In the bare area nearest the wellhead, away from the former location of the pit, there was a line of embedded pit liner.
A puddle within the vegetated part of the pad, near where the pit had been, had chloride at 46 ppm.
Gas Well Site Visits
Examining Well Sites
How We Examined Well Sites
Environmental Assessment
Table with Links to Wells Visited
47-039-05714 Environmental Assessment
47-079-01492 Environmental Assessment
47-039-02026 Environmental Assessment
Gas Well Study is the examination of natural gas wells in West Virginia.
Underground Injection Control Class 2 Wells
These wells are used either for the disposal of oil and gas liquid waste or for the enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas.
Gas Well Study Site Visits
Annual reports, environmental assessments, and individual well information.
YouTube Videos
Select videos from the Gas Well Study YouTube channel.
What Happened at Fernow
An investigation into what caused the vegetation death in the land application area after landspraying hydraulic fracture flowback waste.
The Spill at Buckeye Creek
An investigation into a spill from a Marcellus well site into Buckeye Creek in Doddridge county.
The Details
Plunger Lift Technology on Gas Wells
Fluids Brought to the Surface during Production
Plugging a Well
How To Read a Lab Report
Information the Completion Report Provides
Casing and Cementing