Workers continue efforts to seal Bradford gas well
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HARRISBURG -- Efforts continued Monday to put a final seal on a Chesapeake Energy gas well following last week's Bradford County blowout.
The well, which spilled briny wastewater into a nearby creek tributary during the early hours of the incident, remained in stable condition, according to officials from Chesapeake and the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Well-control specialists from Houston-based Boots & Coots used heavier drilling mud to continue the sealing process, which officials said was still under way late afternoon Monday.
Chesapeake said "adverse weather conditions" throughout the weekend had slowed down the well-plugging process.
Completing that process will allow company and state investigators to look into the cause of the accident. DEP has begun seeking information on what happened leading up to the blowout, and collected additional surface-water samples Monday.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also is investigating the incident, according to news reports.
DEP officials also clarified an earlier state estimate that 30,000 gallons of wastewater spilled during the hours that the well was leaking.
That figure was from a DEP employee comparing it to another incident, said agency spokeswoman Katy Gresh. No official estimate has been made for the current accident.
First Published April 26, 2011 12:00 am
