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Blown-out Ohio gas well plugged after 3 weeks; methane release under review

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Blown-out Ohio gas well plugged after 3 weeks; methane release under review

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A still from an infrared video shows a methane plume leaking from a blown-out XTO Energy well in Ohio, according to the environmental group Earthworks.
Source: Earthworks

XTO Energy Inc. has plugged a blown-out Ohio gas well, but not before an unknown amount of methane escaped into the atmosphere during the roughly three weeks when the well was out of control.

XTO contractors on March 7 stopped flow from the Belmont County well, which exploded and caught fire Feb. 15, prompting evacuations in a one-mile area around the well site.

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report estimated that 100 MMcf/d of methane might have been escaping, but XTO noted March 8 that the EPA's estimate had not been confirmed.

"Now that we have access to the well, we will work with our regulators to make a final determination," XTO spokeswoman Karen Matusic said March 8. "The EPA preliminary report, which was dated Feb 17, included a number of preliminary estimates that have not been confirmed. For example, there was mention of condensate on the pad and that is not true. We expect that the number for methane emissions will be well below 100 [MMcf/d]."

The EPA did not provide an updated emissions estimate, having left the well site control and investigation to state officials as of Feb. 21. The federal agency was on scene only for the first week to provide technical assistance and air monitoring at the site and in surrounding homes at Ohio's request, but once the EPA determined that no oil or hazardous substances had been released, the agency left the scene, the EPA said March 8.

The environmental group Earthworks took infrared video of the well area before XTO regained control over the well, capturing footage of what Earthworks said was a methane plume emitting from the well site.

Earthworks compared the XTO blowout to a major leak at a well in Southern California Gas Co.'s Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage field that spewed about an estimated 49 MMcf/d from October 2015 to February 2016.

"Our video provides evidence of just how bad the problem is so that nearby communities can make informed decisions about the health and safety of their families before returning to their homes," Pete Dronkers, Earthworks' optical gas imaging thermographer who also filmed Aliso Canyon, said in a March 6 statement.

As of March 8, XTO's contractors remained at the well pad to further fortify the well, and residents from within the evacuation area had begun returning to their homes, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

XTO's Matusic noted that the company has not seen signs of brine from the well in local waterways, though she said rain had likely raised water levels and could have diluted any escaped brine. Air monitoring has not picked up volatile organic compounds or lower explosive levels of gases that would be a danger to people or animals, Matusic added.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas has inspectors on site, and XTO is working with the state agency.