Thanks Brendan Carroll for the info and Sharon was right all along, it was a blowout

[Cathy McMullen]

More to come because I have request a Public Information request so we will know whatall the emails say in 9 days. The original TCEQ repeat has been sanitized also. Once again, thanks Brendan Carroll for the heads up.

Cathy

From: Campbell, George C.

Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 11:31 AM

To: City Council Members

Cc: Cabrales, John J.

Subject: FW: EagleRidge was a blowout not a leak

Mayor and City Council Members,

I am, via this email note, sending to you an update on the status of the gas well incident that occurred on April 19.  I know that you have received or read various inquiries regarding the city’s role in responding to or investigating this incident.  The email below will begin to answer some of those questions but also illustrates why the city should not provide unsubstantiated responses.  We will provide you with additional information as it become available and as we complete our internal debriefing on the incident.  I would ask that you direct any questions you may have about the status or the report below directly to John Cabrales and me rather than to other staff.

George

 

From: Cabrales, John J.
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 11:04 AM
To: Campbell, George C.
Cc: Cabrales, John J.; Lockley, Brian K.; Groth, Darren; Baker, Lindsey N.; Martin, Howard; Banks, Kenneth E.
Subject: EagleRidge was a blowout not a leak
Importance: High

 

George,

 

I am aware that council has received some inquiries for the public about the recent gas well incident. Some are even making allegations that staff is not being forthcoming with information. I take responsibility for that because I am the one that instructed staff not to put out any information until we have confirmed the accuracy of any information. Secondly, any investigation by the City will rely on the investigation being conducted by the state because they have jurisdiction, so we are operating by their timeline. Lastly, tomorrow there is an internal debrief by City of Denton Emergency Responders and the Gas Well Inspections Division to compile and review the data that we have so that we can determine what action if any is needed by the City. I have also asked the Well Inspections Division to prepare an informal staff report that can be sent to council on what happened, what lessons we learned and what action will be taken. I have instructed staff to send all public inquiries to me about this incident because I want them concentrating on their data collection and analysis and do not want them to feel pressured to release any premature information. Below is a recap of what we know so far.

 

On Friday, April 19, 2013, at approximately 10:45 a.m., the City received an emergency call reporting a gas well blowout. Emergency responders from both the Denton Fire and Police Departments responded to the incident at 4554 Jim Christal Road. The well blowout occurred at EagleRidge Operating, LLC’s Smith-Yorlum 7H gas well at approximately 1:30 a.m. on April 19, 2013, according to reports from the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). The RRC report states that immediately prior to the blowout event, the operator was circulating the hole after drilling out frac plugs when they lost control of the well.  The RRC arrived at the scene in response to the incident at approximately 11 a.m. It is not known yet why there was such a long delay from the time of the blowout until the emergency call was made to 911.

 

The RRC and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) are both conducting an investigation into this incident. We are aware that the RRC representative met with the landowner and with EagleRidge to identify the process of cleanup between the surface location and Jim Christal Road. The RRC is monitoring the remediation that began at the site on Saturday, April 20 and is still on-going. According to the RRC, KJ Environmental will be on site this week to perform soil samples in order to determine further remediation requirements. The final RRC report is pending the outcome of the site sampling and clean-up efforts. Our understanding is that a complete report will also be submitted to RRC by EagleRidge in about 3-4 weeks.

 

The TCEQ has posted an initial incident report that can be found at this link: http://www11.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/eer/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.getDetails&target=181925. According to the TCEQ, the emissions event report is the initial report to the agency. They have a total of 14 days from the incident to complete a full analysis and submit a final report. If they determine that none of the information changed from the initial report, then the initial report becomes the final report. The TCEQ drew two air samples that were sent to a lab for analysis; one canister was placed during the event and one after the site was released. The results of these air quality samples are expected to take at least four weeks to process. Once TCEQ receives all the data, they will complete the investigation report, which will include the sampling results and an evaluation of the emissions event. The estimated time frame for TCEQ to have their final report complete is the end of June.

 

Further analysis by the City of Denton is pending the details provided in the agency reports from RRC and TCEQ. Please contact me if you have any questions.

 

John Cabrales Jr.

Assistant City Manager

City of Denton

940-349-8509 office

940-465-4846 mobile

john.c...@cityofdenton.com

www.cityofdenton.com

[Cathy McMullen]

Was there a blow out protector? Was this well permitted by the city? Why is the city gas well inspectors not involved in investigating this incident? If there was gross negligence who is responsible? Who pays for the emergency response? Is Eagle Ridge liable for any cost associated with the cost of is blow out? Why wasn't the city notified sooner in the incident? Eagle Ridge is starting a hydraulic fracture site right next door to this well, what is to prevent the same thing for occurring, why is there not information regarding incidents and gas well permits on the gas well administrators site? The questions go on and on and I feel we will never get all the answers. What does remediation entail and what about those of us here were in the plume and felt sick but did not know why? No one is protecting us. Maybe a ban is not such a bad idea.

 It seems the city thinks we are too uneducated to have questions. Two weeks is too long for this to go unaddressed by the city. 

Cathy

Sent from my iPad

On May 2, 2013, at 10:40 PM, Vicki Oppenheim <vi...@greenlep.com> wrote:

Cathy,

Thank you for forwarding this. This email is packed with information and really brings up many issues. We are lucky it wasn't even more serious. Why did the BOP fail?

From Chesapeake's Website:

Blowout Preventer

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Precautions are taken to prevent leaks from occurring. Specialized equipment, such as a blowout preventer (BOP), is installed on every well and continually monitors pressure levels during the drilling process. An automatic alarm can sound if the pressure becomes too high or too low.

All wellsites are equipped with a blowout preventer during the drilling phase. A BOP is a large set of valves at the top of a well that can be closed immediately if warranted by a change in pressure. BOPs are critically important to the safety of the crew and are inspected, tested and refurbished at regular intervals.

In addition to BOPs, each rig is equipped with a pit volume totalizer, also known as a pit-level indicator, which continuously monitors the level of the drilling mud in the mud tanks. If the mud level drops too low or rises too high, the alarm sounds to warn the driller of a loss of circulation or a kick, which is a flow of reservoir fluids into the wellbore during drilling operations.

Chesapeake trains all supervisory-level personnel on location and requires recertification in well control every two years. Precautions are taken to prevent gas leaks from occurring.

Vicki

 

Vicki Oppenheim, AICP and LEED Green Associate
Green Leaf Environmental Planning
940-367-8029 cell                      
www.greenlep.com

---

From: Cathy McMullen <cathym...@live.com>
To: denton-...@googlegroups.com; dent...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2013 9:11 PM
Subject: Thanks Brendan Carroll for the info and Sharon was right all along, it was a blowout

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DentonDAG" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to dentondag+...@googlegroups.com.
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[Vicki Oppenheim]

Cathy,

Thank you for forwarding this. This email is packed with information and really brings up many issues. We are lucky it wasn't even more serious. Why did the BOP fail?

From Chesapeake's Website:

Blowout Preventer

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Precautions are taken to prevent leaks from occurring. Specialized equipment, such as a blowout preventer (BOP), is installed on every well and continually monitors pressure levels during the drilling process. An automatic alarm can sound if the pressure becomes too high or too low.

All wellsites are equipped with a blowout preventer during the drilling phase. A BOP is a large set of valves at the top of a well that can be closed immediately if warranted by a change in pressure. BOPs are critically important to the safety of the crew and are inspected, tested and refurbished at regular intervals.

In addition to BOPs, each rig is equipped with a pit volume totalizer, also known as a pit-level indicator, which continuously monitors the level of the drilling mud in the mud tanks. If the mud level drops too low or rises too high, the alarm sounds to warn the driller of a loss of circulation or a kick, which is a flow of reservoir fluids into the wellbore during drilling operations.

Chesapeake trains all supervisory-level personnel on location and requires recertification in well control every two years. Precautions are taken to prevent gas leaks from occurring.

Vicki

 

Vicki Oppenheim, AICP and LEED Green Associate
Green Leaf Environmental Planning
940-367-8029 cell                      
www.greenlep.com

---

From: Cathy McMullen <cathym...@live.com>
To: denton-...@googlegroups.com; dent...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2013 9:11 PM
Subject: Thanks Brendan Carroll for the info and Sharon was right all along, it was a blowout

--

[Sharon Wilson]

Why can't adults be trusted with the truth. It was a blowout and blowouts are dangerous.

--

=== EARTHWORKS:  Protecting Communities and the Environment

Sharon Wilson, Organizer
EARTHWORKS' Oil and Gas Accountability Project
940-389-1622

swi...@earthworksaction.org

skype:txsharonwilson

twitter: earthworksrocks, txsharon
blog: http://www.texassharon.com/

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