Shell fracking methane leak in PA. Residents evacuated.

[limpyhobbler]

DEP Investigating Potential Shell Methane Migration

As Gov­er­nor Cor­bett pushes to give Royal Dutch Shell a $1.65 bil­lion tax credit, the Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion is inves­ti­gat­ing a poten­tial methane migra­tion prob­lem in Union Town­ship, Tioga County, involv­ing the company’s nat­ural gas drilling arm.

A Shell spokes­woman says the company’s tests show “a very low haz­ard risk to peo­ple, veg­e­ta­tion, and fish in the imme­di­ate area,” but Shell has nev­er­the­less asked the hand­ful of peo­ple who live within a one-mile radius of the drilling site to tem­porar­ily evac­u­ate their homes.

Shell has also sent a well con­trol spe­cial­ist team to the site.

DEP spokesman Daniel Spadoni con­firmed the probe in an email to StateIm­pact Penn­syl­va­nia. “DEP was noti­fied of the prob­lem by Shell on June 17,” he writes. “Shell is fully coop­er­at­ing with the response and investigation.”
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more: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/06/21/dep-investigating-potential-methane-migration-by-shell/