By Daniel Gilbert
Chevron Corp. was still trying Wednesday morning to put out a
fire at a natural-gas well in southwestern Pennsylvania, a day
after an explosion that injured one worker and left another
missing.
"It's still burning," said John Poister, a spokesman for the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The fire is
limited to the well site, in Dunkard Township, about 70 miles south
of Pittsburgh.
The blaze is having an impact on Chevron's operations in the
Marcellus Shale, a massive deposit of natural gas that runs beneath
much of Pennsylvania. The company said late Tuesday that it has cut
back on its operations in the region "to ensure we are able to
dedicate the appropriate personnel and resources to respond to this
incident."
The fire broke out Tuesday morning as Chevron and its
contractors were preparing the well to produce natural gas,
according to the company. The well had been drilled in March 2012,
state records show.
Chevron said that at the time of the incident, the well wasn't
being hydraulically fractured, a process of blasting water mixed
with sand and chemicals underground to crack open the rock and
allow the gas to flow.
Chevron is working with a contractor, Wild Well Control, to try
and control the blaze.
Write to Daniel Gilbert at daniel.gilbert@wsj.com
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