Fracked Gas Well Blowout in Louisiana Likely to Burn for the Next Month

Julie-Dermansky-022
on

A fracked natural gas well in northwest Louisiana has been burning for two weeks after suffering a blowout. A stateย officialย said the fire will likely burn for the next month before the flames can be brought underย control by drilling a reliefย well.

DeSmog obtained drone videoย footageย shot 10ย days* after the blowout, which occurred early in theย morningย on August 30, the day after the well wasย hydraulicallyย fractured. A tower of flames reportedlyย shot into the air that could be seen from more than 30ย miles away. While the flames are no longer as intense, the fireย is still visible from a distance of more than a mile.ย GEP Haynesville, LLC, the wellโ€™s operator, told local ABCย affiliate KPVIย thatย the fire started during flow-back operations, but the exact cause has not been determinedย yet.ย 

Experts have voiced concerns over the pollution being released, especially given the length of time this fossil fuel well has been leaking andย burning.

โ€œBlowouts are (unintended) large, uncontrolled pollutant sources with potentially significant health and environmental consequences,โ€ย Gunnar W. Schade, an atmosphericย scientist at Texas A&M University, told me via email after viewing the drone video obtained by DeSmog.ย โ€œBlowouts need to be shut down as soon asย possible.โ€

Sharonย Wilson,ย Texas coordinator of environmentalย advocacyย group Earthworks, outlined what happens during well blowouts likeย this.

โ€œThe gas is under pressure so if they lose control, the gas, frack fluid, produced water, and oil/condensate all blast out of the hole,โ€ Wilson said during a call after viewing the video.ย โ€œThey have to get specialized teams to come shutย the wellย in.โ€ย 

Air Qualityย Impacts?

Theย Louisianaย Departmentย ofย Environmentalย Quality (LDEQ)ย has determined thatย the blowout and fire present no major air quality concerns.ย โ€œLDEQ responders consider this a very low-impact event,โ€ย Greg Langley, LDEQ spokesperson, said via email.ย โ€œThe well is clean, itโ€™s gas and what is being released is being consumed in the fire.โ€ย ย ย 

โ€œLDEQ is receiving daily air monitoring results from the environmental response contractor hired by the well owner,โ€ Langley explained. โ€œThe company set up four air monitors to test for sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds, and lower explosive limit. LDEQ also does periodic airย monitoring with our own equipment. All meter readings have been below detectionย limits.โ€ย 

Most of the airย monitoringย is being done with aย chemical detector called MultiRAEs,ย accordingย toย Langley. When asked whichย volatileย organicย compounds, a class of air pollutants that includes the carcinogen benzene,ย were present, Langley replied, โ€œNothing wasย detected.โ€ย 

โ€œItโ€™s laughable that they say there are no air impacts from this event,โ€ย Wilsonย said.ย She frequently monitorsย oil and gas industry sites with anย optical gas imaging cameraย thatย detectsย leaking methane and other pollutants invisibleย to the naked eye. Wilsonโ€™s videos have been instrumental in identifying numerous leaking wells in various shale regions across the United States, including Louisianaโ€™sย Haynesville Shale, where this blowout is burning. Wilson reports her findings to stateย regulatoryย agencies, which on occasion have fined operators for the leaks sheย flagged.ย 

โ€œEvenย without my optical gas imaging camera, I know there are air impacts because I can see them with my naked eyes. You can see that the gas coming up is not all being burned offย and the plume of smoke and gases is traveling a very far distance,โ€ Wilson said, based on the droneย footage.

Wilson recommends placing air sampling equipment on a drone to survey the area above the fire and leakingย well.

โ€œThe problem is the plume is up much higher than an LDEQ inspector standing on the ground holding aย MultiRae meter,โ€ sheย said.

Wilma Subra, a technical advisor for the Louisianaย Environmentalย Action Network, agrees that using drone would be advisable andย that airย canisterย testing should be done too. This latter approachย captures air samples over aย periodย of days and measures how much of eachย compoundย is present. Subra thinks air canister testing is the best way to knowย if theย emissions around the blowoutย are a threat to humanย health.

Louisianaโ€™s Response andย Oversight

The Louisiana State Policeโ€™s hazmat (hazardous materials) team and theย Louisiana Department of Natural Resourcesย (LDNR), which regulates oil and gas production, are also monitoring theย blowout.

Like LDEQ, these two agencies concluded the accident did not warrant alerting nearby residents of potential health concerns.ย A few people live within a mile and a half of theย site.

โ€œAny time there is a loss of well control, there is a concern about environmental impacts,โ€ Patrickย Courreges, communications director forย LDNR, told me. DNRโ€™s โ€œfirst concern is for the physical safety of the workers on site and forย any people potentially affected in nearby homes and businesses,โ€ but in this case the site is fairly remote and air monitoring, in place since theย first day of the blowout, hasnโ€™t indicated any potential immediate impacts of harmful gases, heย explained.

โ€œCurrently, well control contractors are on site, under the supervision of the operator and State Police Incident Command to keep the impacts contained as much as possible, usingย water to help control the heat and potential spread of flame,โ€ Courregesย said. โ€œWhile there is no good news in a blowout, the fire does actually help withย lessening the impact of the escaping methane by burning much of it off, though obviously the goal is to get the flow of methane stopped and the fire out as soon asย possible.โ€

โ€œThe longer-term solution is likely to be the drilling of wells to intercept the affected wellheads and stop the flow of gasย in the damaged wellheads,โ€ he told me.ย That might take a month. A design for a relief well has not been submitted yet to DNR, though one is being planned.ย Drilling a relief well was the same basic approach which ultimately stopped the flow of oil from BPโ€™s Macondo well blowout deep under the Gulf of Mexico inย 2010.

โ€œFull-on blowouts in hydraulically fractured Haynesville Shale wells are rare,โ€ย Courreges said.ย โ€œWhileย there have been instances of valves or piping giving way over the years that requiredย emergency response, I donโ€™t recall any blowouts on this scale from those type ofย wells.โ€

Wilson is skeptical of that response.ย โ€œWe don’t know how common this is because the industry tries very hard to keep these events quiet,โ€ Wilson said. โ€œIf they happen in a remote area, no one finds out. Theyย are always downplayed and the regulators help with the deception.โ€ She believes that โ€œthere has never been a system in place to adequately regulate this industry, so they are allowed to self-regulate by doing their ownย testing.โ€

โ€œFor decades we have endured these oil and gas disastrous accidents that have harmed health and pushed us into a climate crisis,โ€ Wilson said, โ€œbut weย donโ€™t have to put up with this anymore because the technology to transition to clean renewable energy is available today and itโ€™s cheaper. The only thing holding us back is theย politicalย will.โ€ย 

Natural Gasย Blowouts

Methane, the main component in natural gas, is a greenhouse gas that is up to 86 times more potentย than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after entering the atmosphere. A study organized by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and published in June last year reports that theย U.S.ย oil and gas supply chain is leakingย roughly 60 percent moreย methane thanย previous Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates, which largely relied onย industryย self-reports.

Wilson compared this blowout to the 2015 Aliso Canyon catastrophe in southern California and the 2018 XTO blowout in Ohio, which both gushed large amounts of methane.ย โ€œThis blowout is a huge deal,โ€ Wilson said. โ€œWe are at the climate breaking point and no one can even say how much methane is blasting into theย air.โ€

Schade told meย that estimating the amount of pollutants released from the โ€œflareโ€ย (the industry term for intentionally burning natural gas in oil fields) is possible byย looking at data fromย the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationโ€™s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). This source will show data about the flare detected by satellite, allowing the atmospheric scientist to calculate the estimated amount of heat andย emissions.ย 

After reviewing the satellite dataย available so far, Schade reported the heat generated from this burning Louisiana well is at least three times the magnitude of the largest flares in the Permian oil fields of neighboring Texas. According to his estimates, this burning well may be releasing approximately 8,700 pounds of nitrogen oxides, pollutants that lead to smog and acid rain, eachย day.

โ€œThe emissions from such a source can be enormous,โ€ saidย Schade.

*Updated 9/13/19: This story has been updated to correct how long after the blowout the drone footage was recorded, which was on Septemberย 8.

Main image: Screen shot from drone video of the fracked gas well blowout, at a well operated byย GEP Haynesville, LLC, inย Red River Parish, Louisiana. Credit:ย Phin Percy Jr., used withย permission

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

Related Posts

on

Illinois watchdog warns natural gas utilityโ€™s plan to prevent methane leaks might be a bait-and-switch for unneeded gas pipeline upgrades that will shoot up consumer costs.

Illinois watchdog warns natural gas utilityโ€™s plan to prevent methane leaks might be a bait-and-switch for unneeded gas pipeline upgrades that will shoot up consumer costs.
Analysis
on

Taxpayers are on the hook as the bitumen extraction industry continues to play by its own rules.

Taxpayers are on the hook as the bitumen extraction industry continues to play by its own rules.
on

The influential newspaper has repeatedly attacked the governmentโ€™s net zero chief Ed Miliband.

The influential newspaper has repeatedly attacked the governmentโ€™s net zero chief Ed Miliband.
on

The site has close connections to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and a long record of disputing climate science.

The site has close connections to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and a long record of disputing climate science.