Dominion gas well fire is out!

September 30th, 2008

The Dominion gas well fire in Leidy Township, Pennsylvania, is now out, apparently having burned for over a week… but who knows how long it was burning before a passing pilot noticed it in the dark. I wondered what was going on because there was a HUGE uptick in my numbers for Pennsylvania, and it was all about the gas well fire. So I started googling to see what was happening, and not a word since September 19! Well, folks, a little more digging turned up some folks in the area who knew the scoop, and it’s been out for a few days.

This article from The Express:

Gas well fire is out

POSTED: September 26, 2008

TAMARACK – The fire is out.

The gas well fire that burned for almost two weeks at Dominion Transmissions Inc. was officially declared out at 8:25 p.m. yesterday, according to Dan Donovan, public relations director for Dominion.

“We installed a new valve on the well head and then closed it. That stopped the flow of gas and put out the fire,” Donovan said.

“Safety was a major concern. Nobody was hurt,” Donovan said.

A crew of firefighters from Texas experienced in quelling this type of fire worked with local officials to put the cap the well head, which shot flames high into the air and lit the night sky in Leidy Township for the last 12 days.

“Fires like this one don’t happen often. We needed some special help with this,” Donovan continued.

Now that the fire is out, he said the investigation begins to find out how it started and how much it cost the company.

“Right now we are trying to determine how much gas it consumed. There are no estimates at this time. We’ve also started an investigation into what caused the leak,” Donovan continued, declining to even estimate what the loss in dollars might be.

Donovan said the well where the fire occurred will not be used again until all the pipes are replaced.

He thanked local officials for their help, especially Clinton County Emergency Management, state police, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Susquehanna River Basin

Posted by Carol A. Overland
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