More Drilling May Jeopardize Drinking Water for 130,000 by Jena Shaffer on Aug 5, 2019, mtwatershed.com
Since 2011, 52 wells have been drilled by CNX Resources Corporation, CONSOL’s gas division, within the immediate vicinity to Beaver Run Reservoir, the drinking water source for 130,000 people throughout northern Westmoreland County and small portions of neighboring Armstrong and Indiana counties. CNX is now proposing to add another well pad, called Mamont 10, with eight lateral wells stemming from the pad. In 10 years, CNX wells have had 13 accidents including spills of toxic produced water, a fire, and recently, in the Department of Environmental Protection’s terms, a “catastrophic loss of containment” on the Shaw well pad. The Shaw incident meant that dangerously high-pressured gas was forced into nine nearby shallow wells, requiring nearly a month of flaring. The incident also propelled methane and other gases into private water wells.
What that looks like in Rosebud’s (Alberta) frac’d drinking water:
More than seven months have lapsed since the Shaw incident, and DEP has yet to release the outcomes of their investigation or take an enforcement action against CNX.
As observed in the map below, the security of the Beaver Run Reservoir is already threatened and CNX has a disastrous safety record. The purple and red lines indicate lateral wells and each lateral well connects to one of eight well pads on the surface. The square on the map indicates the proposed site for Mamont 10, which rests on a steep slope above a tributary to the Reservoir.
