Another onshore blow-out; one million gallons of hydraulic fracturing fluid spewed into the air

Recently I blogged about onshore oil and gas wells that were improperly constructed and caused drinking water contamination and air pollution. I mentioned an article that said that "many of today's wells are at risk."

Today a natural gas well blew out in a Pennsylvania state forest during a hydraulic fracturing operation. . Officials have estimated that one million gallons of hydraulic fracturing fluid, including chemical additives, plus an undetermined amount of wet natural gas, has blown out of the well. Wet natural gas can contain highly flammable hydrocarbons, like propane and butane, and hazardous substances, such as hydrogen sulfide. These are separated out before natural gas makes its way to your stove or furnace.

Campers and others in the forest were evacuated. While no one wants this kind of toxic explosion in a state forest, imagine if it were near a school or hospital? In this case, the Federal Aviation Administration even had to issue flight restrictions. These hazardous substances will be carried by the air and will settle on land and vegetation. It will be very important to know what chemicals were being used in this hydraulic fracturing operation. Will the company doing the hydraulic fracturing disclose this information to the public?