Crew Clears Debris After Eastern Ohio Well Pad Explosion

by Julie Grant, Allegheny Front

A natural gas well operated by a subsidiary of ExxonMobil exploded last week in eastern Ohio. Some people near the area are still evacuated from their homes, as natural gas and salty brine pour from the site.

Sarah Long Smith lives in Powhatan Point, near where the XTO Energy well exploded. It led to fires that lasted three days, and a natural gas leak. No one was injured. Long Smith and her husband were among the hundred or so people evacuated. After two nights at a hotel, they’re home. Long Smith said she can still hear the leak.

"It’s eerie. And so you wonder what in the world is exactly going on," Long Smith said. "You just wonder what’s happening and if it’s still escaping, then it’s in the air."

XTO spokesperson Karen Matusic said a well-control crew from Texas is clearing debris from the explosion. The well where they lost control was one of four on the pad. Matusic said they can’t plug the leak because they first need to move a construction crane that ended up on one of the other wells.

“We think it’s laying on top of that, so they need to move that,” Matusic said. 

State and federal regulators are monitoring air and water quality around the site.

The Allegheny Front is produced in Pittsburgh and reports on the environment.