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Flowback water spilled in west Flower Mound (updated)
By Chris Roark, roarkc@acnpapers.com
Cleanup crews are expected to have the mess cleaned up by early Friday following a flowback water spill about 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Cummins C-West gas well pad site in west Flower Mound. Williams Production Gulf Coast, LP was the operating company.
The site is generally located east of Red Rock, south of Hawk and north of FM 1171.
According to reports released by Flower Mound officials, about 80 barrels of flowback water were spilled when the operator was conducting flowback activities used to initiate gas production.
“By daybreak (Thursday) about all of the saltwater had been vacuumed up,” Colwell said. “About nine inches of it, using the above-ground swimming pool example, was left.”
The flowback water leaked over the gravel pad site but did not go past the mulch berm.
According to a product loss report issued by the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC), the cleanout hatch on the fracturing tank had a bad seal and leaked water onto the pad.
“It appears that the unexpected and sudden seal leak on the fracking (hydraulic fracturing) tank caused the spill,” Colwell said. “After it was discovered, the contractor tried to shut it off, but it wouldn’t seal.”
Colwell said the fluid was mostly composed of saltwater.
“It’s primarily saltwater with chemical additives in very small amounts in the fracking water,” Colwell said. “The amount of additives in this case was very small, so it was overwhelmingly saltwater. That’s why we wanted to make sure that it didn’t get into the water or on public property.”
Following the incident, town staff members went to the site, the TRC and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) were notified, and later the TRC inspected the site.
The product loss report stated that no surface water was affected in the incident. It stated that following the leak, a vacuum truck was used to contain the free liquid. The affected soil was delineated and removed to roll-off containers for temporary storage. It stated that storm water collection devices were installed to prevent potential runoff during remediation.
It went on to state that removed soil and clean soil will be mixed together to provide the proper level of chloride and then will be returned to the excavation. Then, before and after cleanup, excavated soil samples will be taken to ensure proper remediation.
Flower Mound’s report stated that the incident did not meet the town’s hazardous material team’s response levels because there was no immediate life, property or environmental hazard that would have necessitated response, a Flower Mound emergency response official said. The operator, and or their contractors are required to, and are capable of, clean-up with regulatory guidance by the state agencies, the official said.
The report stated that there are no reports with the town or the TRC that document previous spills in Flower Mound.
The town is continuing to gather information and will receive a report from the operator, the TRC and the cleanup company, at which point possible fines will be determined.
Colwell said the incident will trigger a look at improved cooperation.
“We’re going through an analysis now, talking to the contractors, the town and the railroad commission,” Colwell said. “We want to look at ways to work closer with the contractors. This certainly wasn’t a minor issue for us, but it wasn’t life threatening, and there was no damage done to the public property or water sources.”
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
DonaldBerry wrote on Apr 14, 2010 8:28 AM:
" I feel so much safer now knowing that there's only this one leak and they'll really do better in the future... this time. "
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