Archives > Flower Mound Leader > News
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Flowback spill occurs in west Flower Mound
From staff reports
A spill of flowback water occurred at a Williams Exploration drilling site in western Flower Mound early Friday morning, according to a release issued by Williams spokesman Kelly Swan.
According to the release, a contractor reported the spill to Williams at 5:30 a.m. Williams notified Flower Mound officials at 5:42 a.m. and met with representatives from the town and the Texas Railroad Commission at the Cummings drill site Friday.
The release stated that the spill did not affect water sources, public property was unaffected and that the response effort did not require the assistance of town resources, although a representative from the fire department did visit and inspect the site.
“This is unacceptable. We’re extremely disappointed,” said Tony Silvestri, regional vice president of Williams. “Prior to this year, we had what I felt was a respectable record with regard to our drilling. We had developed it over more than four years.”
An environmental remediation team was able to vacuum up and collect almost 80 percent (or 140 barrels) of the water in liquid form. The water remaining in the adjacent soil is being excavated for removal.
Flowback water is the very first water that a natural gas well produces. It is primarily naturally occurring saltwater. It also includes fluids that are used during the fracturing process to create openings in underground rock layers that contain natural gas.
This is the third spill for Williams in the area this year. A faulty seal on a temporary storage tank resulted in a spill at the same Cummings site on March 17. In Argyle, a July 29 spill at the Wright drill site involved a tank overflow.
“We have taken corrective measures following the earlier spills – measures that included having contractors inspect tanks and other equipment every 15 minutes. At this point, we don’t believe that protocol was followed this morning,” Silvestri said. “There will be more corrective action taken once we finish reviewing this. We share everyone’s expectation that drilling should be done safely, reliably and responsibly.”
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
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: News «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
