Three injured in West Virginia gas well explosion
21 August 2012
Three workers were injured in an Antero gas well fire and explosion in a rural location in Harrison County, West Virginia on August 17. Hall Drilling LLC was sinking a well when natural gas escaped and ignited. The fire was extinguished in about 60 minutes.
The Rig 3 drill team had perforated about 470 feet of the Cattril-3 well in Harrison County, targeting the Marcellus formation, when they felt a kick and the incident occurred.
The company has voluntarily suspended operations to trace the root cause of the problem.
No gas is escaping from the well and, being in a rural area, it does not pose a threat to any local communities. There were no reports of environmental damage, and the extent of damage to the rig was not immediately clear.
Antero ran into trouble in June at another West Virginia drilling project, when a drillbit pierced an aquifer and resulting pressure caused several surrounding water wells to shoot water into the air.