This is a report on our examination of a number of gas wells in Putnam and Kanawha counties. The wells in this section were viewed in 2008 and 2009 and are operated by several different companies.

The Home Page for the Study

The Home Page for the 2011 Study

Four Wells in the Kanawha State Forest

Three Wells with Surface Contamination

Three Well with Inadequate Secondary Containment

A Vertical Marcellus Well

Condensate Tank Overflow

The Home Page for the 2010 Study

The Home Page for the 2009 Study

Putnam County
Poca River Road
583
731
1492
595
615
743
775
746
739

Spanish Oak Road
232
Putnam B-85

Long Road
298

Kanawha County
Dry Branch
5999
1266

Harmon's Creek
2026
5714

Environmental Assessment
Putnam County
1492 & 731

Kanawha County
2026
5714

The Home Page for the 2008 Study

Putnam County
Long Road Group
1288
1215
1178
1299
702
No API #1
No API #2
No API #3
1155
No API #4
No API #5

River Road Group
735
601
570

King Cemetery Group
1200
274
404

Kanawha County
2026
5714

47-039-05714

We examined this site in November 2008 and found that the condensate storage tank did not have the required secondary containment dike. We also noted areas on the pad that were sparsely vegetated. At that time the pad was being used to park equipment and materials being used on a local waterline project and the pad didn't receive full study.

We returned to the site in July 2009 with one of the surface owners and immediately noticed large pieces of thick black plastic sticking up from the ground. We took two soil samples in a bare area and returned to the site to begin a full assessment.

We found a perimeter of exposed black plastic that was roughly 15 by 100 feet. At the western end of the perimeter there's a large area bare of vegetation. We took soil samples through the perimeter and outside at each end. Within the perimeter of exposed plastic soil tests all showed elevated chloride. At the same location as sample S5 we took a soil sample for laboratory analysis. A blog post gives The Numbers.

Using the state's, EPA's and other soil screening levels, we found arsenic's concentration showed that contamination could adversely affect groundwater and local residents' health. We also found that concentrations of arsenic and lead could have a negative ecological effect.

The full Environmental Assessment presents the laboratory results and analysis of soil screening levels.

		Red circles show the approximate edges of the perimeter of black plastic. This photo was taken looking east and the large bare area in the foreground had the highest chloride concentrations in the soil. This was also where we took the laboratory sample.
		Each soil sample on the traverse line through the perimeter of black plastic had a number. S5 is also the location of the laboratory sample. This photo was taken looking west. The house in the background is 185 feet from the wellhead. Their vegetable garden is even closer.
		The thick black plastic enclosed an area bare of or with sparse vegetation. The black plastic is pit liner. We've found it at two other sites -- 2026 and 5999. Deer tracks are visible in the foreground.
		In the center of the perimeter of black plastic this piece of steel cable emerged from the soil. We believe it may have been used to pin the folded over edges of pit liner before the pit was covered up. We saw a similar piece of steel sticking up from the pit's surface at 1492.
		There were few signs of deer activity in the bare area when we took samples in July 2009. When we returned to the site in October 2009 the area was covered with tracks. The green shotgun shell marks the location for where we took the sample for laboratory testing.
		To take the sample for laboratory testing we dug down 4 inches below the surface into what we believe is pit waste (the dark gray material began about an inch or so below the surface). We took two samples for the laboratory, one at 4 to 5 inches below the surface and the other (not used) at 5 to 6 inches below the surface.
		When the well was to be drilled the surface owners and others expressed a concern about how the waste would be disposed of. It was everyones' understanding that it was to be hauled off the site. It's possible, in spite of this, that the operator carried out a typical land application of liquid waste on the hillside above this water cistern. The solid pit waste was buried on site.
		On the hillside below the well site we found two empty gallon plastic jugs that had been discarded. One originally held bar oil for chainsaws. This jug originally held a Shell oil for diesel engines.
		When we returned to the well site in October 2009 we saw that the operator had constructed the proper secondary containment for the 50-barrel condensate storage tank.