AP: Truck Spills Fracking Fluid In Lycoming County

Scott Detrow

Recent Stories

Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

September 26, 2012 | 5:16 PM

Update: read more information about the spill here.
The Associated Press is reporting a truck carrying 4,600 gallons of fracking fluid has spilled in Lycoming County.

A tanker carrying 4,600 gallons of fracking wastewater has spilled its load near a storm drain that empties into Pine Creek, a popular fishing spot in Lycoming County.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says the truck spilled treated wastewater on State Route 44 in Watson Township on Wednesday afternoon. DEP says it’s not clear how many gallons have spilled. The agency has sampled various spots on Pine Creek and says it has not detected any harm to fish.

Used fluid is filled with salty brine, along with chemicals used during the hydraulic fracturing process.
A statement from the Department of Environmental Protection did not include any additional information. The agency is not yet releasing the name of the company involved in the spill. (Note: DEP has since confirmed the company as Minuteman Environmental Services.)