Remains found at site of Southwest Pa. gas well fire

Katie Colaneri

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Katie Colaneri is a reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WHYY in Philadelphia covering energy and the environment. Before joining StateImpact, Katie worked as an investigative and enterprise reporter at WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. She covered some of New Jersey's biggest stories including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, as well as the day-to-day triumphs and struggles to revitalize state's largest city. A native of New Jersey with roots in South Central Pennsylvania, Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.

February 19, 2014 | 8:19 PM

This post was updated on 2/20/14 at 10 a.m.
More than a week after a fire engulfed two natural gas wells in Greene County, Pennsylvania State Police have found what they believe to be the remains of a missing worker.
Ian McKee, 27, originally of Warren, Pennsylvania, was identified by his family this week as a contractor for Cameron International, a company that was working on the Chevron well pad when the fire started early last Tuesday. State police were unable to access the scene until Wednesday as crews worked to extinguish the fire and clear the pad of debris.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports investigators found the remains where McKee’s co-workers last saw him at the site:

During a somber press conference at the Bobtown Fire Department, a representative of Cameron said Mr. McKee, who is originally from Warren, Pa., but lived most recently in Morgantown, left behind a fiance who is pregnant with his child.
Stefan Radwanski, vice president and general manager of Cameron’s Surface Systems division, said the company has been in regular contact with the McKee family and will continue to provide for their needs.
“All of us at Cameron are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the McKee family,” he said

Investigators said the remains have been taken to the Greene County coroner’s office, where they hope to positively identify them as Mr. McKee.

The Post-Gazette reports investigators believed they might find McKee’s remains near a charred crane that was removed from the site Wednesday morning.
In a statement, Chevron Appalachia’s Vice President Nigel Hearne expressed his condolences to McKee’s family, friends and co-workers.
“We value our employees and contractors as our greatest asset and work extremely hard every day to prevent incidents like this,” Hearne said. “We are committed to fully understanding what happened and are determined to prevent this from happening again.”