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Crews stop natural gas leaks at Chevron well pad in Southwest Pa.

The entrance to the Chevron well pad where a natural gas well exploded in Dunkard Township, Greene County.

Katie Colaneri/StateImpact Pennsylvania

The entrance to a Chevron well pad in Dunkard Township, Greene County.


Two weeks after a fire broke out on a Chevron well pad in Greene County, emergency crews have stopped the flow of natural gas from two damaged wells on the site.
The well where the fire started was capped on Sunday afternoon. Around 4 p.m. Tuesday, crews capped a second well that had borne the brunt of the blaze. Chevron says it has begun checking seals and valves on a third well on the pad.
“Once it is determined that the [third] well is also secure, a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the incident will begin,” Chevron spokeswoman Lee Ann Wainwright said in a statement.
Around 7 a.m. on February 11, a well on the pad in Dunkard Township exploded and the fire burned intermittently for five days. The official cause is still under investigation, but state officials say there may have been a defect in the wellhead that caused the release of methane. State police believe Ian McKee, a 27-year-old contractor worker who was on the site, died in the explosion.
The Department of Environmental Protection has been monitoring air and water quality in the area and says the methane releases are not a threat to public health.
Chevron says air samples were consistent with readings at a DEP air quality station in Washington, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles away from Dunkard Township.

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