CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Pennsylvania environmental officials on Monday suspended drilling operations of a Marcellus Shale natural-gas operator whose Clearfield County well erupted last week into an uncontrolled geyser of gas and wastewater.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger ordered Texas-based EOG Resources Inc. to suspend its drilling activities in Pennsylvania until DEP has completed an investigation into the spill Thursday at the Punxsutawney Hunting Club.

The 16-hour eruption caused no injuries and no fire, and DEP officials on Monday described the environmental damage as "modest" - no fluids reached any streams.

A contractor dug trenches to contain 35,000 gallons of spilled fluid, mostly salt water that was trapped deep underground, but including trace elements of drilling chemicals.

The accident's timing was critical, coming amid Gov. Rendell's effort to push a reluctant legislature to enact a tax on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale, the mile-deep formation that underlies much of Pennsylvania and several surrounding states.

"We needed a severance tax even before the accident," Rendell said, adding he hopes the accident will mean the industry will "stop battling the tax."

The blowout also bore a stark similarity to the BP oil-well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. In both accidents, a mechanical safety device known as a blowout preventer failed.

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