Emergency crews contain Pa. gas well leak

HARRISBURG – Natural gas and polluted drilling water shot out of a rural Pennsylvania well after an accident late Thursday night caused by unexpectedly high gas pressure.

Department of Environmental Protection officials say no drilling water has spilled into a waterway, although the accident occurred in an environmentally sensitive area in the SB Elliott State Park in Clearfield County.

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency officials said that the accident had been contained as of 12:15 p.m.

But flights have been restricted over the area as a precautionary measure, PEMA said.

The drilling area lies at the headwaters of the west branch of the Susquehanna River, officials said. The drilling water could flow east into the Susquehanna or west into the Ohio River.

The accident apparently occurred late Thursday when unexpectedly high gas pressure in the newly drilled EOG Resources well prevented crews from containing it. Emergency crews were at the scene all morning.

There are no homes within a mile.