Danger spills over well sites Fear about environmental damage
from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling is often trained on
what could happen deep underground, but some of the gravest
hazards posed by the process are driven in trucks, stored in
tanks, carried through hoses and left in pits on the surface of
natural gas well sites. Concentrated chemicals, as well as
wastewater containing toxic levels of salts and metals, are
stored, produced or transported in large quantities at each well
site, creating the potential for tainting drinking water or
seeping into local ponds and streams. While recent incidents at
Marcellus Shale wells involving explosions, blow-outs and
methane contaminated drinking water have drawn attention to the
dangerous potential of the activity, information about the
industry-wide frequency and impact of spills and leaks has not
been reported publicly. Department of Environmental Protection
files made available to Times-Shamrock newspapers through a
Right-to-Know Request reveal hundreds of