Leaking well near Allard Elementary to be capped

When you have a leaking gas well 1,000 feet from your kids elementary school, it must be reassuring to know that it will be capped sometime within the coming year. And how is it that the well "wasn't located until last Fall"? Isn't the location of a natural gas well something that residents and industry should be aware of?

By: Michael PoundBeaver County Times
Thursday February 25, 2010 05:39 PM
MOON TWP. — A contractor hired by the state Department of Environmental Protection has begun work to cap an abandoned gas well that’s leaking natural gas about 1,000 feet from Moon Area School District’s J.A. Allard Elementary School.

A DEP spokeswoman said the work will probably be completed in a few days. She also stressed that neither nearby homes nor the school is at any risk from the well.

“This is in reaction to complaints from residents about a natural gas odor in the area,” said Helen Humphreys. “The well wasn’t located until last fall, but the complaints about the odor have picked up recently, enough so that we’re moving to cap the well.”

The well is on private property in a wooded area between Wyngate Road and Dover Drive, Humphreys said. Its exact location was discovered in the fall, when the property owner was clearing brush from the area.

Humphreys said the more persistent reports of the smell prompted DEP officials to check on the site.

“They found that the metal casing had been eroded to the point that there was a more serious leak,” she said. “That’s why it’s being capped.” More>>>