LEROY, Pa., April 22 (UPI) -- A gas well in Pennsylvania is no longer leaking after two days of efforts to stop hydraulic fracturing fluid and natural gas from escaping, officials said.
While the cause of the Tuesday blowout of the well in Bradford Country is unclear, well operator Chesapeake Energy said it has suspended all post-drilling activity on its wells in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio while they investigate why the well malfunctioned, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Friday.
Tests are being performed on nearby water supplies after thousands of gallons of chemically laced fracking fluid flowed from the site and into a tributary of Towanda Creek near Leroy.
"If we can come out of this where everyone can still drink their well water, then that would be a pretty good thing," Leroy Township supervisor Ted Tomlinson, who can see the well site from his back yard, said.
Initial tests showed "minimal, if any" impact to surrounding waterways, Chesapeake Energy said.
