HCl Acid Tanker Accident Scene
Overturned tanker truck spills hydrochloric acid in Marion County, WV
From an Article by Aaron Payne, WV MetroNews, June 19, 2015
Farmington, WV — An environmental remediation contractor began working early Friday morning to clean up an area in Marion County after a tanker truck wrecked, spilling an estimated 3,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid.
At 3:05 a.m., Marion County 911 received a call indicating a truck ran off Jamison Road in Farmington while navigating a sharp turn and tipped over.
Out of a total 6,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid contained in the truck, it is estimated at this time that approximately half was released. However, official numbers will not be available until the remaining substance is siphoned into another truck, according to state DEP Spokesperson Jake Glance.
While no water supplies were contaminated, workers with Pennsylvania-based SPSI, Inc. worked to excavate between four and five inches of dirt around the spill area. The crews were working to beat threatening showers, but dug a trench to catch runoff downhill just in case.
Eight homes along Jamison Road were evacuated with help from the Red Cross while the chemical was being extracted as a precaution, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Department.
The driver of the truck was transported to Fairmont Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released for minor injuries. Jamison Road remained closed during remediation and while crews worked to remove the wrecked tanker.
With the crew from SPSI on scene was the state DEP’s Homeland Security and Emergency team, the Marion County OEMS, the Marion County Sheriff’s Department and Rescue Squad and the Farmington, Mannington, Fairview and Barrackville Fire Departments.
See a video of the accident scene here.
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Hydrochloric Acid’s Role in the Fracking Process
From an Article by Scott Detrow, NPR StateImpact PA, July 6, 2012
After news broke (in 2012) that 4,700 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled at a Chief Oil and Gas drilling pad in Bradford County PA, several readers emailed StateImpact Pennsylvania to ask why the corrosive agent was being stored at the site.
The answer: hydrochloric acid plays a key role in the hydraulic fracturing process. After the natural gas well’s hole is bored, drillers will pump thousands of gallons of water mixed with acid down into the well. The point, as drilling website FracFocus explains, is to clear out cement debris left over from the drilling stage, and to help open up the underground shale fractures.
After the “acid stage” is complete, drillers inject slickening fluid and sand into the well, in order to flush the natural gas out.
Chief Oil & Gas had completed fracking at its Leroy Township Yoder well when the spill took place. A company spokeswoman says the acid was being stored on-site, waiting to be moved to another drilling location.
See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net
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