Leak at Pennsylvania gas storage well spewing methane

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Associated Press

A vent at an underground natural gas storage well in Western Pennsylvania has been spewing massive amounts of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere for more than 11 days and attempts to plug the leak have thus far failed. Owner Equitrans Midstream says the well at its Rager Mountain storage facility, located in a rural area about 1.5 hours east of Pittsburgh, is venting about 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. If accurate, that would total 1.1 billion cubic feet in emissions so far, equal to the greenhouse gas emissions from burning 1,080 rail cars of coal. Pennsylvania environmental regulators issued the company notice of five potential violations of state law.