From his fishing boat on a rural Jefferson County pond, Mike Poole can see a natural-gas
wellhead less than 0.1 mile away.
Poole spent part of Tuesday afternoon on that boat with a buddy and his dog; and the well, at
that time, was just part of the landscape to him. By Tuesday evening, though, the well had forced
him from his home.
Poole, who lives above the Mingo Junction Sportsman’s Club less than a mile from the well,
was one of about 400 families who were evacuated after the well ruptured Tuesday night, spewing
natural gas and methane into the air.
Jefferson County’s emergency management officials worried about what those gases could do to
people and homes. Methane can become explosive in small amounts and can cause headaches and
dizziness.
The well is in Bloomingdale, a small village about 15 miles southwest of Steubenville and 140
miles east of Columbus. It is run by a subsidiary of American Energy Partners, which was founded by
Aubrey McClendon, the former CEO of Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest oil and gas companies in
the world.
Jesse Comart, a spokesman for American Energy Partners, said in a prepared statement that the
company brought in Boots and Coots, a well emergenc- response company owned by Halliburton and
based in Texas, to shut down the well and stop the gases from leaking into the air.
“We have begun repair work on the well and are working to determine the cause of the issue,”
Comart wrote today.
Bethany McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said the
company tested air around the well and in nearby neighborhoods for methane and natural gas and
found none. McCorkle said people were evacuated out of an abundance of caution.
“It was just, hey, we don’t know what we don’t know right now, let’s be cautious,” she said.
Most residents were allowed to return to their homes Tuesday night.
Poole spent the night with family in a nearby village. The experience left him worried about
his home and the woods and lakes where he likes to hunt, hike and fish.
“They’re telling everybody, ‘Oh, this is perfectly, 100 percent safe. It’s safe safe safe
safe. It’s not hurting the water, it’s not hurting the air,’” he said. “Well, why were we evacuated
last night?”
He questioned why American Energy Partners hasn’t trained emergency responders in Ohio,
rather than relying on a team that had to be flown in from Texas.
“What if this happens again?” he said. “Are we in the same boat, we gotta call these people
in Houston, have them come up here and fix this?”
Comart said American Energy Partners had no comment about that.
@larenschield
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