COLUMBUS, OH - When an Erie County natural gas well began leaking hydrogen sulfide gas fumes in July, firefighters were tied up at the scene for hours unable to identify and contact the person responsible for the well's security.
Likewise, thousands of cubic feet of natural gas escaped into the atmosphere from a recent natural gas pipeline leak in Portage County because emergency personnel could not identify the person responsible for operating the gas well feeding the leak.
Now, a new emergency response and strategic planning interactive web site developed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) will help firefighters, police, emergency management agencies and others respond more effectively to similar gas and oil well crises in the state.
ODNR's Division of Mineral Resources Management developed the site in conjunction with the Argonne National Laboratory, using a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Ohio Emergency Management Agency, the State Fire Marshal, the Ohio State Firefighters Association and local emergency management agencies from across the state also participated in the site's design and development.
"This web site is the first of its kind in the nation," said Mike Sponsler, chief of the Division of Mineral Resources Management at ODNR. "During actual oil and gas well emergencies, response crews may access this real time, interactive site to determine vital information about the facility involved."
When a fire, spill, leak or other crisis occurs at an Ohio oil or gas well, emergency responders can log onto the site, determine current ownership of the facility, and locate the individual responsible for security at the site. Individual well information available on the site also includes whether or not hazardous gasses or chemicals might be present, the proximity of public facilities that might require evacuation such as schools and hospitals, and the exact locations of nearby highways, streams and lakes.
State law requires that the names of owners and contacts be posted at well sites. However, frequently that information is missing or out of date. Often, emergency response agencies must assume responsibility for the cost of fighting a well fire or sealing a leak when well owners or responsible parties cannot be located. ODNR's new web site will help emergency personnel determine financial responsibility, as well as which federal, state or local agencies require an incident report.
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are also an important part of the new web site. MSDS provide safety instructions for handling specific chemicals and gasses that might be encountered during an emergency at an oil or gas well. The MSDS associated with the emergency response and strategic planning web site can be accessed electronically by emergency personnel responding to the scene of a fire, spill or leak.
The interactive component of the web site makes it valuable for planning purposes as well as emergency situations. Oil and gas well locations can be reviewed as part of watershed management and land use studies. Links to ODNR's oil and gas database are imbedded in the new site, as are links to important state and local entities such as the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and local fire and police departments.
"This system is user friendly," said Sponsler. "Plus, it can be used in conjunction with other Geographic Information System (GIS) databases."
ODNR plans to eventually include data on the locations of Ohio's surface and underground mines in the new Web site. Some fire departments and local emergency management agencies have also expressed interest in adding data for local refineries, chemical manufacturing plants and similar industrial sites.