The “stuff” killed the cows.
The “stuff” killed the cows.
That’s Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator’s assessment of what contributed to the deaths of 17 cows in late April near a natural gas drilling location south of Spring Ridge.
Until now, none of the state agencies involved in the ongoing inquiry into the incident has stated what caused the cattle to drop dead in Skipper Williams Jr.’s pasture on state Highway 169.
The deaths were reported at some point after a liquid leaked from the well, which was in the completion process, and pooled into a low area accessible to the cows. The substance later was determined to contain elevated chlorides, oil, grease and some organic compounds.
No state agency took responsibility for testing the animals.
Today, Prator gathered representatives of his and the Caddo district attorney’s offices, state police and the state Environmental Quality, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Forestry departments in one room to review all the reports connected to the incident.
“We went over for an hour exactly what everybody’s response was, and everybody’s response and cooperation was really good,” the sheriff said. “We responded to the scene well. When everyone found out about it we all worked together very well.
“We have determined — although no one agency except me will say this — by piecing everything together, there was a spill from the site that ran off of the site and that was ingested by the cows and that’s what caused the cows to die.”
The site has been cleaned, and the soil and water have been tested. They do not pose a health risk to the public, Prator said.
“So I’m staying the stuff killed the cows.”
Still undetermined is whether the spill was reported and, if so, whether it was reported in a timely manner. “We contend it should have been reported. And (the) timeliness of it we’re investigating,” Prator said.
Chesapeake Energy Corp., which owns the well, and its services contractor, Schlumberger, have “strict policies” concerning site spills.
“But there are employees (who) did not follow the policy, it appears,” Prator said. Chesapeake Energy is being contacted by The Times for comment.
State police, the sheriff’s office and Environmental Quality still looking into that. Findings of the sheriff’s office and state police will be turned over to Caddo District Attorney Charles Scott for review. Environmental Quality will move its report through its channels.
“I am extremely serious when I say this better not happen again,” Prator said. “As fast as that phone can dial, we better get a call. This is unacceptable to us.
“If at (the) time it happened if proper notification had been made, there are chances cows would still be alive right now,” the sheriff said. “In this case, this was cows, how unfortunate. But what if it was children? The companies are working with us and understand the dangers.”
That’s Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator’s assessment of what contributed to the deaths of 17 cows in late April near a natural gas drilling location south of Spring Ridge.
Until now, none of the state agencies involved in the ongoing inquiry into the incident has stated what caused the cattle to drop dead in Skipper Williams Jr.’s pasture on state Highway 169.
The deaths were reported at some point after a liquid leaked from the well, which was in the completion process, and pooled into a low area accessible to the cows. The substance later was determined to contain elevated chlorides, oil, grease and some organic compounds.
No state agency took responsibility for testing the animals.
Today, Prator gathered representatives of his and the Caddo district attorney’s offices, state police and the state Environmental Quality, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Forestry departments in one room to review all the reports connected to the incident.
“We went over for an hour exactly what everybody’s response was, and everybody’s response and cooperation was really good,” the sheriff said. “We responded to the scene well. When everyone found out about it we all worked together very well.
“We have determined — although no one agency except me will say this — by piecing everything together, there was a spill from the site that ran off of the site and that was ingested by the cows and that’s what caused the cows to die.”
The site has been cleaned, and the soil and water have been tested. They do not pose a health risk to the public, Prator said.
“So I’m staying the stuff killed the cows.”
Still undetermined is whether the spill was reported and, if so, whether it was reported in a timely manner. “We contend it should have been reported. And (the) timeliness of it we’re investigating,” Prator said.
Chesapeake Energy Corp., which owns the well, and its services contractor, Schlumberger, have “strict policies” concerning site spills.
“But there are employees (who) did not follow the policy, it appears,” Prator said. Chesapeake Energy is being contacted by The Times for comment.
State police, the sheriff’s office and Environmental Quality still looking into that. Findings of the sheriff’s office and state police will be turned over to Caddo District Attorney Charles Scott for review. Environmental Quality will move its report through its channels.
“I am extremely serious when I say this better not happen again,” Prator said. “As fast as that phone can dial, we better get a call. This is unacceptable to us.
“If at (the) time it happened if proper notification had been made, there are chances cows would still be alive right now,” the sheriff said. “In this case, this was cows, how unfortunate. But what if it was children? The companies are working with us and understand the dangers.”
Views: 240
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Grillin' - MmmMmm on -
“If at (the) time it happened if proper notification had been made, there are chances cows would still be alive right now,” the sheriff said. “In this case, this was cows, how unfortunate. But what if it was children? The companies are working with us and understand the dangers.”
Can't imagine children lapping up water (w/ or w/o salt) from puddles on the ground. But tugging on the heartstrings of children makes the story better I guess? The story has enough to warrant an investigation so that future incidents can be prevented, but do we have to bring in "the chiiiiiillllllddddddrrrreeeeennnnn"??
-
Permalink Reply by Cathaus on
-
Yes Mmmarkkk and we have asked Sally Struthers to be our spokesperson.
-
Permalink Reply by The_Baron on
-
My problems with the Sheriffs witchhunt:
1) Is the substance even a hazerdous waste?? I have seen no credible reports that indicate this was anything but salt water with some oil and grease. Does the Sheriff even need to be notified about a salt water spill?
Environmental Quality was notified via its hotline when Chesapeake Energy learned of the dead cattle. And over the next 72 hours, the company worked with Schlumberger, the sheriff's office and other agencies involved to investigate the incident, McCotter said.
2) They was a small army of employees working that showed no ill effects. The only danger it seems is from ingesting large quanities directly. Inother words, no danger to human life.
3) State agencies refuse to make an official statement. In other words, they do not know enough about what happened to make an inteligent assesment of what happened.
4) "But no state agency took responsibility for testing the animals. Results from a necropsy performed by Williams' private veterinarian are unavailable.
What data is available???? Please elaborate.
This is ridiculas. Why is the sheriff running point on this, Why not DNR or LDEQ???? The sheriff should not be involved until there is evidence of a crime.
-
Permalink Reply by The_Baron on
-
No sir...I am only trying to point out that this seems to be a witchhunt by the sheriff as there is little conclusive data, granted it is almost imposible to tell from the childish writings of Ms. Welborn,
-
Permalink Reply by Connell on
-
could be very well could be...beat up on the big boys..
another reason these guys have to have a thorough reporting process. the epa comes in with an attitude when there is a problem reporting. that is what gives their job meaning it seems.
i have been in on filing reports to the local, state and feds depending on the product and quantity. done clean up, remediation, decon...etc... and the wait for them to arrive is the worse...
-
Permalink Reply by The_Baron on
-
But is this really the job of the sheriff????
DEQ is responsible for chemical spills is it not. There does not appear to be any crinimal acts or intent. This is a civil matter to be resolved between the owner of the cows and CHK. The landowner appears to have been made whole as any contamanint has been cleaned up.
-
Permalink Reply by P.G. on
-
"But no state agency took responsibility for testing the animals"
Anyone suppose actions like that, or say lack of action, could make some of the argument for the federal government to want to get involved with more regulations?
If local authorities won't take aggressive action, who's looking out for the public's best interests. If it was nothing then those state agencies should have stepped forward and explained why that was rather than stayed mum about it.
-
Permalink Reply by The_Baron on
-
"But no state agency took responsibility for testing the animals"
What about the cow taken by the State Vetenanian???? What about the tests on that cow???? Shouldn't the Sheriff supeana the results of the private tests before making a public acusation against the drilling comany???
-
Permalink Reply by The_Baron on
-
The Full article as printed in The Times on Thurrsday:
The 'stuff' killed the cows, sheriff says
• Prator questions whether drilling company has reported incident.
By Vickie Welborn • vwelborn@gannett.com • June 25, 2009
That's Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator's assessment of what contributed to the deaths of 17 cows in late April near a natural gas drilling location south of Spring Ridge.
Until now, none of the state agencies involved in the ongoing inquiry into the incident has stated what caused the cattle to drop dead in Skipper Williams Jr.'s pasture on state Highway 169.
The deaths were reported at some point after a liquid leaked from the well, which was in the completion process, and pooled into a low area accessible to the cows. The substance later was determined to contain elevated chlorides, oil, grease and some organic compounds.
But no state agency took responsibility for testing the animals. Results from a necropsy performed by Williams' private veterinarian are unavailable.
On Wednesday, Prator gathered representatives of his and Caddo District Attorney Charles Scott's offices, the Caddo Commission, state police and the state Environmental Quality, Natural Resources and Agriculture and Forestry departments in one room to review all the reports connected to the incident.
"We went over for an hour exactly what everybody's response was, and everybody's response and cooperation was really good," the sheriff said. "We responded to the scene well. When everyone found out about it we all worked together very well.
"We have determined — although no one agency except me will say this — by piecing everything together, there was a spill from the site that ran off of the site and that was ingested by the cows and that's what caused the cows to die."
State veterinarian Michael Barrington confirmed the cows' deaths were neither natural nor caused by disease, a release from Prator's office states.
The site has been cleaned, and the soil and water have been tested. They do not pose a health risk to the public, Prator told The Times in a telephone interview.
Still undetermined is whether the spill was reported and, if so, whether it was reported in a timely manner. "We contend it should have been reported. And the timeliness of it we're investigating," Prator said.
Chesapeake Energy Corp., which owns the well, and its services contractor, Schlumberger, have "strict policies" concerning site spills. "But there are employees (who) did not follow the policy, it appears," Prator said.
Chesapeake Energy is evaluating activities on its sites relative to chemical handling, storage and spill containment and identifying opportunities for improvement. Schlumberger has added additional secondary containment materials around bulk hydraulic fracturing chemical storage and has increased the policing of chemical storage and transfer areas during operations, said J. Kevin McCotter, Chesapeake Energy's corporate development director for Louisiana, in an e-mail to The Times.
"Chesapeake has requested similar measures from its other well site contractors," he said. "Chesapeake and Schlumberger are working together to ensure that the repetition of such an incident can be avoided and to develop and refine educational and operational processes and procedures which will become recognized by LA DEQ and the industry as a new standard for spill containment."
State police, the sheriff's office and Environmental Quality still are looking into the timeliness of the reporting. Findings of the sheriff's office and state police will be turned over to Scott for review. Environmental Quality will move its report through its channels.
Environmental Quality was notified via its hotline when Chesapeake Energy learned of the dead cattle. And over the next 72 hours, the company worked with Schlumberger, the sheriff's office and other agencies involved to investigate the incident, McCotter said.
Chesapeake Energy officials have since met with Environmental Quality Secretary Harold Leggett and members of his staff to discuss what happened and explain each company's response. Chesapeake Energy filed a written report with Environmental Quality on Friday.
"While Chesapeake, Schlumberger and others have conducted water and soil analysis, Chesapeake and Schlumberger have not had access to the cattle owners' necropsy and toxicology reports and have, therefore, been unable to draw any conclusions as to the cause of the cattle deaths," McCotter said.
Prator acknowledged the companies involved are working with his office and "understand the dangers," but he's frank in his position that he'll not tolerate any "shenanigans."
"I am extremely serious when I say this better not happen again," Prator said. "As fast as that phone can dial, we better get a call. This is unacceptable to us.
"If at the time it happened proper notification had been made, there are chances cows would still be alive right now," the sheriff said. "In this case, this was cows. How unfortunate. But what if it was children?"
-
Permalink Reply by NA on
-
"Prator said his office will bill Chesapeake Energy, the owner of the well, just under $2,000 for the cost of the Sheriff's Department investigation, including overtime and fuel costs."
http://www.ktbs.com/news/cows-that-died-had-ingested-chemicals-spil...
Is it common to bill for an investigation?
Support GoHaynesvilleShale.com
Top Content
Not a member? Get our email.
Groups
-
Natchitoches Parish
399 members
-
Cass County, TX
119 members
-
Franklin County, Texas
8 members
-
San Augustine, TX
386 members
-
Rusk County
97 members
-
Vernon Parish
59 members
-
Bienville Parish, LA
242 members
-
Sabine County, Texas
172 members
-
Sabine Parish, LA
455 members
-
Angelina County, TX
87 members
© 2024 Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).
Powered by
