The natural gas industry is sponsoring a six-hour training course for firefighters and other first responders called to handle explosions and fires like two accidents that have already occurred at drilling sites in northern West Virginia.
The West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association and its member companies are offering the classes Oct. 29-30 in Wetzel County. Executive Director Corky DeMarco said invitations will go to first responders there and in Ohio, Marshall, Doddridge and Tyler counties.
The association offered similar training for years but stopped when attendance fell off. As gas drilling has grown, however, "we thought it was time to reinitiate the efforts," he said.
The course will be taught by Wild Well Control Inc. of Houston, Texas, which specializes in fires at oil and gas wells. Topics include the cause of blowouts, rigs and their components, and scene management.
Although firefighters usually try to put a blaze out, DeMarco said that's not what they should do at a gas well accident. Rather, he said, they should focus on securing the area and keeping people safe.
Jimmy Gianato, director of the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said first responders had been asking the state for training, and he was looking for some to provide when DeMarco approached him.
"It's going to be an overview of the difference between conventional gas wells and Marcellus shale wells, the decision-making process, and what they should or shouldn't do," Gianato said. "We want to make sure that they understand and have full knowledge of what they're dealing with."
The class will be limited to about 30 people each day, he said. Additional classes may be held later in the Fairmont or Clarksburg area to accommodate people from the north-central counties.
"We're going to try to do it in every county we have production in or have pipelines running through," DeMarco said. "First responders don't normally deal with the intense fires that are the result of oil and gas operations. It takes a special type of training to handle those."
Marshall County has already had two major accidents, a rig explosion that injured seven workers in June and a well fire that burned for a week last month but did not injure anyone.
The likelihood of accidents will grow as the rush to drill continues, Gianato said.
Gas companies are flocking to northern West Virginia as they tap the rich Marcellus reserves that also underlie Pennsylvania, New York and parts of Ohio.
