HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania environmental regulators are fining Houston-based Cabot Oil and Gas for a storage tank explosion and wastewater spill at a gas drilling site.
The Department of Environmental Protection said Tuesday it fined Cabot $120,000 for the January incident at its Reynolds well pad in Susquehanna County.
Officials say vapors in the headspace of the wastewater tank ignited and caused the Jan. 11 explosion, rupturing the tank. The Times-Tribune of Scranton reports (https://bit.ly/11QSlsT ) that inspectors found that a worker checking the level of fluid in the 21,000-gallon wastewater tank ignited the vapors while using his cellphone as a flashlight.
The department says an employee was injured and more than 2,800 gallons of wastewater spilled, tainting soil beyond the well pad.
It says Cabot cleaned up the spill.
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