Penn. charges Cabot with natgas chemical spills

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Pennsylvania regulators issued a notice of violation on Tuesday to Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG.N) for spilling thousands of gallons of a chemical used in natural gas drilling.

The state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) gave the energy company 10 days to explain what it is doing to clean up two spills that took place on Sept. 16 near the northeast Pennsylvania town of Dimock, where Cabot is drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale formation.

Residents in Pennsylvania and other states claim natural gas drilling is contaminating groundwater with toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing or "fracking."

Some geologists believe Marcellus has the potential to meet total U.S. natural gas needs for a decade or more.

Since gas drilling began in Dimock, residents have complained of a range of ailments, clouded drinking water, sickened animals and flammable wells. [ID:nN12499207]

Teresa Candori, a spokeswoman for the DEP, declined to comment on what penalties Cabot may face. "We are looking at what the options are," she said.

Cabot and other companies have declined to identify chemicals they and their subcontractors use, saying it is proprietary information. They say the substances pose no threat to drinking water because they are heavily diluted and injected through layers of steel and concrete thousands of feet below aquifers.

Candori said the first spill consisted of between 1,000 and 2,000 gallons (3,800 to 7,600 litres) of LGC-35 CBM, a lubricant used in hydraulic fracturing. The chemical is potentially carcinogenic, and may harm the central nervous system, according to information filed with the agency by Halliburton Co HAL.CO, which subcontracts with Cabot to complete the well.

The second spill was of between 5,800 and 5,900 gallons of the same material, Candori said. Failed pipe connections caused both spills, which Cabot reported to the DEP.

A third spill of 420 gallons of the same fluid occurred in the same location on Tuesday when a hose ruptured. That incident was not covered by the violation notice, and further action may be taken, Candori said.

She said some of the chemical had spilled into a creek where "a few" fish died but that there was no evidence of any contamination of residents' drinking water wells.

Kenneth Komoroski, a spokesman for Cabot, said the well completion where the spills occurred was being conducted by subcontractors who had been told of Cabot's concern.

"We have put our contactors on notice that they must provide 100 percent compliance" with environmental safeguards, he said. (Editing by Daniel Trotta and David Gregorio)