Another Gas Worker Fatality in Bradford County

From the Towanda Daily Review:

A Missouri man died Wednesday while working on a natural gas pipeline project in Burlington Township.In a news release, Bradford County Coroner Tom Carman said that Kenneth Donovan Elliott, 42, of Missouri was pronounced dead at 1:49 p.m. in Burlington Township, off of the Berwick Turnpike, following the 12:42 p.m. accident.   

When asked for comment, Kristi Gittins, spokesperson for Chief, said that the mishap did not take place at a Chief site.  She said it was a PVR (Penn Virginia Resources) site. She noted that the company, based in Radnor, Pa., is "a large national pipeline company working in the area."  Carman said Elliott was employed by Midway Oilfield of Midway, Texas. 

Midway Oilfield was in the process of clearing the right-of-way for a natural gas pipeline, according to Carman.  He said Elliott was operating a chainsaw, and was in the process of cutting down a tree, when the tree kicked back, striking him and knocking him to the ground.  Carman said Elliott died as a result of blunt force head trauma, and the manner of death has been ruled accidental.

This article demonstrates the complexity of all of the various companies that are involved in this kind of work.  The question that I would have is which employer or corporate entity is ultimately responsible for this man's workers' compensation death benefits so that his family can be taken care of.  It is a horrible accident and our hearts go out to this man's friends and family.

What to do if you have a work injury on a gas well site?

Accidents on Gas Well sites are far too common in the Marcellus Shale region. This is partly due the fact that a number of different types of specialists and companies are having to work together in a confined area and often with different and varying standards of safety and procedures.

But it is also often that the person or public body responsible for the overall safety of the site has simply not taken enough care over the arrangements or not properly checked that any safety procedures have been properly implemented.

Whatever the cause, injuries on a well pad site very often result in very serious and sometimes fatal injuries and such accidents can commonly occur in the following circumstances:

Being struck by falling loads or equipment

Lifting heavy loads without proper training and supervision

Working with asbestos without proper protection

Not being provided with adequate equipment or clothing (such as a hard hat)

Accidents caused by faulty plant or machinery

Being hit by moving vehicles such as fork lift truck or bulldozer

Falling from a height or from ladders or scaffolding

Explosions

Toxic exposure

Co-workers who are too tied and overworked being careless.

What sort of compensation might you receive? Compensation for a gas well site injury is to cover for the pain and suffering and distress caused by the injury and also for any loss of earnings, medical fees, rehabilitation costs- in fact any financial loss that has been caused by the accident. As far as possible you should keep any record (such as receipts, prescriptions etc) of payments you have made for things bought as a result of the injury. If the injury is caused by a co-worker, then your only option is getting wage and medical benefits through your employer's workers' compensation insurance company.  If the injury was caused by a third party-- such as an employee from another company working on the site-- then you can also get money for pain and suffering, assuming we can prove that the third party's actions were negligent.

What should I do if I have had an accident on a Gas Well Site? If you have had an accident, however minor, you should ensure that you take the following steps if possible (and as soon as you can after the accident)

Report the accident to your employer or supervisor and make sure it is recorded somehow, such as an incident report, etc.

Take photographs of where you had the accident

Take photos of any of your injuries such as cuts or abrasions as soon as possible after the accident

Keep a record of any potential witnesses to the accident who may be able to help in any future claim as necessary.

Is there a time limit for bringing a Claim? Yes, there are strict time limits for bringing a claim if you have had an accident on a Gas Well site.  There are different time limitations for workers' compensation claims and for negligence lawsuits.  So, the best course of action is to contact an experienced lawyer immediately.  You should contact a lawyer who is both experienced in workers' compensation as well as filing lawsuits, since those areas of the law are very different.

Even the gas industry truck drivers are nervous about accidents...

The following news article from the Towanda Daily Review demonstrates that not only your average Bradford County motorist is nervous with all the truck traffic, but also the truck drivers.  I'm glad to see that an organization that represents the truck drivers is attempting to limit the amount of truck accidents, collisions and fatalities in our area due to the ever increasing gas industry related truck traffic.

CANTON - A Pennsylvania and New York truck drivers' group concerned about the safety of their current route on Route 14 is asking for assistance from area municipalities.  This week, Canton Borough Council briefly discussed the request from the Professional CDL Drivers of Pennsylvania & New York. A letter dated Feb. 15 was forwarded to the borough from the group. It was not signed by a person. Only the group's name and an email address was provided at the bottom of the letter. 

In the correspondence, the drivers expressed concern about the curves, hills, and lack of shoulders along many sections of Route 14 between Elmira, N.Y. and Trout Run. "I am sure that you are just as aware of the safety record of this stretch of road as we are, with the dozens of accidents, multiple fatalities, with all types of vehicles involved," the group stated in the letter. The drivers claimed they "battled" with their companies to change the route with no success. They said the route saves eight miles.  But the drivers said the "vast improvements" to U.S. Highway 15 have made 15 "a much safer option." 

In the letter, the drivers said they understand that all truck traffic cannot be completely eliminated along Route 14, but said they felt all "Thru Truck Traffic" should be restricted. "In reality, it would only take one town to restrict thru truck traffic to make a difference, but better yet, we would love to see all the towns join together and restrict thru truck traffic, to make a difference and take a stand on traffic safety." 

Council didn't take action on the request, however.

Teamster strike, local picketing, ends in pipeline industry

From the Towanda Daily Review:

A strike by Teamsters Union members working in the gas and oil pipeline construction industry has ended, though some issues remain unresolved. 

During the strike, which began the during the first week of January, Teamsters Union members picketed against pipeline contractors in Troy and North Towanda Township. Teamster workers across the country in the pipeline construction industry returned to work Friday following an agreement between the union and the Pipe Line Contractors Association (PLCA) to extend the previous labor agreement for three months, according to a press release posted by the Teamsters Union on its national website. 

This will mark the third time the National Pipe Line Agreement, which expired on Jan. 31, 2011, between the Teamsters and the PLCA has been extended. The full term of the extension will run from Nov. 15-April 13, 2012.

Update on the recent gas worker fatality in Bradford County

Here's an update on the recent gas worker fatality that occurred in Bradford County. From the Towanda Daily Review:

Leonard L. Inness III, 35, of Elmira, N.Y., was pronounced dead on arrival at Memorial Hospital in Towanda at 5:06 p.m. Thursday, according to a report by the Bradford County coroner's office.

Coroner Thomas Carman ruled the manner of Inness' death as accidental. A cause of death was withheld pending the results of an autopsy scheduled for Saturday. An autopsy is standard procedure in the case of a workplace accident, Carman said. Routine toxicology tests will also be performed.

Inness was married and had children, Carman said.

Inness was operating a bulldozer Thursday at the Chesapeake Energy Corporation gas well site off Towner Hill Road. He lost his balance while standing and fell onto the bulldozer's track. The machine then ran him over, according to the coroner's office.

Another gas worker fatality in the Marcellus Shale

From the Towanda Daily Review:

Christine Dwyer, spokesperson for Ferguson Enterprises, parent company of Onda-Lay Pipe, confirmed Friday morning that a temporary employee of Onda-Lay Pipe has died as a result of a workplace accident Thursday at a gas well site in Rome Township.

I'll post more information once I have it.

Gas industry worker injured in Terry Township

From The Towanda Daily Review:

A gas industry worker was flown by emergency medical helicopter to a hospital in the region after he suffered a foot injury in an accident at a gas drilling site in Terry Township, the Wyalusing fire chief said.

"He was on a drilling rig (with his foot) stuck between two metal plates" said Adam Dietz, chief of the Wyalusing Volunteer Fire Company.

He was stuck approximately 20 feet above the ground, the fire chief said.

Dietz said he did not know the severity of the man's injury.

I have found that many gas workers do not want to report injuries for fear of being blackballed or just flat out fired.

Two injured in Sullivan County gas drilling vehicle fire

From the Towanda Daily Review:

DUSHORE - Two men were injured as a result of a vehicle fire at a Chesapeake drill site around 11 a.m. Sunday off Star Road in Colley Township, Sullivan County, said Dushore Fire Company Fire Chief Scott Hope.

He said the men were hurt while fighting the fire, which destroyed the vehicle. He described it as a construction truck, and said the fire occurred near the rig at the site.

According to the fire chief, one man was flown by Geisinger to a hospital and the other man was taken by ambulance to a hospital. He didn't know what hospitals they were taken to or what caused the fire.

He said they both suffered burns.

Gas Industry Truck Crashes

Many of our clients, either workers' comp clients or personal injury clients, come to us due to work related car or truck crashes. As you can tell by merely reading the Towanda Daily Review or the Sayre Morning Times, the amount of crashes in Bradford County has increased significantly. This is all related to the boom in the Marcellus Shale gas drilling. It seems like every other day there is news of another fatality due to a gas drilling truck accident. Below is an article from a Missouri lawyer about the specifics of truck crashes and their differences with car crashes.

Over the last few weeks there have been quite a few tractor trailer truck accidents and bus accidents. Inclement weather like we've been experiencing has been responsible for many of these truck accidents, but accidents occur even in the best of conditions. If you or a family member is hurt in an accident, it is important you understand the difference between truck and bus accidents and passenger vehicle accidents. The difference is important.

The first difference is plain to see, due to the size of vehicles such as trucks, busses, and other forms of commercial transportation accidents are far more likely to lead to serious injuries or even fatalities than accidents with passenger cars and trucks.

The next difference is not that obvious. There are a lot of people out there who assume that truck accident laws are the same as car accident laws. That is not the case.

There are many more laws and regulations controlling the operation of commercial motor vehicles than those that regulate driving the family station wagon. If you think about it the extra laws make sense. These vehicles are big, they sometimes carry dangerous cargo, they are on the road for considerably more time, and they often have more equipment which provides greater opportunity for failure. The laws providing oversight for the commercial vehicle industry and specifically for tractor trailers require trucks to be routinely maintained and inspected in order to prevent catastrophic failure. They require the vehicle to be driven in a safe manner (there are more types of traffic tickets that can be issued to commercial vehicles and regular tickets are harder to fight when you have a CDL). Also, there are many rules and regulations meant to supervise driver conduct. Drivers can only drive for so many hours and must rest for specific periods of time before they can drive again. In my opinion, the violation of any of these rules and regulations instantly makes the driver and the trucking company liable for the injuries that result.

A final difference is who could be held responsible for the accident. In an accident between two passenger vehicles the fault generally lies with one of the drivers. Commercial vehicle drivers are usually driving for work. This means that if they act inappropriately, were acting within the terms of their employment, or shouldn't have been allowed to drive the company might be responsible for the driver's accident. Not to complicate the issue; there are also scenarios where what the driver is hauling or what vehicle they are driving can bring more responsible defendants into the case. An accident with a vehicle such as a commercial truck could put any number of parties at fault, including: the truck driver, truck leasing company, the truck's maintenance company , the manufacturer of the truck, the loading company, or even the municipality or county government who maintain the road where the accident happened.

If you're involved in a truck accident or bus accident, you should start by following the steps you normally would take after being involved in an accident. However, truck accident will require extra work by the victim or the victim's attorney because there are more records and evidence to track down, and this information must be gathered immediately. These include the name of the trucking company and all the DOT numbers on the truck and the trailer. In some instances you must also recover the "black box" information from the computer that records certain information about the truck's speed, braking, and other accident related information.

Truck accidents will most likely involve a corporate legal team working against you. Truck and bus companies are, after all, usually big corporations. They have legal departments whose sole responsibility is handling cases like your accident. There will be experts and investigators lined up and ready to respond to an accident at any time. Often times the trucking company will have a lawyer and a legal team respond to the accident along with the police and ambulance. Those companies will have a team of lawyers representing them; you need an experienced truck accident lawyer representing you.

James Brown is a Missouri injury lawyer in St. Louis. If you are hurt in a car accident you need to know the common mistakes car accident victims make when talking to insurance adjusters that ruin their accident claims. Request a free copy of his Missouri accident guide, "I Survived! The Crash Victims Guide to Surviving the Aftermath" at his website http://www.themissouriinjurylawyer.com

OSHA investigating Sullivan County gas worker fatality

As per the Towanda Daily Review:

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is investigating the death of a worker who suffered a traumatic injury on Jan. 14 at a Chesapeake Appalachia gas well site in Sullivan County.

The Chesapeake Appalachia gas well site where the traumatic injury occurred on Jan. 14, 2011 is located on Elsroy Hill Road in Fox Township in Sullivan County. The worker who was injured on Jan. 14 at Chesapeake Appalachia's Fox Township site was transported by helicopter to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, and he later died, Sullivan County Coroner Wendy Hastings confirmed.

He was pronounced dead by Montour County Coroner Scott Lynn, she said.

Hastings said she did not know the name of the worker who died.

A preliminary report from first responders at the scene was that the worker had suffered a traumatic head injury.

Chesapeake Energy has referred questions about the incident at the Fox Township site to Patterson-UTI Drilling Co., which is the company that the worker who died was working for. Patterson-UTI Drilling Co. was a contractor hired by Chesapeake Appalachia to work at the gas well site in Fox Township, according to Brian Grove, senior director for corporate development for Chesapeake Energy.

Patterson-UTI Drilling Co. has refused to provide any information to The Daily Review about the worker's death, saying in a written statement that Patterson-UTI Drilling "does not comment on confidential personnel matters involving individual employees."

In a separate section of the same article, the Review reported that Nomac drilling was fined $7,000.00 for safety violations related to a gas worker fatality in 2010 in Towanda Township. This amount of a fine does not seem like enough of a "sting" to Nomac's bottom line in order for them to change their practices. But it's at least something. In many, many instances, employers are not fined at all by OSHA, who is an overworked and under-funded agency.

Many issues faced by injured Marcellus gas workers

Given the fact that my office is in the heart of the Marcellus Shale gas fields in Northeast Pennsylvania, my firm has seen a huge increase in the amount of workers who have been injured while working at the gas drilling sites and/or working for the gas industry in other capacities, such as water tanker drivers, welders and general laborers. These gas industry cases have some unique issues that arise given the type of work performed and the type and location of employer.

1. One of the more common questions that arise is which state’s workers’ compensation law should apply? You would think that this would not be an issue since the injured worker was injured while working in Pennsylvania. And that is what Pennsylvania’s law calls for—if you are injured in PA then PA workers’ compensation law applies. But what I have been seeing in some cases is the employer attempting to apply the law of the state in which the employer is from. Many of the businesses that work in the gas fields are not based out of Pennsylvania, but are based out of states like Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee, to name a few. For example, one of the largest gas companies working in this area, Chesapeake Energy, has corporate headquarters in Oklahoma City.

In many instances, these employers argue that the employee was actually hired in the other state and is thus subject to that state’s workers’ compensation laws. Once again, this is not accurate. In these cases, it does not matter where the employee was actually hired because once the injury occurs in Pennsylvania then that’s the state that will apply. Pennsylvania has one of the strongest workers’ compensation laws in the nation.

2. The second issue that I often see in these cases is injured workers fearful of actually reporting work injuries due to the threat of losing one’s job and being sent packing. Of course, this fear is prevalent in most industries, but it appears to be a big problem in the gas industry. One of the issues is that a lot of the workers are from out of state and they are paid a significant amount of money at these jobs. The idea is that if they “rock the boat” and complain about a work injury, then they will be sent back home and would be “blacklisted” and never be able to work again at a gas drilling site.

3. The most important issue, in my opinion, is that it’s dangerous work! I have seen many more fatalities in this industry than in any other type of industry in which I represent injured workers. There are more fatalities in the Marcellus Shale gas industry than even long haul truck drivers who are subject to truck crashes every day. It seems that at least once a month there is a newspaper article about the death of another gas worker. Just this week, in Potter County, a worker who was walking on a pipeline was struck by a truck and suffered a fatal injury. At this point I cannot tell if it is just dangerous work by nature or a significant lack of safety procedures on the drill sites. It is probably a combination of both, however.

If you are a gas industry worker and have been injured, please talk to an experienced workers’ compensation attorney before you sign anything for your employer.

More issues involving gas industry truck traffic

As my regular readers know, I am often pointing out the issues that have been created by the significant increase in truck traffic in Northeast Pennsylvania, specifically Bradford, Tioga, Sullivan and Susquehana Counties. I have written about many of the truck accidents that occur every day. But one of the issues of increased heavy truck traffic is the damage done to the roads. From The Towanda Daily Review:

Gas industry trucks are expected to cause additional damage to roads in Bradford County during this year's freeze-thaw cycle, an assistant maintenance manager with the state Department of Transportation.

"We expect some ... road breakage" to occur during the freeze-thaw cycle, said Warren Knapp, assistant maintenance manager for PennDOT in Bradford County.

Knapp said that he hoped that when the gas companies "see the road beginning to fall apart," they would take the pro-active step of ceasing to drive on the road so that area residents can continue to use it.

Knapp made his comments at a summit meeting on traffic and road issues that took place Tuesday at Bradford County's 911 center.

The summit meeting, which was organized on behalf of the Bradford County commissioners and the Bradford County Emergency Services Department, was also attended by officials from the state police and several gas drilling companies, all three Bradford County commissioners, the Troy and Towanda police chiefs, the Wysox and North Towanda fire chiefs, and representatives from the Bradford County Emergency Services Department and Bradford-Susquehanna EMS Council.

During last year's freeze-thaw cycle, there was "some very, very severe road breakup" in areas of Bradford County, with other areas receiving lesser damage, Knapp said. The damage has since been addressed, Knapp said.

Moratorium on gas drilling passes New York legislature

On Monday evening, the New York State Assembly gave final approval to a six-month moratorium on natural gas extraction in New York, while state and federal agencies review its possible impacts.

The moratorium, which calls for no drilling permits to be issued until May 14, 2011, was approved by the state Senate in August, and then the Assembly approval that followed on Monday.

Here's the full article from the Towanda Daily Review.

In Pennsylvania Marcellus news, here's another article from the Towanda Daily Review about Governor-Elect Corbett and an advisory committee he has established. The gist of the article:

The 30-member panel includes former state environmental secretaries, environmentalists and alternate energy representatives as well.

Corbett formed the committee to advise him on issues and impending decisions involving the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Public Utility Commission before he takes office Jan. 18.

These three agencies have a regulatory role over the natural gas drilling boom underway in Northeast Pennsylvania and other regions on issues ranging from drinking water protection, drilling on state forest land and pipeline safety.

Corbett has said he wants to develop the Marcellus Shale gas deposits as a long-term economic venture while maintaining environmental protections. Efforts to reach Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley Wednesday were unsuccessful.

The Marcellus lobbyists on the panel have other major businesses and organization clients too.

They include Peter Gleason of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Gates who represents Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Chesapeake Appalachia, two firms active in Northeast Pennsylvania, according to lobbyist disclosure reports with the Department of State. Cabot is at odds with DEP over whether the company's natural gas drilling is responsible for water supply contamination in Dimock Twp.

Also lobbyist Stanley Rapp with Greenlee Partners who represents Range Resources-Appalachia, CNX Gas Corp. and NextEra Energy Resources. He represents PPL Corp. as well.

And lobbyist Pam Witmer with Bravo Group who represents Chief Oil and Gas, Chief Gathering LLC and RRI Energy.

The panel is chaired by David Kleppinger, an attorney with McNees Wallace and Nurick who lobbies for the Industrial Energy Consumers of Pennsylvania.

David Hess and Nicholas DeBenedictis, former DEP/DER secretaries under Govs. Mark Schweiker and Richard Thornburgh, are on the panel. So is John Oliver, a former DCNR secretary under Gov. Tom Ridge.

George Ellis, president of the Pennsylvania Coal Association, and Ellen Ferretti, Dallas, vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council who works on Pocono land issues, are on the panel. Patrick Solano, Pittson, a former DEP deputy secretary, and John Rich, owner of a coal waste power plant in Schuylkill County, are members.

I wish the committee was made up of mostly environmental scientists and activists, as opposed to mostly industry puppets. We understand where Governor-Elect Corbitt's priorities are.

Another gas worker fatality in the Marcellus Shale

There has been another gas worker fatality in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. In this unfortunate and sad instance, a dump truck driver hauling stone to a well site lost control of the truck and ran off the road. The accident occurred on Overton Road in Overton Township, Pennsylvania. Here is a link to an article on the incident from the Towanda Daily Review.

There was another Marcellus Shale gas drilling truck accident yesterday as well. A crane used at one of the drill sites overturned near Granville Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Fortunately, the driver in this incident was not injured, as per the article about the incident in the Towanda Daily Review.

It appears that these types of truck accidents have been occurring on a regular basis. Why is that? Is it due to the amount of truck traffic on the road-- the more traffic will naturally generate more accidents? Is it that the gas workers are being worked too hard and not given enough down time? I don't know the answer.

Chesapeake Energy opens $7 million "Man Camp" in Athens Township

Finally, Chesapeake Energy and Nomac Drilling opened up the "Man Camp" in Athens Township, Pennsylvania. The facility will house approximately 276 employees of Chesapeake Energy and Nomac Drilling. The facility will also serve as a training center for new employees.

I hope the training will have a significant focus on safety. Carroll & Carroll, P.C. has handled many workers compensation cases for gas drilling employees, including drill site workers and truck drivers. Drilling sites can be dangerous places. There have been several employee deaths at the sites around Bradford County, Sullivan County, Tioga County and Susquehanna County.

Here are links to articles from the Towanda Daily Review and the Sayre Morning Times. The Daily Review article has an imbeded video presentation from a Nomac Drilling spokes-person.

The Eastern Training Center and Housing Facility, located on Lamoka Road, has 11 buildings, including six dormitories, a cafeteria, a training center, a non-smoking recreation center, a smaller recreation center for workers who smoke, and a laundromat.

Nomac Drilling LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corp

Water tanker truck rolls over in Camptown, PA

Via the Towanda Daily Review:

A Williamsport man was transported to Robert Packer Hospital after the water tanker truck he was driving rolled over in an accident Monday night on state Route 409 in Camptown, police said

The truck, which was operated by 49-year-old William McClelland of Williamsport, was carrying a full load of fresh water to a gas well site, state police said.

The truck was coming down "a steep grade" at the time of the accident, State Police Cpl. Roger Stipcak said. "It looks like his brakes failed" and the vehicle gained speed on the incline, he said.

C&C Law has been seeing a lot of these types of truck accidents. In many instances bad roads are the cause of the problem. There has been a significant increase in the amount of truck accidents in Bradford County and surrounding counties due to the Marcellus Shale gas drilling.