Equitrans storage well plugged, leak ended

Equitrans Midstream Corp. announced Sunday that it has stopped the gas venting from a natural gas storage well in Cambria County and pumped cement down the wellbore to keep it from restarting.

The Canonsburg-based company has been working since Nov. 6 to quell a massive gas leak at the Rager Mountain storage field, which had about 9 billion cubic feet of gas before one of its 10 operating wells lost pressure and began losing an estimated 100 million cubic feet of gas per day.

The leaking gas, emitted at high pressure, could be heard as a roar close to the site and as a hiss miles away. The area was also blanketed by the smell of natural gas.

Equitrans started flowing gas from four other wells to relieve the pressure while its contractors, Cudd Well Control, worked to get control of the troubled well. Several attempts had failed.

On Saturday, Equitrans said Cudd was able to flood the well with heavy liquid and set a plug. On Sunday, it set a second plug and pumped 250 feet of cement after it to keep the seal.