Our look at
GAS WELL FLARES

Flaring a Gas Well

After a Marcellus gas well is drilled and hydraulically fractured, open flaring is often used to test production of the well. The EPA and Pennsylvania DEP enforce limited air quality regulations around Marcellus Shale natural gas wells and facilities (Most gas sites are permitted individually instead of cumulatively)

Even though open flaring is permitted, companies can use 'greener' options to work around flaring (more below). In most cases, these options create additional profits for the production company, but usually require a gas pipeline to be in place first.

Flare near Pittsburgh Mills Mall
Photo: Caelan Borowiec

A large number of pollutants are released into the air during the flaring process, making it an undesirable practice. Included in these airborne pollutants are the chemicals used to frac the well, as well as any of 5-dozen other pollutants including the following: acetalhyde, acrolein, benzene, ethyl benzene, formaldehyde, hexane, naphthalene, propylene, toluene, and xylenes.

Four flares at a Range Resources site in SW Pa.
Goettel Unit near Avella, Pa.
4 flares at a Marcellus Shale site

Drilling companies can use "green completions" to improve air quality and provide themselves with extra revenue. These are mentioned in a January 2009 report by Dr. Armendariz of SMU:

"Green Completions" or
"The Green Flowback Process"

"Some recent reports of the effectiveness of green completions in the U.S. are available, including one by the U.S. EPA which estimated 70% capture of formerly released gases with green completions. If green completion procedures can capture 61% to 98% of the gases formerly released during well completions, the process would be a more environmentally friendly alternative to flaring of the gases, since flaring destroys a valuable commodity and prevents its beneficial use. Green completions would also certainly be more beneficial than venting of the gases, since this can release very large quantities of methane and VOCs to the atmosphere. Another factor in favor of capturing instead of flaring is that flaring can produce carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter (soot) emissions."

Full Report (PDF)

Below are photos and videos of gas flares
from Marcellus Shale gas wells

Pre-dawn hours.... that's not the moon or sunrise...

Light at the end of the tunnel is a flared well, lighting the darkened road

Gas flare over the distant horizon

Looking across a residential driveway toward a flared well next door

Gas flare that caught an impoundment liner on fire

Short videos (w/sound) of gas well flares:
Video 1 - Distant video of sky on fire
Video 2 - Close-up of a single flare
Video 3 - Twin flares at same site