Damage to equipment at South Strabane well pad could be costly
South Strabane Township police are investigating vandalism to equipment on a well pad that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair.
Police were called Monday afternoon to Rice Energy’s Waterboy pad off Rankin Road near Roupe Road. A pipeline supervisor for Frontier Environmental Services of Johns Mills, Westmoreland County, told Sgt. Drew Hilk that at least six pieces of heavy equipment used at the gas transmission pipeline site had been damaged between Friday afternoon and Monday morning.
An abrasive material used in sandblasting had been brought to the site and placed into the gasoline and oil tanks. The equipment had been left on site when the job closed for the weekend. No employees of the company had worked over the weekend.
The damage was discovered when a bulldozer started malfunctioning when being operated and eventually shut down. Workers then inspected the other equipment , finding the material in the tanks. The supervisor told police the abrasive material, known as Black Beauty, is used in pipeline construction and at that job. However the company’s material is stored at the job yard and not at that location. The material is stored under a trailer, and employees would not likely notice if a small amount was missing.
The company’s mechanic told police the cost of the damage could be as much as $300,000. The site supervisor also told police that the loss per day for production because of the loss of equipment is $16,000 to $18,000.
Anyone who might have information on the damage is asked to call police at 724-225-8111.