Dec 21, 2018 2 min read

Every once in a while, we’re reminded of the inherent dangers that come along with the natural gas industry.

It happened again Dec. 13 when an explosion at the MarkWest Energy natural gas processing plant in Chartiers Township killed one worker and injured three others.

A preliminary investigation revealed workers there were cleaning a pipeline when vapors apparently caught fire and ignited other combustible materials. The workers were employed by Energy Transportation LLC, of Bridgeport, W.Va., but both that company and Marathon Petroleum Corp., which operates MarkWest, are saying little else about the incident.

This isn’t the first time there have been issues at the MarkWest processing center near Houston.

Flaring incidents at the facility that sent flames and thick plumes of smoke into the air from an unpermitted fractionator on multiple occasions between late 2012 and early 2014 led the state Department of Environmental Protection to fine the company more than $150,000.

Meanwhile, Ohio-based natural gas processor MPLX LP, a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum, has already paid fines following two settlements this year for alleged violations of clean-air permitting requirements at facilities throughout the region, including at the MarkWest Houston plant. It also has agreed to spend millions to install new emissions monitoring equipment and upgrade pollution controls at many of its processing plants.

What’s most concerning right now, though, is the lack of information coming from the companies involved.

Marathon Petroleum never produced a spokesperson to speak to reporters about the incident at the MarkWest facility last week and only released a brief statement on the situation. Andria Wymer, director of strategic initiatives for Energy Transportation, had little to add about the incident.

“It’s currently under investigation is all we’re really allowed to say at this time,” Wymer said last week.

A spokesman with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the agency is investigating the Dec. 13 incident, which could take up to six months, but released no other details.

There’s no doubt Marcellus Shale has been an economic boon to the region as natural gas drillers are flooding the market and creating jobs. But the community could use more transparency when a dangerous incident such as this one happens at MarkWest.