Published on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 by Common Dreams

Incident took place at Chevron-operated well in southwestern Pennsylvania

– Andrea Germanos, staff writer

An explosion at a natural gas fracking well in Pennsylvania on Tuesday has sent one person to the hospital, left one person injured and sparked a fire that could take days to contain.

Screengrab from WTRF 7 video showing flames from the fracking well explosion.

Screengrab from WTRF 7 video showing flames from the fracking well explosion.

According to a statement from well operator Chevron, the fire broke out at approximately 6:45 Tuesday morning at their well in Dunkard Township in Greene County, about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh.

"We're being told … the site itself, that fire, will not be contained and we will not have access to that property for at least a few days," Trooper Stefani Plume said at a press conference.

Local ABC affiliate WTAE reports:

[Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John] Poister said Chevron had previously completed drilling and hydraulically fracturing, or fracking, the well and was in the final stages of using steel pipe to hook it up to a pipeline distribution network for production.

Complicating the fire, which continued to burn into the afternoon, was the fact that a propane-holding truck was on the well pad and also exploded, Poister said.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined.

A team from Wild Well Control, a company that specializes in dealing with well blowouts, has been called in to assist with the efforts, and state police have set up a half mile perimeter as a safety precaution.

Responding to the incident on Twitter, some environmental voices said the explosion was further evidence fracking should be banned:

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