Spill Here, Spill Now, Gastric Distress Dept. 0
From the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on a gas blowout in the Marcellus shale foundation:
Hanger said that EOG had employed only one mechanism to keep the high-pressure gas well under control and that that measure had failed at the hands of employees who were not certified in well-control techniques.
He also said EOG, which is based in Houston, wasted valuable hours by failing to promptly notify officials about the blowout.
Rather than calling DEP’s 24-hour emergency line, the driller left three phone messages at night with a DEP employee who was on vacation. Then, the Texans twice tried calling the county sheriff, who in Pennsylvania is not responsible for emergency response. Finally, three hours after the blowout, EOG called 911.
Of course, if there were no government regulation, the blowout would never have happened. Read the whole story for other things that would never have happened: spills, blowouts, polluted water, and so on.
Also, pigs, wings.