Wyoming County compressor station has emergency shutdown

WASHINGTON TWP. - There was an emergency shut-down of a natural gas compressor station in Washington Township, Wyoming County, earlier this evening.

Colleen Connolly, spokeswoman for the state Department of Envrionmental Protection, said DEP was notified at about 8:30 tonight of an emergency shut-down of the Hirkey Compressor Station.

Their operators are at the station and reported (at about 9:45 p.m.) that the situation is under control and that they are working to figure out what caused the shut-down, Connolly said.

Connolly said she did not know if any loud noise accompanied the shut-down.

Asked if the station owner - PVR Partners - contacted emergency responders, Connolly said PVR Partners notified the Wyoming County Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission of the incident.

An attempt to reach the Wyoming County EMA through the Wyoming County 911 was unsuccessful. An operator would not even confirm whether or not there was an incident at a natural gas facility in the county and suggested contacting the EMA on Thursday morning.

No further information was available tonight. Check back to timesleader.com on Thursday for an update.