The Department of Environmental Protection Friday announced it is issuing a drilling permit for Flatirons Development LLC in Snyder Township, Jefferson County, requiring an aquifer protection plan for the Brockway Borough Municipal water supply. 

“DEP conducted a detailed and comprehensive review of the Flatirons’ application,” DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management Scott Perry said.  “We worked with the community, the drilling company, local government officials and representatives to address their concerns.”

The new permit authorizes Flatirons to drill a well on the same pad as a previously drilled well. The Flatirons 1H gas well, which has been in production since 2011, is located in the Rattlesnake Creek watershed on property owned by the Brockway Borough Municipal Authority.

During the drilling of the Flatirons 1H gas well, pressure in the aquifer fell, causing a temporary disruption in the flow of one of the authority’s water wells. Once the driller finished setting the casing on the gas well, flow was restored to the water well within 28 hours and there was no impact to water quality.

Flatirons must follow an aquifer protection plan that will include additional protective measures during the drilling and completion of this well, including under balanced drilling technology, detailed casing and cementing, water quality sampling and monitoring and green completion flowback procedures.

This permit will allow drilling to resume in the area safely and responsibly.  The original Flatirons permit expired in December 2011. 

For more information, call 814-332-6945.

5/27/2013