To give the public a better understanding of the compliance record of oil and gas industrial facilities in Pennsylvania, PA Environment Digest developed this feature summarizing the more serious violations DEP reports through its Compliance Reporting Database on a weekly basis -- Saturday through Friday.

This feature is in addition to -- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment-- which lists the permits DEP is considering and has issued for oil and gas facilities.

Taken together, the public will get a weekly report on how the oil and gas industry is expanding across Pennsylvania and the kinds of environmental violations reported as a result of DEP’s inspections.

Send your feedback on these features to: paenvirodigest@gmail.com .

Weekly Summary

From November 26 through December 2, DEP inspections resulted in reporting 26 violations of environmental regulations-- 12 major violations by the conventional oil and gas industry and 1 major violation by the unconventional shale natural gas industry.

So far this year-- as of November 25-- DEP issued 4,756 formal notices of violation to conventional operators and 1,052 to unconventional shale gas operators.

DEP issued a notice of violation to Mitch Well Energy Inc.  for failing to plug a conventional well before abandoning it in Erie County and to Alpha Wells Inc. for drilling a well without a permit.

Report Violations

To report oil and gas violations or any environmental emergency or complaint, visit DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.

Check These Resources

Visit DEP’s Compliance Reporting Database webpage to search their compliance records by date and operator.

Sign up for DEP’s eNOTICE service which sends you information on oil and gas and other permits submitted to DEP for review in your community. 

Violation Details 

Major Violations Reported - Conventional

1 -- Failure To Plug The Well Upon Abandoning It

1 -- Drilling, Operating a Well Without a Permit

3 -- Failure To Prevent Substances From Reaching Waters of Commonwealth

1 -- Failed to Implement Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan

2 -- Failed To Properly Dispose Of Fluids, Wastes, Drill Cuttings

1 -- Operated A Residual Waste Processing Or Disposal Facility Without A Permit

2 -- Failed to Stabilize or Restore Well Site

1 -- Failed to Implement Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan

Company/Location/Violations - Conventional

Coterra Energy Inc.

    -- Failure To Prevent Substances From Reaching Waters of Commonwealth

    -- Failed To Properly Dispose Of Fluids, Wastes, Drill Cuttings

Clarion County

-- Alpha Wells Inc. - Monroe Twp. - TW Phillips 1

    -- Drilling, Operating a Well Without a Permit

Elk County

-- Diversified Prod LLC - Jones Twp. - Elk State Forest

    -- Failure To Prevent Substances From Reaching Waters of Commonwealth

    -- Operated A Residual Waste Processing Or Disposal Facility Without A Permit

    -- Failed To Properly Dispose Of Fluids, Wastes, Drill Cuttings

Erie County

-- Mitch Well Energy Inc. - Waterford Twp. - Marathon Smith 1

     -- Failure To Plug The Well Upon Abandoning It

     -- Failure To Prevent Substances From Reaching Waters of Commonwealth

McKean County

-- MSL Oil & Gas Corp. - Hamilton Twp. - PennZoil Farmount II

     -- Failed to Implement Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan

-- PennHills Resources LLC. - Hamilton Twp. - West W314

     -- Failed to Implement Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan

     -- Failed to Stabilize Well Site

Westmoreland County

-- EQB Prod. Co. - Washington Twp. - SB Crooks 2

    -- Failed to Restore Well Site

Major Violations Reported - Unconventional Shale Gas

 1 -- Failed to restore well drilling site

Company/Location/Violations - Unconventional Shale Gas 

Indiana County

-- Diversified Prod LLC - Rayne Twp. - CR Glasser 4

    -- Failed to restore well drilling site

[Note: If you believe your company was listed in error, contact DEP’s Oil and Gas Program.]

DEP Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 26 To Dec. 2  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 80 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In Dec. 3 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- AG Shapiro: Coterra Energy, Formerly Cabot Oil & Gas, Pleads No Contest To 15 Criminal Charges Related To Polluting Water Supplies In Dimock, Susquehanna County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Has Ordered A ‘Top To Bottom Review’ Of How It Regulates Underground Natural Gas Storage Areas As A Result Of The Equitrans Gas Leak In Cambria County In Nov.  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Schedule For Updating Conventional Oil & Gas Environmental, Waste Regulations Will Be Up To Gov. Shapiro  [PaEN]

-- DEP Preparing To Plug The Next 198 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells With Federal Funding  [PaEN]

-- EQB Overwhelmingly Approves Emergency Regulation Setting VOC/Methane Limits For Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities; Republicans Vote Against  [PaEN]

-- Bob Donnan Blog: Tale Of Two Townships In Washington County: Union & Peters Townships  - A Decade Of Fracking Issues

-- Natural Resources Defense Council Blog: Rising Cost Of Pennsylvania’s Petrochemical Industry Subsidies - By Mark Szybist

[Posted: December 2, 2022]

12/5/2022