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 December 3 through 9, approximately 437 DEP inspection reports resulted in reporting 14 violations of environmental regulations-- 14 violations by the conventional oil and gas industry and 0 violations by the unconventional shale natural gas industry.

So far this year-- as of December 2-- DEP issued 4,804 formal notices of violation to conventional operators and 1,066 to unconventional shale gas operators.

The most significant violations were--

-- Mitch Well Energy Inc.: Failure to plug a well upon abandoning it - Erie County

-- Dorso LP: Failed to notify DEP, Coal Operator prior to plugging well - Allegheny County

-- Bull Run Resources LLC: Discharging waste, did not obtain waste permit - McKean County 

-- Nucomer Energy LLC: Failed to submit well integrity reports on 3 wells - Mercer County

The annual integrity report is critical because it helps ensure the operator is taking the steps needed to prevent natural gas, oil or contaminated water leaks from oil and gas wells.

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

Violations Reported - Conventional

1 -- Failure To Plug The Well Upon Abandoning It

1 -- Discharged Waste Into Waters Of Commonwealth

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

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

1 -- Failed to notify DEP, Coal Operator prior to plugging well

3 -- Failed To Submit Well Integrity Report

Company/Location/Violations - Conventional

Allegheny County

-- Dorso LP - Jefferson Hills Borough - Matthews 3

     -- Failed to notify DEP, Coal Operator prior to plugging well

Erie County

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

     -- Failure To Plug The Well Upon Abandoning It

McKean County

-- Bull Run Resources LLC - Hamilton Twp. - Schofield 5

     -- Discharged Waste Into Waters Of Commonwealth

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

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

Mercer County

-- Nucomer Energy LLC - South Pymatuning Twp. - Raiti C2

     -- Failed To Submit Well Integrity Report

-- Nucomer Energy LLC - West Salem Twp. - Reeher 1

     -- Failed To Submit Well Integrity Report

-- Nucomer Energy LLC - South Pymatuning Twp. - Sump R 1

     -- Failed To Submit Well Integrity Report

Violations Reported - Unconventional Shale Gas

DEP reported no violations at unconventional shale gas sites

[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 -  Dec. 3 to 9  [PaEN]

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

-- DEP Posted 50 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In The Dec. 10 PA Bulletin   [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Sign Petition Urging Governor-Elect Shapiro To Prioritize Banning Roading Dumping Of Conventional Drilling Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Orders To Equitrans To Plug Additional Wells At Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, Bring Other Wells Up To Current Casing Standards And Take Other Actions  [PaEN]

-- Delaware River Basin Commission Adopts A Ban On Discharging Wastewater From Hydraulic Fracturing Drilling Operations, Strengthens Rules On Exporting, Importing Water To Support Fracking  [PaEN]

-- Bob Donnan Blog: Comparing How The Delaware River Basin Commission And The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission Address Shale Gas Industry Wastewater

-- Bay Journal: Hellbender Habitat Slammed By Pollution From Shale Gas Development In PA's Loyalsock Creek - By Ad Crable, Chesapeake Bay Journal  [PaEN]

-- DCED’s Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling Advisory Council Meets Dec. 15 On Radioactive Drilling Waste; Road Dumping Wastewater; Limits On Methane Emissions; More  [PaEN]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: 3 Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Groups File Lawsuit To Block Rule Limiting VOC/Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities [PaEN]

-- Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority Moves To Renewable Natural Gas, Away From Shale Gas To Power Vehicles  [PaEN]

-- PUC Winter Natural Gas Reliability Reports - Households Using Natural Gas Will See A Significant Increase In Heating Bills  [PaEN]

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports 3rd Quarter PA Natural Gas Production Dropped For 3rd Consecutive Quarter Over 2021; PA Hub Natural Gas Price Increased 94.7% Over Last Year  [PaEN]

-- PUC Approves $48,000 Refund To Sunoco Pipeline On A Penalty It Paid For Mariner East Pipeline Construction Violations  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Equitrans Natural Gas Storage Well Leak In Cambria County Sparks Overhaul Of Monitoring Efforts

-- StateImpactPA - Reid Frazier: DEP Says Leaks, Spill Damage Continue At Cambria County Gas Storage Site That Leaked For Weeks

-- WJAC: DEP: Investigation Into Cambria County Storage Area Natural Gas Leak Revealed ‘Numerous Violations’ By Company

-- Tribune-Democrat: DEP Orders Gas Company To Take Mitigation Steps After Storage Area Natural Gas Leak; Incident Brought 10 Violations, State Says

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: DEP Orders Equitrans To Take Action On Natural Gas Storage Area Release

-- Bloomberg: Pennsylvania Says Many Violations Seen At Site Of Natural Gas Storage Area Leak

-- Environmental Health News: Waste From 8 PA Shale Gas Drilling Sites Using PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Shipped To At Least 97 Sites For Reuse And Disposal [23 Million Gallons Of Waste, 30,390 Tons Of Solid Waste]

-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: Dimock Clean Drinking Water Plea Suggests New PA Governor Won’t Tolerate Violations By Energy Companies, Advocates Say

-- Capital & Main - Audrey Carleton: Inside The 14-Year Battle To Secure A Water Line For Fracking’s ‘Ground Zero’ [Dimock, Susquehanna County]

-- AP: Delaware River Basin Commission Limits Fracking Waste In Delaware River Watershed

-- StateImpactPA - Susan Phillips: Delaware River Basin Commission Bans Fracking Wastewater From Watershed

-- WHYY: Delaware River Basin Commission Votes To Ban Fracking Wastewater Discharges

-- Courier Times/Pocono Record: Water And Fracking - What The Delaware River Basin Commission Bans, Allows Under New Rules

-- PennLive: Customers Going To Pay More For Electric, Natural Gas In Central PA

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PA Natural Gas Price Up 95%; New Shale Gas Wells Up 42%

-- Power For Tomorrow: The Impact Of Natural Gas Price Spikes On Electricity Prices

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Marcellus/Utica Drillers (All Gas Drillers) Had Fantastic Third Quarter Earnings

-- Baker Hughes PA Natural Gas Drilling Rig Count Same As Last Week - 22

-- RMI: The Business Case For New Fossil Gas Power Plants Is Shrinking

-- Marcellus Shale Coalition Video: Time To Build Natural Gas Pipelines, Power Plants And More 

[Posted: December 9, 2022]

12/12/2022