PA Environment Digest

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Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 17 to 23

From December 17 to 23, DEP’s Compliance Reporting Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 612 inspection reports that included 44 major violations-- 36 by conventional operators and 8 by unconventional shale gas drillers.

Conventional operators had these major violations--

-- EJ Brumage & RA Pultorak - Greene County: Abandoning a well without plugging it;

-- Diversified Prod LLC - Crawford County: Multiple failures to collect brine, operating a residual waste facility without a permit; and

-- River Ridge Gravel - Venango County: Multiple violations for failure to submit well integrity and production and waste disposal reports.

The production and waste report is critical to understanding how much wastewater and other waste those wells generated and where it was disposed of.

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.

Unconventional shale gas violations included DEP issuing multiple violations to Chesapeake Appalachia LLC in Bradford County for a spill of an estimated 3,000 gallons of production wastewater during fracking.

Equitrans - Rager Mountain Gas Storage Facility

On December 20, DEP reinspected Equitrans Rager Mountain Natural Gas Storage Facility in Cambria County and found multiple violations--

-- Failure To Prevent Substances From Reaching Waters of Commonwealth

-- Discharged Waste Into Waters Of Commonwealth

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

-- Failed to design, implement erosion & sedimentation controls to prevent pollution

Spill Cleanups

DEP approved a Final Report from Callon (Marcellus) LLC on the remediation of soil and groundwater contaminated with frac flowback fluid at the Yarasavage Well Pad in Washington Township, Wyoming County.

DEP noted the spill occurred “when the driller lost control of a natural gas well.” (Dec. 24 PA Bulletin, page 7965)

A December 19 DEP inspection of the Chesapeake Appalachia LLC GRIPPO well pad in Terry Township, Bradford County recommended a spill of unknown size was significant enough to warrant cleanup under the Land Recycling Program.

Unresolved Compliance Issues

On December 22, PA Environment Digest reported Navy veterans Patrick and Helen Robinson of Indiana County have been trying since 2015 to resolve issues on their property resulting from the construction of the Mariner East Pipelines. [Read more here.]

The most severe included impacts to their water well (quality and quantity), flooding and failure to comply with erosion and sedimentation control requirements. [Read more here.]

On December 19, PA Environment Digest reported on the lawsuit filed in federal court by Ronald and Jane Shawley in Cambria County against Sunoco Pipeline LP claiming the construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline made their property nearly uninhabitable by destroying their water well and on-lot septic system, bulldozing their barn, causing sinkholes and other property damage. [Read more here.]

On December 20, PA Environment Digest reported the Center for Coalfield Justice provided another round of free bottled drinking water to families impacted by an alleged ‘frack-out’ of an EQT shale gas well near New Freeport in Greene County. They have been without clean drinking water since June. [Read more here.]

The group distributed 60 five-gallon containers of water to families in need for the holidays. [Read more here.]

Year-To-Date

So far this year-- as of December 16-- DEP issued 4,971 notices of violation to conventional operators and 1,117 to unconventional shale gas operators.

So far this year-- as of December 16-- DEP did 12,535 inspections of conventional operators and 20,919 inspections of unconventional shale gas operators.

In calendar year 2021, DEP issued 4,386 violations to conventional operators and 1,000 violations to unconventional shale gas operators.

In calendar year 2021, DEP did 11,684 inspections of conventional operators and 18,048 inspections of unconventional shale gas operators

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

3 -- Discharged Waste Into Waters Of Commonwealth

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

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

2 -- Failed To Collect Brine And Properly Manage Wastewater

11 -- Failed To Submit Well Integrity Report

9 -- Failed To Submit Well Production & Waste Management Report

1 -- Failure To Restore Well Site

5 -- Failure to Design, Implement Erosion & Sediments Plan to Prevent Pollution

Company/Location/Violations - Conventional

Cambria County

-- Equitrans - Jackson Twp. - Rager Mountain Natural Gas Storage Area

-- Failure To Prevent Substances From Reaching Waters of Commonwealth

-- Discharged Waste Into Waters Of Commonwealth

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

-- Failed to design, implement erosion & sedimentation controls to prevent pollution

Crawford County

-- Diversified Prod LLC - Vernon Twp. - Scott 3

-- Failed To Collect Brine And Properly Manage Wastewater

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

-- Discharged Waste Into Waters Of Commonwealth

-- Diversified Prod LLC - Vernon Twp. - Scott 2

-- Failed To Collect Brine And Properly Manage Wastewater

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

Greene County

-- Diversified Prod LLC - Wayne Twp. - F.M. Demurry et al

-- Failures to design, implement erosion & sedimentation plan

-- EJ Brumage & RA Pultorak - Wayne Twp. - Yaeger Rinkhoff 1

-- Failure To Plug The Well Upon Abandoning It