On March 13, Kurt Klapkowski, Acting Deputy for Oil and Gas Management, told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board the agency is in discussions with Equitrans to resolve their appeal of DEP orders in December to fix conventional wells providing access to the Rager Mountain underground natural gas storage area in Cambria County.

In November, one of the wells leaked an estimated 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the facility, one of the largest leaks of natural gas in the world in 2022.  Read more here. It took the company two weeks to shut down the leak.  Read more here.

In December, DEP issued orders to Equitrans to plug several of the 12 conventional wells accessing the storage area and upgrade other wells to modern well casing and cementing standards. Read more here.

The orders required Equitrans to--

-- Monitor all storage wells in the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir and surrounding soil for gas migration;

-- Mitigate and/or control gases coming or migrating from the storage wells;

-- Conduct mechanical integrity testing of each wells in the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir;

-- Submit a plan to recondition or plug wells that are not cased and cemented according to current Pennsylvania regulations;

-- Conduct a third-party audit of all storage wells, observation wells, and storage fields owned and/or operated by Equitrans in Pennsylvania;

-- Cease injection of natural gas into the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir until the audit has been completed and injection approved by DEP; and

-- Provide DEP with a plan and schedule to withdraw gas from the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir in the event that withdrawal becomes necessary in the future for DEP review.

Equitrans Challenges

On January 5, Equitrans filed an appeal of the orders with the Environmental Hearing Board alleging DEP’s authority is preempted from taking actions against Equitrans by the federal Pipeline Safety Act and/or the federal Natural Gas Act since Rager Mountain is regulated under these laws by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Although the wells providing access to the natural gas storage area are conventional gas wells under Pennsylvania law and are regulated under state law, Equitrans says DEP cannot order the company to--

-- Cease injecting natural gas into the Rager Facility;

-- Submit a withdrawal plan;

-- Monitor wells for gas migration;

-- Test the wells for mechanical integrity and recondition them; and

-- Other measures.

Click Here to read the Equitrans appeal. 

Click Here for documents related to the appeal.

Klapkowski said he expects there will be an agreement to resolve the appeal in the near future.

He said as a result of the appeal, he could not brief the Advisory Board on the Equitrans uncontrolled release or where DEP stands on reviewing the program to regulate underground natural gas storage areas.

For more information and available handouts, visit DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board.  Questions should be directed to Todd Wallace twallace@pa.gov or 717-783-6395.

(Photo: Rager Mountain natural gas leak from space, Environmental Defense Fund.)

Related Articles - Equitrans:

-- 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]

-- 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]

-- UPDATED: After 14 Days, Efforts To Stop A Natural Gas Leak At A Cambria County Underground Gas Storage Area Have Apparently Been Successful  [PaEN]

-- The Guardian: One Of The Worst Global Methane Leaks In 2022 Was In PA - Equitrans In Cambria County; Routine Abandonment, Non-Compliance Of Conventional Gas Wells   [PaEN]

-- EDF: Conventional Gas Wells In Allegheny National Forest Leaked Over 6 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In 2019; Conventional Operators Seek To Block Methane Limits  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 11 to 17; Fracking 2 Wells Interfered With Another Shale Gas Well In Westmoreland County  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 18 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 62 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 18 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions  [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: Why Your Electric/Natural Gas Utility Bill Has Gone Up And What You Can Do About It - By Patrick Cicero, Consumer Advocate Of PA, Terrance Fitzpatrick, Energy Assn. Of PA [Natural Gas Prices Tripled]

-- Wall Street Journal: Why Natural Gas Bills Are Going Crazy, With No End In Sight

-- Marcellus Drilling News: New Fortress Energy Reapplying For Wyalusing LNG Natural Gas Plant Permits In Bradford County  [PaEN]

-- U.S. DOT Misses Deadline To Suspend Rule Allowing Shipping LNG Natural Gas By Rail, Including A Proposal In PA  [PaEN]

-- Federal Court Rules Challenge To DEP Air Quality Permit For Adelphia Natural Gas Pipeline' Quakertown Compressor Station May Go Forward  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Groups Appeal DEP Permits For Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion Natural Gas Pipeline In Luzerne, Monroe Counties  [PaEN]

-- DEP To Submit Letter Of Intent To EPA As Early As This Week For Primacy To Regulate Underground Injection Wells  [PaEN]

-- PA Business Groups Urge EPA To Speed Up Approval Of State Primacy Applications For Injection Well Regulation [PaEN]

-- Equitrans/DEP In Discussions To Resolve EHB Appeal Of DEP’s Order To Fix Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Area Conventional Access Wells  [PaEN]

-- Shell Petrochemical Plant Had 3-Hour Emergency Flaring Event To Burn Off Flammable Gases In Beaver County  [PaEN]

-- Commonwealth Court Rules PUC Is ‘Obligated’ To Conduct An Environmental Review Of Projects By The Environmental Rights Amendment In Case Involving A PECO Natural Gas Pumping Station In Delaware County  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: 75% Of Hazardous Waste Accepted At MAX Environmental Yukon Facility In Westmoreland County Comes From Shale Gas Industry; Sludge Proposed To Be Delisted As Hazardous Waste  [PaEN]

-- Marcellus Drilling News/Wellsboro Gazette: Pine Creek Headwaters Protection Group Objects To Location Of Mt. Nessmuk Shale Gas Drill Pad In Tioga State Forest  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 6 Natural Gas Drilling Water Withdrawal Renewals For 7.1 Million Gallons/Day  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Council, Environmental Health Project Sponsor Ad Campaign To Finalize Strong EPA Oil & Gas Methane Emission Limits To Protect PA's Health & Climate  [PaEN]

-- March 29 Southeastern PA Town Hall Meeting In Chester County To Focus On Health, Environmental Impacts Of Fossil Fuels  [PaEN]

-- Pennsylvania's Clean Energy Economy Grew To Over 92,700 Jobs Since COVID Economic Crisis  [PaEN]

[Posted: March 13, 2023]

3/20/2023