On April 5, township supervisors, concerned residents, and advocacy organizations submitted a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection calling on the agency to conduct a proper Public Participation Process for an oil and gas waste injection disposal well in Potter County.

Regulators may be close to issuing a permit to Roulette Oil & Gas LLC for a Class II-D injection well in Clara Township despite the fact that the public has not had an opportunity to comment on the project or even review the application for the project.

Many of the letter’s signers have been asking for a public meeting to ask questions about the project since they first learned about it last month.

The agency has offered to have a conference call with a small number of invitees and has set a deadline of April 7 to submit questions.

The signers and their supporters maintain that a proper public meeting is open to anyone who would like to attend and ask whatever questions they have or that occur to them over the course of the meeting.

The public would be challenged to submit questions in advance given the paucity of information available.

Similar projects are listed on DEP’s Underground Injection Control Wells webpage. Some listings include links to permit applications. The Roulette well does not appear on the page at all.

“On October 1, 2018, the Department held a public hearing in Plum Borough, Allegheny County to solicit comments related to Penneco Environmental Solutions’ permit application to convert the Sedat #3A (Sedat) well from a production well to an injection disposal well,” said Laurie Barr, Save Our Streams PA.

“Why have the residents of Plum been offered opportunities during the permit process that residents of Potter County, PA  have been denied?” said Barr. 

“Besides the obvious income differences, Potter County is rural & under-served by many services. All residents of Pennsylvania should be treated equally by Department of Environmental Protection employees,” said Laurie Barr, Save Our Streams PA.

“The decision made by the Department of Environmental Protection to not hold a public comment period, meeting or hearing for Clara Township, Potter County is wrong. Why did Plum Township in Allegheny County have a public notice, a public comment period, a public meeting and a hearing? Clara Township residents deserve the same opportunities and equal rights,” said Steven Mehl, Clara Township Supervisor.

“Structural failures, well integrity issues, leaks are common in injection wells. Just as with all other oil & gas infrastructure, injection wells threaten water quality, air quality, public health, and safety. The public has a right to ask questions and register any concerns they have. DEP’s clock should be set by the people the agency exists to serve, not oil & gas companies,” said Karen Feridun, Better Path Coalition.

(Photo: Trees and bushes poking up through the plastic liner at the proposed site of the injection well in Clara Township, from DEP inspection report.)

Related Articles - Injection Wells:

-- Clara Township Residents Push Home Rule To Protect Environment From Drilling Waste Injection Well In Potter County  [PaEN]

-- 22 Groups Express Concerns With Pennsylvania’s Carbon Storage Plans, Capacity To Regulate Injection Wells  [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]

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 1 to 7; Leaking Gas Well On State Game Lands #87 Fixed  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - April 8  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 67 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In April 8 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:

-- Ohio Research Confirms Health, Environmental Hazards In Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater Dumped On Roads, Just Like In PA  [PaEN]

-- New University Of Chicago Medical Study Connects Natural Gas Development In PA To Real, Serious Human Health Outcomes And Should Be A Call To Action For Policy Makers - By Alison Caldwell, PhD,  University of Chicago News  [PaEN]

-- House Bill Would Expand Safety Zones Around Oil/Gas Wells, Infrastructure To Reduce Adverse Health, Environmental Impacts As Recommended By AG Shapiro’s Grand Jury Report  [PaEN]

-- Local Officials, Residents, Advocacy Groups Call On DEP To Conduct A Robust Public Participation Process For Oil & Gas Waste Injection Well Applications  [PaEN]

-- DEP Inspection Finds Two Repsol Oil & Gas Shale Gas Wells Venting Natural Gas To Atmosphere, Defective Well Casing/Cementing In Susquehanna County; Violations Continue From May 2017  [PaEN]

-- Moms Clean Air Force: Strong Proposed EPA Petrochemical Plant Rules Are One Step Closer To Reality; Shell Petrochemical Plant Covered By Separate Proposed Rule  [PaEN]

-- Homer City Coal-Fired Power Plant To Close In Indiana County; Low Price Of Natural Gas, High Price Of Coal, Regulatory Burdens, RGGI Cited As Causes; Solar Projects Waiting To Fill Gap  [PaEN]

-- PA Council Of Professional Geologists Hosts April 20 Webinar Presentation By Manager Of PA State Seismic Network - Basement Structure Of Appalachian Basin In PA  [PaEN]

-- PJM This Week Sends Penalty Assessments Of Up To $2 Billion To Electric Generators That Failed To Perform During December’s Winter Storm Elliot; Natural Gas Power Plants Had 63% Of Outages  [PaEN]

[Posted: April 5, 2023]

4/10/2023