PA Environment Digest

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Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 29 to August 4; More Abandoned, Leaking Wells, Reno Water Supply Contamination; Rager Mtn. Natural Gas Storage Area Spills

From July 29 to August 4, DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 702 inspection entries that resulted in reporting 68 entries of environmental regulation new and outstanding violations-- 67 violations by the conventional oil and gas industry and 1 violation by the unconventional shale natural gas industry.

So far this year-- as of July 28-- DEP issued 3,737 formal notices of violation to conventional operators (129 more since last week) and 814 to unconventional shale gas operators ( 0 more this week) based on 9,006 inspections of conventional facilities and 14,310 inspections of unconventional shale gas facilities.

Conventional Wastewater Leak Potentially Contaminated Reno Water Supply

In response to a complaint on July 20, 2023, the Department of Environmental Protection has been investigating whether a leak from production wastewater tanks operated by Petro Erie, Inc. at the Lower Reno conventional oil well lease impacted the Village of Reno water supply operated by the Venango Water Company in Sugarcreek Borough, Venango County.

The Venango Water Company notified its water customers on July 21, 2023 not to drink the water and do not boil the water. Read more here.

More Conventional Well Abandonments/Leaking Gas

On August 3, DEP inspected the Anthony EGLI 1 conventional well operated by BV Gas LLC in Lower Burrell City, Westmoreland County and determined again the well was abandoned and leaking gas.

DEP first detected leaking natural gas from this well during an April 21, 2022 inspection and determined the well had been abandoned and not plugged on that same date.

Other violations included failure to submit the annual production and waste generation and mechanical integrity reports.

DEP’s inspection report requested the operator to submit a written report from the operator by August 17, 2023 on how they were going to bring the well into compliance.

On August 2, DEP inspected the Kampert 2 conventional gas well operated by Diversified Production LLC. in Georges Township, Fayette County and determined the well was abandoned and not plugged.

DEP notes this well was not part of the consent order and agreement signed with Diversified on plugging their wells.

DEP’s inspection report requested the operator to provide a written report by August 16, 2023 on how they will being the well into compliance.

On August 2, DEP inspected the Dice 3 conventional gas well operated by Diversified Production LLC in Georges Township, Fayette County and found the well venting natural gas to the atmosphere with an audible sound.

DEP’s inspection report requested the operator to submit a written report by August 16, 2023 on how they are going to bring the well into compliance.

Failed To Plug Wells By Deadline

On August 1, DEP inspected two conventional wells operated by Pennfield Energy LLC -- McDowell 8 and McDowell 17 in Mineral Township, Venango, both of which should have been plugged by July 31, 2023.

McDowell 8 had a cement plug set, but more work had to be done to complete the job. McDowell 17 was not plugged but plugging would start in the next week, according to the plugging contractor.

Click Here for DEP’s McDowell 17 inspection report.

Conventional Well Leak Into Lake Erie

On July 31 DEP inspected the Charles Valone 3 conventional oil well operated by Sunset Oil, Inc. in Northeast Township, Erie County and found significant oil residue from a spill reported on July 28.

Partial cleanup of the site was evident along with several absorbent booms in a culvert leading along Sunset Beach and in a stream leading to Lake Erie.

The operator was requested to respond to the notices of violation for the spills and failure to submit production and waste generation and well integrity reports by August 14, 2023.

Click Here for DEP’s inspection report and photos.

Equitrans Rager Mountain Storage Area Spills

On August 1, DEP continued its inspection of discharges from the George L. Read 1 conventional well that is part of the Equitrans Rager Mountain Natural Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County.

On March 27, 2023 DEP first discovered a sheen on a wetland adjacent to well no. 2244 and issued a series of notices of violation for failure to prevent the discharge of industrial waste and for mishandling well-related fluids properly.

Equitrans used a vac truck to pump at least one truck load of contaminated water from the wetland, according to DEP’s March inspection report.

Those violations remain in place after follow-up inspections in April, May, June, July and now August.

DEP has done several rounds of water sampling to try to identify the contaminants, including on August 1, but no conclusions were noted in the inspection reports.

The Equitrans Rager Mountain Natural Gas Storage Area was the site of one of the world’s worst natural gas leaks in 2022 releasing over 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Read more here.

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 and the Inspection Reports Viewer.

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.

(Photos: Top- BV Gas LLC Anthony 1 conventional well abandoned, leaking gas; Diversified Prod, LLC DICE conventional well leaking gas; Sunset Oil, Inc. Valone 3 conventional oil well leaking to Lake Erie; Bottom- Petro Erie Inc. conventional oil well production wastewater tanks leaking potential contaminating Village of Reno water supply.)

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

[Note: These may not be all the NOVs issued to oil and gas companies during this time period. Additional inspection reports may be added to DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database.]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- DEP Investigates Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Leak As Possible Source Of Village Of Reno Water Supply Contamination In Venango County; Customers Under Do Not Consume Advisory For 2 Weeks+ [PaEN]

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 29 to August 4; More Abandoned, Leaking Wells, Reno Water Supply Contamination; Rager Mtn. Natural Gas Storage Area Spills [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - August 5 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 75 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In August 5 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

NewsClips This Week:

-- TribLive: Olympus Energy Submits Application To DEP For 5th Shale Gas Well Pad In Upper Burrell Twp

-- PUC: Columbia Gas To Pay $990,000 Penalty In Revised Settlement Involving Home Explosion In Washington County

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: PUC Approves $990,000 Penalty Settlement With Columbia Gas Over 2019 House Explosion In Washington County

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Negotiating Community Benefits, Like Those With Shell Petrochemical Plant Penalty Fund In Beaver County, Takes A Village; So Does Mitigating Harm

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Equitrans Gets FERC Approval For New Ohio Valley Connector Expansion Pipeline Project To Gulf Coast And Midwest

-- The Center Square: 14 State Attorneys General [Including PA] Want Action On ‘Plastic Pollution Crisis’