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The Derrick: Permanent Alternate Water Supply Being Considered For Village Of Reno, Venango County After Contamination By Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill

On October 13, The Derrick reported the Franklin General Authority is considering a request for a permanent water connection to the Village of Reno water supply system to provide 36,000 gallons of water a day to replace the water lost as a result of a conventional oil well wastewater spill.

One of the springs supplying water to the Village of Reno’s system was contaminated in July by a spill from conventional oil well wastewater tanks operated by Petro Erie, Inc. and the 550 people in Reno have been getting emergency supplies of make-up water ever since.

The Village of Reno’s water supply is owned by the Venango Water Company which is being operated by Aqua Pennsylvania under an emergency order issued by the Public Utility Commission on August 12.

Aqua Pennsylvania made the request for the interconnection to the Franklin General Authority to help avoid the cost of trucking water to the Reno water system daily.

The Authority is expected to consider the request as early as its meeting in December.

Click Here to read the article. [PDF of article]

Summary Of Spill Incident

The conventional oil well wastewater release from Petro Erie’s production wastewater tanks was discovered on July 20 and was found to have contaminated the Village of Reno’s water supply in Sugarcreek Borough, Venango County leaving the community of over 550 residents and businesses without clean water for more than six weeks.

Although the “do not consume” order to residents in Reno was lifted on September 1, the water supply emergency continues with drinking water trucked into the community every week. Read more here.

Sadly, on September 9, Sugarcreek Borough Mayor Charlie McDaniel, who had been a leader in his community responding to the Village of Reno water emergency for the last six weeks, was found deceased in his home. Read more here.

On October 5, Petro Erie Inc. filed an expanded appeal with the Environmental Hearing Board of DEP’s August 16, 2023 order requiring the operator to restore the Village Of Reno’s water supply and clean up the spill of conventional oil well wastewater from wells the company operates in Venango County. [EHB Docket No. 2023075]

One grounds for the appeal is that the “Appellant lacks the financial ability to comply with the Order.”

This is the second order DEP issued in this case and the second appeal of those orders filed by Petro Erie, Inc. [EHB Docket No. 2023063]

This is the second time the company said it lacked the financial ability to comply with DEP’s orders. Read more here.

On August 21, a DEP inspection found two more Petro Erie, Inc. conventional oil well wastewater tanks with a pipe running from the tanks to a discharge area in a ditch with clear indications of wastewater dumping. Read more here.

On August 29, a DEP inspection found Petro Erie, Inc. had begun some cleanup at the site of the original wastewater tank release, but there was no activity at the site the day of the inspection. Read more here.

On September 25, 2023, DEP did a follow up inspection of the Lower Reno 1 conventional oil well operated by Petro Erie, Inc. in Sugarcreek Borough, Venango County and found a limited amount of excavation was done in a drainage ditch impacted by the production wastewater spill that contaminated the Village of Reno water supply and the dirt was stockpiled for later disposal. [DEP inspection report + photos]

The latest information from DEP’s Northwest Regional Office is available on its Venango Water Company/ Petro Erie Inc. Investigation webpage.

Visit the Aqua Pennsylvania Venango webpage for more information on activities related to the water supply system the company is operating on an emergency basis for the Venango Water Company.

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - October 7 to 13 - More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Spills; Venting Gas; Emergency Well Plugging [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - October 14 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 55 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 14 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Still Fighting To Make Road Dumping Its Wastewater Legal; DEP Introduces Concepts Of A ‘Life Insurance Policy’ For Plugging Wells; Certified 3rd Party Inspectors [PaEN]

-- The Derrick: Permanent Alternate Water Supply Being Considered For Village Of Reno, Venango County After Contamination By Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill [PaEN]

-- Vice Chair Of DEP Citizens Advisory Council Asks DEP To Report On University Of Pittsburgh Study That Found At Least 800,000 Tons Of Oil & Gas Production Waste Sent To Landfills Was Unaccounted For In One Year [PaEN]

-- DEP Reports Shale Gas Operations Sent Over 138,000 Cubic Feet Of Radioactive TENORM Waste To Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facilities For Disposal In 2022 - Over 911,000 Cubic Feet Since 2017 [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments At Nov. 14 Hearing On Air Quality Permit For Energy Transfer Natural Gas Liquids Marcus Hook Terminal In An EJ Area, Delaware County [PaEN]

-- Better Path Coalition: Oct. 18 Webinar Launching 9th Compendium Of Scientific, Medical Findings Demonstrating Risks, Harms Of Natural Gas Development, Infrastructure [PaEN]

-- Sierra Club's Delaware County Team Hosts Oct. 16 Webinar On Lawsuit Challenging Law Preventing DEP From Protecting Public Health, Environment From Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells [PaEN]