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DEP Reports The Number Of Methane Contaminated Water Supplies From Oil & Gas Drilling Is Up ‘Across The Board,’ ‘Not A Good Trend’

On March 19, DEP told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board they have seen an “across the board” increase in the number of methane contaminated water supplies from oil and gas drilling, both conventional and unconventional shale gas wells.

Dan Counahan, Manager of DEP’s Southwest Regional Oil and Gas Program Office, gave the Board a broad overview of the kinds of water supply contamination cases they’re seeing statewide.

Since 2008, DEP has determined 397 private water supplies have been impacted at one point or another by conventional and unconventional shale gas drilling activities across the state.

Less Chemical/ More Methane Pollution

“When looking at our water supply investigations-- the quality, the quantity complaints, and the different various pollutants that may be involved in the case, there really isn't much of an upward trend in the positive [driller responsibility] determinations,” said Counahan. “But, if you parse out our stray gas investigations in particular, you will see a positive [upward] trend.”

“We've had quite a few investigations over the last few years that involved stray methane and had a higher percentage of positive [driller responsibility] determinations in those cases when compared to other types of pollutants,” said Counahan.

“I don't think you can pinpoint a certain area of the state. I've heard from all of our district staff in each of the districts, and it's been fairly similar throughout,” Counahan said. “I would say it's all across the board.”

Operators Rebutting Presumption Notices

“Over the last several years, we've seen an increase in the numbers of notices of [water supply contamination] presumptions that the department has sent out,” said Counahan. “I don't technically consider those positive determinations [of driller responsibility] because under the Oil and Gas Act, the operators are presumed responsible for that pollution [if their water well is within 2,500 feet of a shale gas well or 1,000 feet of a conventional well]. [Read more here]

“So it's not us saying it's a positive determination, but there has been an increase in those presumption notices sent out,” Counahan said.

“And typically, in almost all of our cases, an operator will at least attempt to rebut that presumption, and I would say a large amount of the time they're able to successfully do that,” said Counahan.

“I would say in our Southwest and Northwest portions of the state, [conventional oil and gas wells are responsible for the contamination],” said Counahan. “In our Northcentral region, there have been quite a few stray gas cases that involve largely unconventional [shale gas] wells.

Why More Cases? More Knowledge

When asked why there are more water supply complaints coming into DEP, Counahan, said “I think part of it is the knowledge that’s out there.”

“I think more and more people are paying attention to these sorts of matters-- the press that we've been getting out there with our abandoned well initiatives the last few years; the negative press that goes out when something bad happens that involves gas or drilling,” said Counahan. “I just think a lot of it's knowledge, and that's my best guess.”

How Do We Fix This?

“It is definitely not a good trend,” said Counahan. “I think we're constantly looking at our rulemaking. We're constantly conducting inspections of oil and gas wells during new construction and also trying to find more of these unknown abandoned wells, trying to inspect some of the wells that we know about that have never been inspected before.

“And we are looking at the regulations as well, and I know somewhere, there's some [Advisory Board] agenda items about: Are the regulations good enough?

“And I think we are trying to look at the data we get,” said Counahan. “We have the data; we just don't typically sit back and try to do the research on that data to be forward- thinking. We're more on the responsive side of things.”

Stray Gas Teams

Kurt Klapkowski, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, added, “The department has made a pretty significant effort and significant resources into ensuring that each of our district offices has a stray gas investigation team that is comprised of experts who have experience on those issues.”

Huge Gas Infrastructure Makes Investigations Complex

“I will say, especially in the Southwest District, it does get very complex, very fast,” said Klapkowski. “I know in the Greene County case, at least in our investigation in that one, we had--

-- Active conventional and unconventional wells in the area;

-- There [were] abandoned [conventional] wells in the area;

-- There were active and abandoned underground [coal] mines in the area, which of course, can be a source of methane migration;

-- There were distribution [pipelines] for natural gas utilities in the area;

-- There were [natural gas] transmission lines in that area, interstate transmission lines;

-- As well as an underground natural gas storage facility.”

“When you start to talk about all those facilities at one time, it's like you're trying to find a needle in a stack of needles,” said Klapkowski. “And deciding where that's coming from, it gets really complex, really fast.

“Folks, especially in the Pittsburgh district, really have to struggle with every day-- the potential sources there are complex and myriad,” Klapkowski said. “We do have tools that allow us to drive at some of those things, but even those tools, it's not like a fingerprint, where we can say-- ‘Absolutely, it came from this location.’”

397 Water Supplies Contaminated

Since 2008, DEP has determined 397 private water supplies have been impacted by conventional and unconventional shale gas drilling activities across the state.

DEP qualifies this list by saying, “This list is intended to identify historic water supply impacts and does not necessarily represent ongoing impacts.

“Many of the water supply complaints listed below have either returned to background conditions, have been mitigated through the installation of water treatment controls or have been addressed through the replacement of the original water supply.”

DEP maintains the online, but redacted, list of Water Supply Determination Letters and a Resolved Complaints Database that are both available to the public.

DEP also has a Frequently Asked Questions available on presumptive liability for pollution of water supplies by oil and gas drilling.

For more information on Board activities, visit DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board webpage. Questions should be directed to Todd Wallace, at twallace@pa.gov or (717) 783-6395.

Related Articles - Water Supply Contamination:

-- DEP Consent Agreement Allowing Shale Gas Drilling To Resume Under Dimock, Susquehanna County Sets New Drilling, Water Supply Protection Standards, Imposes $444,000 Penalty [PaEN]

-- AG Shapiro: Coterra Energy, Formerly Cabot Oil & Gas, Pleads No Contest To A Criminal Charge Related To Polluting Water Supplies In Dimock, Susquehanna County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Shale Gas Operator Found Responsible For Water Supply Contamination After Investigation Documents Chemical Contamination Spread Across 3 Townships In Greene County [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Violation To Blackhill Energy, LLC Shale Gas Driller For Contaminating Groundwater, 3 Water Supplies With Methane In Springfield Twp., Bradford County [PaEN]

-- DEP- EQT Settlement Agreement Allows Fracking To Resume From 2 Shale Gas Well Pads In Area Impacted By Frack-Out In New Freeport, Greene County; Does Not Address Water Supply Issues Of Residents [PaEN]

-- Environmental Hearing Board Will Hear Key Arguments On Appeal By A Washington County Family Alleging Shale Gas Drilling Contaminated Their Water Supply With PFAS And Other Chemicals [PaEN]

-- DEP: Widespread Presence Of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Fresh Water Leading Shale Gas Operators To Use Contaminated Water In Fracking Operations; DEP Doesn’t Require Routine PFAS Testing [PaEN]

-- 2023 Shale Gas Operator Compliance Report: 1,310 Violations; Explosions; Pad Fire, Evacuation; Uncontrolled Gas Venting; Frack-Outs; Polluting Water Supply; Spills; Pipeline Crashing Thru A Home; More [PaEN]

-- Penn State Research Links Groundwater Contamination To Areas Of Unconventional Shale Gas And Conventional Oil And Gas Drilling [PaEN]

-- HEI Energy , Penn State Study Uses 28,500 Water Sample Results To Help Identify Oil & Gas Industry Groundwater Pollution [PaEN]

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