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PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 23 to 29 - Plugging Abandoned Shale Gas Wells, Waste Injection Wells; Failure To Stop Gas Venting

From March 23 to 29, DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 746 inspection entries.

As of March 22, DEP took these actions--

-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 143 conventional, 8 unconventional

-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 2,547 conventional and 225 unconventional

-- Enforcements 2024: 136 conventional and 30 unconventional

-- Inspections Last Week: 285 conventional and 389 unconventional

-- Year To Date - Inspections: 3,733 conventional and 5,982 unconventional

-- Wells Drilled Last Week: 2 conventional and 12 unconventional

-- Year To Date Wells Drilled: 23 conventional and 99 unconventional

4 More Abandoned Conventional Wells

On March 19, 20, 21, 2024, DEP inspected the Richard Brunner 1 and James Fiske 2 conventional wells owned by PPP Future Dev. Inc. in Greene Township, Erie County and found them both to be abandoned and not plugged.

DEP’s inspection report [Fiske 2 - example] included violations for abandonment and requested the owner to file a written report by April 10, 2024 on how the wells will be brought into compliance.

Two other wells by the same owner-- McCord Vineyards 3 and Design 1 were also inspected in North East Township and found to be in violation of multiple regulations including failure to restore the drilling site, failure to submit annual production, well integrity and waste generation reports and failure to notify DEP of defective equipment.

On March 25, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Robert Beck 1 conventional well in Washington Township, Erie County owned by Nucomer Energy LLC and found the well abandoned and not plugged.

DEP’s inspection report noted the original violation for abandonment was issued on November 2, 2023 along with violations for not submitting annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports.

DEP requested a written report by April 19, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

On March 25, 2024, DEP inspected the MC Reynolds 1 conventional well in Amwell Township, Washington County and verified it was abandoned and not plugged. DEP listed the owner as “Unknown.”

Hard Time Plugging 2 Abandoned Waste Injection Wells

From March 25 to 29, 2024, DEP did a series of inspections of plugging operations on the Ostroske 17 and Ostroske 5 oil and gas wastewater injection wells owned by Timberline Energy Inc. in Cranberry Township, Venango County.

DEP has been inspecting the plugging operations at these wells for several weeks and documenting the difficulty encountered in clearing and plugging the wells.

DEP’s inspection report for Ostroske 17 on March 29 said they were finally getting some cement down the hole after perforating the casing with a shot.

DEP’s inspection report for Ostroske 5 on March 27 cleared the well out enough to put a cement string down the well to begin pumping cement in.

In addition to violations for abandoning and not plugging these wells, the owner was also issued violations for failure to submit annual waste generation, production and well integrity reports.

Plugging 2 Abandoned Shale Gas Wells

On March 25, 2024, DEP did an inspection of the Bieser Unit 833 shale gas well pad in Chatham Township, Tioga County owned by Seneca Resources Co. LLC and found plugging operations underway on two of the wells.

The company representative said there are two wells on the pad DEP considers abandoned and not plugged. One of the wells was plugged and is being monitored and a Yost Drilling rig was set up on the other well to begin plugging.

DEP’s inspection report included violations for wastewater spills of an unknown quantity related to the well plugging operations

DEP requested a written report from the owner by April 17, 2024 on how the well pad will be brought into compliance.

Equitrans Fails To Stop Well Venting Gas From Storage Facility

On March 25, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Orndoff 2721 conventional gas well at the Hunters Cave Gas Storage Facility in Center Township, Greene County owned by Equitrans LP and found it continues to vent gas to the atmosphere.

DEP’s inspection report noted the original violation for venting gas was issued on February 21, 2024 and the owner had done nothing to prevent the escape of gas in the five weeks since that date.

In response to the original violation, Equitrans argued they did not have to report or fix only leaks exceeding 5,000 cubic feet per day. The leak DEP found was 52 cubic feet per day.

DEP responded that the regulations require gas storage facility owners to operate wells in a manner sufficient to prevent the escape of gas.

DEP requested a written report from the owner by April 25, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

Shale Gas Well Pad Spill

On March 26, 2024, DEP inspected the VanOrder-Patrick shale gas well pad in Herrick Township, Bradford County in response to a notification by SWN Prod Co. LLC of a spill on March 22, 2024.

DEP’s inspection report noted remediation had begun, according to the owner, on March 22 and continued through the 26th.

DEP’s inspector was not granted access to the area impacted by the spill “due to active operations during the time of this inspection.” The owner was plugging several wells on the pad and working on drill outs.

DEP’s report included violations related to the spill and requested a written report by April 10, 2024 on how the pad will be brought into compliance.

2024 Act 2 Oil & Gas Facility Pollution Cleanups

So far in 2024, DEP received or acted on 90 Act 2 Land Recycling notices related to oil and gas facility site cleanups. Read more here.

Report Violations

To report oil and gas violations or any environmental emergency or complaint, visit DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.

Text photos and the location of abandoned wells to 717-788-8990.

Check These Resources

Visit DEP’s Compliance Reporting Database webpage to search their compliance records by date and owner 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: Row 1-- Equitrans LP gas storage facility conventional well venting gas; Nucomer Energy LLC abandoned conventional well; SWN Prod Co. LLC shale gas well pad spill; Row 2- Timberline Energy Inc. plugging conventional abandoned oil and gas wastewater injection well; Seneca Resources Co. LLC wastewater spills relate to shale gas abandoned well plugging; Timberline Energy Inc. plugging another conventional abandoned oil and gas wastewater injection well)

[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:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 23 to 29 - Plugging Abandoned Shale Gas Wells, Waste Injection Wells; Failure To Stop Gas Venting [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - March 30 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 81 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 30 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week - Energy:

-- DEP: 86% Of Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Did Not Comply With Waste Disposal, Production Reporting For 33,505 Wells In 2023 [PaEN]

-- DEP: 89% Of Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Did Not Comply With Well Integrity Reporting For 34,455 Wells In 2023 [PaEN]

-- Republican Rep. Causer Blames DEP Database For Showing Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Abandoning, Not Plugging Their Wells; Industry Wants To Redefine Well Owner Responsibility For Abandoned Wells [PaEN]

-- Spring Road Dumping Season Underway As Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Get Rid Of Their Wastewater [PaEN]

-- CFA Awards Over $1 Million In Grants To Extend Natural Gas Service In Susquehanna, Warren Counties [PaEN]

-- Residents Express Concerns At US DOE's Listening Session On ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub Proposal In PA, WV, OH [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Air Quality Permits For Keystone, Conemaugh, Homer City Coal-Fired Power Plants Including Previously Announced Shutdown Dates [PaEN]