The agenda for the April 25 meeting of DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council features a discussion dumping conventional oil and gas well wastewater on public roads for disposal, an update on taxpayer funded well plugging grant programs and DEP regulations limiting methane emissions from conventional wells.

Public Comment Period

The Council meeting includes a public comment period where anyone can present comments to the group.

To sign up to present comments, contact Adam Walters by sending email to: adwalters@pa.gov  or call 717-214-6548.

Attending The Meeting

The Council meeting is being held at the Technology Center, Room 243, 200 Innovation Blvd. in State College from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Click Here to join the meeting via Microsoft Teams.  Meeting ID: 229 021 202 140 Passcode: mAqLup

To join by telephone, call +1 267 332 8737 Conference ID: 850 322 899#

Click Here for the latest information on attending the meeting.

Visit DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council webpage for more information.

Abandoned Wells Data

Handouts for the meeting on the issue of DEP’s abandoned conventional oil and gas well list raise questions about the accuracy of the list and the confusion among the definitions for abandoned and orphaned wells.

The conventional industry maintains there is no increase in the number of wells they are abandoning, it is simply a data problem with DEP lists.  Read more here.

Click Here for an industry chart on well status.  Click Here for a list of industry questions on DEP well status.

DEP’s compliance database shows the number of violations issued by DEP for well abandonment is widespread across the industry.

There are more wells being given violations for abandoned than DEP is plugging with taxpayer money under the new taxpayer funded federal well plugging program.

In 2023, DEP issued violations to 271 conventional oil and gas wells for abandoning and not plugging those wells. Read more here.

So far in 2024, conventional well owners received 420 violations for abandoning and not plugging wells.  Read more here.

Well owners also pass conventional wells off to other owners with less financial capacity to actually manage them, setting them on the path to abandonment.  Read more here.

In 2023, DEP reported 89% of conventional oil and gas well owners failed to submit annual well integrity reports for 34,455 wells to ensure they aren’t leaking oil or venting gas.  Read more here.

DEP issued a record 6,860 notices of violations to conventional well owners for breaking all kinds of regulations and laws in 2023.  Read more here.

That’s 51.9% more than in 2021 and 569.9% more than in 2015.

Kurt Klapkowski, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, told the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee in March--

“Unfortunately, reviewing inspection and compliance data developed since 2017, DEP has identified widespread non-compliance with laws and regulations in the conventional oil and gas industry, particularly regarding improper abandonment of oil and gas wells but also not reporting hydrocarbon and waste production and conducting mechanical integrity assessments.”

Change The Definition Of Abandoned

Comments by the industry are setting up an attempt by the conventional oil and gas well owners to change the law on legal responsibility for abandoned conventional wells.

DEP is enforcing current law which holds conventional well owners who own oil and gas wells responsible for their integrity and for meeting environmental standards in law and regulations.

The industry is looking at changing the law and not making conventional owners responsible for wells they own that are abandoned and not plugged before some date in the past.

Conventional oil and gas owners are already exempt from putting up any plugging bonds for any wells drilled before April 1985, but are still legally responsible for plugging.

This new change would put all the responsibility for plugging those wells on state taxpayers.

The conventional industry frequently gets Republican members to introduce last minute amendments to must-pass budget-related bills looking to gut Oil and Gas Act requirements.

Look for this to happen during this year’s budget discussions.

Conventional Wastewater Disposal

Several topics on the Council’s agenda deal with conventional oil and gas wastewater and what to do with it.

Dumping wastewater on public roads will be discussed as a disposal method.

A second item on the agenda proposes “In-Situ Remediation of Hydrocarbons And Sodium-based Contamination” -- in other words disposing of wastewater on conventional drilling sites.

Conventional well owners have consistently pushed for legalizing the practice of disposing of their wastewater by dumping it on public roads.

Although illegal, but not banned, road dumping conventional wastewater on dirt and paved public roads is happening indiscriminately every day on conventional drilling areas, according to citizens monitoring this disposal practice.  Read more here.

Road dumping was the subject of an April 17 Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing where presenters recommended an immediate and total ban on road dumping to prevent millions of gallons of wastewater from polluting the environment.  Read more here.

Here is a summary of testimony from the hearing--

-- Senate Hearing: The Case For An Immediate, Total Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: Penn State Expert: ‘No More Research That Needs To Be Done’ To Justify A Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: First-Hand Account Of Health, Environmental Impacts From Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘Inhaling Oil & Gas Wastewater 24-Hours A Day’  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: 3.5 Million Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumped On PA Public Roads Since DEP’s ‘Moratorium’ On Dumping Started 6 Years Ago  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: DEP Still Evaluating The Data On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Asks Public To Report Road Dumping  [PaEN]

Treating Conventional Wastewater

Also on the agenda is a presentation by Titusville-based GCI Water Solutions on treating conventional oil and gas wastewater to remove pollutants to make it safer to apply to roads as a dust suppressant.

GCI has made presentations to the Council before to try to get conventional well owners interested in using their water treatment services to treat their wastewater. 

The stumbling block has always been someone would have to pay for it.

The Council’s draft Annual Report to be discussed at this meeting includes this reference to GCI--

“GCI of Titusville reported to CDAC that a threat of a lawsuit from the Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Office was adversely affecting their ability to expand their oil and gas produced water treatment facility at Titusville and to open new produced water treatment facilities in other parts of the oil and gas fields of Pennsylvania.

“As GCI is one of the few remaining produced water treatment facilities in Pennsylvania CDAC sent a letter[to] the Attorney General’s Office requesting information on the nature of their concern with GCI and if any actions could be taken by the Attorney General to alleviate this situation.

“To date no response has been received by CDAC.”

Taxpayer Funded Well Plugging

On the agenda are updates on taxpayer funded grant programs to conventional well owners to plug active wells venting methane and a second program to give taxpayer money to well owners to plug abandoned wells they do not own.

Financial Assurance

A recurring topic at Council meetings is a discussion of initiatives to get conventional oil and gas well owners to put aside adequate amounts of money to plug wells when they walk away from them so taxpayers don’t have to pay the bill like they do now.

At the October Council meeting, DEP discussed the innovative concept of having a “life insurance” program for conventional wells to pay for well plugging.  Read more here.

An attempt to raise bonding amounts for conventional well owners was cut short in 2022 when the conventional industry got a law passed prohibiting DEP from increasing bonding amounts for 10 years.  Read more here.

Methane Reduction Regs

DEP adopted regulations in December 2022 limiting methane emissions from conventional oil and gas wells and a separate regulation for unconventional shale gas operations. 

Both regulations have the same emission reduction requirements as required by the US. Environmental Protection Agency.

Conventional oil and gas facilities account for 80% of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania because they have done little or nothing to control them, according to DEP.  Read more here.

On December 6, Marcellus Drilling News reported three industry groups representing the conventional oil and gas industry filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court December 5 in an attempt to block implementation.  Read more here.

That lawsuit is still pending so it is unclear how much DEP will be able to discuss the regulation.

Other Topics?

At the October Council meeting, DEP discussed the concept of establishing a certified well inspector program for the Oil and Gas Program modeled on the certified storage tank inspector program DEP already operates.  Read more here.

The 1989 state Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Act created a whole new private industry with the certified inspector program that has worked very well.

Tank owners pay the inspectors to do inspections and work with them, rather than a state inspector, to correct problems.

Conventional operators were cool to the idea of paying anyone for inspections saying it was an “unnecessary cost.”   Read more here.

DEP estimated conventional well owners now pay only $46,100 of the $10.6 million cost of regulating their industry through the payment of permit application fees in FY 2020-21, so they aren’t even paying enough to support one DEP inspector.  Read more here.

Permit fee income from conventional well owners is down dramatically this year and last as the industry pulls back from drilling new wells.

Other Handouts

These other handouts were made available to Council members--

-- Draft 2023 Council Annual Report

-- Draft Minutes from October 12 Council meeting

For more information, visit DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council webpage.  Questions should be directed to Adam Walters at adwalters@pa.gov  or 717-214-6548.

(Photos of fresh conventional oil and gas wastewater road dumping in March and April.)

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 13 to 19 - Oil & Gas Well Owners Actively, Repeatedly Ignoring DEP Notices Of Violation; 12 Abandoned Wells  [PaEN]

-- Attorney General Henry Files Charges Against Shell Falcon Pipeline For Failure To Report Drilling Issues That Caused Industrial Waste, Potential for Water Pollution  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - April 20 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 74 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In April 20 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

Related Articles This Week - Gas:

-- Senate Hearing: The Case For An Immediate, Total Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: Penn State Expert: ‘No More Research That Needs To Be Done’ To Justify A Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: First-Hand Account Of Health, Environmental Impacts From Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘Inhaling Oil & Gas Wastewater 24-Hours A Day’  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: 3.5 Million Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumped On PA Public Roads Since DEP’s ‘Moratorium’ On Dumping Started 6 Years Ago  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: DEP Still Evaluating The Data On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Asks Public To Report Road Dumping  [PaEN]

-- April 25 Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Advisory Council Meeting Features Discussion Of Dumping Wastewater On Public Roads; Well Plugging Grant Programs; Regs. Limiting Methane Pollution From Wells  [PaEN]

-- PA Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition Doubles-Down On Support For Exporting PA Natural Gas To China, Our Economic, Military Competitor  [PaEN]

-- Bloomberg: Europe’s Demand For LNG Gas Set To Peak In 2024 As Crisis Fades

-- Commonwealth Court Affirms EHB Ruling Sen. Muth Lacks Standing To Appeal A DEP Permit For Eureka Resources Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Facility[PaEN]

-- Protect PT Hosting April 30 Webinar On How Your Municipality Can Protect Itself From The Dangers Of Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Wells  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Holds May 2 Hearing On Water Use Requests, Including 7 Shale Gas Drilling Uses In Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wyoming Counties  [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Claims That Only Thermal Energy Resources Can Ensure Electric Grid Reliability Don’t Pass The Laugh Test - By John Quigley, Kleinman Center For Energy Policy, University of Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

NewsClips - Gas:

-- Environmental Health Project: Gov. Shapiro’s Record On Shale Gas And Health - A Look At The Grand Jury Recommendations One Year In

-- The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: Attorney General Files Criminal Charges Against Shell Falcon Pipeline On Whistleblower Reports Over Pipeline Spills

-- PA Capital-Star: Democratic State Senators Want To End Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater

-- MyChesterCounty.com: PA Senators Call For Ban On Spraying Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater On Roads

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: PA Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment/Disposal Company Was Building A Conglomerate; What’s Left Is A Pile Of Waste 

-- Warren Times Editorial: Government Too Quick To Use Taxpayer Money To Plug Abandoned Conventional Wells

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: Power, Pipeline Corridors Becoming Wildlife Habitat

-- The Guardian: Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Leak Exposes Carbon Capture Safety Gaps In Louisiana April 3

-- The Energy Age Blog: PA Oil & Gas Well Terminology From DEP

[Posted: April 18, 2024]

4/22/2024