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Exploding Water Well Shed Triggers DEP Investigation Of 59+ Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In Cyclone, McKean County; Highlights Limits On Providing Temporary Water For Well Owners Impacted

On May 24, 2024, Helen Dragonette, a resident near the town of Cyclone in Keating Township, McKean County filed a complaint with the Department of Environmental Protection about methane in her water well, saying she had a “video of their water catching fire when exposed to a flame.”

“The Department visited the site on May 31, 2024 to conduct an interview with the property owner and to check for gas.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 171]

“The complainant noted that the doors on their well house first blew open during September 2023. During this event, the fire burnt the grass in front of the well house doors.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 171]

The complainant noted that the doors blew open again in October 2023. “This time, the complainant stated it was like “dragon fire” coming from the well house.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 171]

“The Department’s GIS mapping records show 59 oil and gas wells mapped within 2,500 feet of the [Helen Dragonette’s] residence.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 174]

“Based on the Department’s records, all of the wells are conventional wells; 25 are marked as plugged injection wells, 25 are marked as plugged oil wells, six are marked as abandoned oil wells, one is marked as an undetermined abandoned well, one is marked as a plugged unverified well and one is an active waste disposal well.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 174]

“The permit dates range from 1977-2024.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 174]

Older maps obtained by DEP-- a map dated 1937 from the Tidewater Associated Oil Company provided to DEP by residents [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 177] and another map published in 1951 by the PA Geological Survey [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 186] show many more conventional wells were drilled or attempted within the 2,500 radius of Helen’s home.

DEP said, “The Department’s Oil and Gas Inspectors (“OGIs”) are in the process of inspecting all of the wells located within 2,500 feet of the complainant’s residence.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 175]

This isn’t the beginning of Helen’s story and isn’t the end. It’s somewhere in the middle.

Near New Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permit

In addition to the significant impacts oil and gas contamination of her water well has had on Helen, the other thing that makes her story important is the fact she is located less than 2,000 feet from the Catalyst Energy Inc. conventional gas well-- Lot 580-580-1-- issued a permit by DEP on January 11, 2024 to be used as an oil and gas wastewater disposal injection well. Read more here.

The US Environmental Protection Agency issued a permit for the same well on August 22, 2022. Read more here.

[DEP’s Underground Injection Control Wells webpage includes links to related permit documents.]

Maps showing Helen’s home [a Star] and the 2,500 foot radius around her home and the injection well permit [well #083-46237, brown dot southeast of her home] can be found in the DEP July 29, 2024 memo, on pages 178 to 186].

Catalyst Energy, Inc. has been preparing the well for operations since it received the DEP permit, but it is not yet operating. [Read more here]

On about February 15, 2024, 40+ property owners and residents in and around the town of Cyclone and the injection well site filed an appeal of DEP’s decision to issue the injection well permit with the Environmental Hearing Board [EHB Docket: 2024016] [Read more here]

Helen Dragonette is one of the people that appealed the permit.

Several of the allegations in the consolidated notice of appeal related to the fact that 100+ unplugged and abandoned conventional oil and gas wells were identified within the one-quarter mile review area for the permit, many by residents of the area from old maps.

It was unclear to the appellants how thorough DEP’s investigation was to determine any possible connections between the injection well and the abandoned wells around the injection well site. EHB Docket: 2024016 consolidated notice of appeal page 13-14.

The investigation of Helen’s water well issues could shed light on whether there are connections.

The appeals were consolidated into one case on March 28, 2024. The case is proceeding. EHB Docket: 2024016

The Beginning

Helen, a letter carrier for the US Postal Service and New York native, bought her home in Pennsylvania and moved in in October 2022.

“I'm originally from Buffalo. So we open the faucet, we open the hose, we drink it. This well stuff [in Pennsylvania] is kind of different.”

“I did live in Olean [New York] on a well, which the water was beautiful. Didn't smell, nothing. We drank it all the time.”

“There was an old water system in [her Pennsylvania house]. I did call Culligan, a local water company here. They just put something in [to filter] for iron and oil, I believe it was.

“Within the next few months, I called several times, and said, ‘I'm soapy in the shower. I don't feel rinsed. I have a film on me. And the washing machine, and shower very often putted [water came out in spurts] and spit out.’”

Helen said she was changing the filters on her water system frequently and that the oil trap on the system was filling with oil quickly.

“They gave me an extra larger filter for the oil, and the water continued to putt [come out in spurts]. It was taking me 45 minutes just to fill the washing machine one time.”

In September 2023, Helen said her dog got sick from eating too much venison and got diarrhea all over her bedspread.

“So I ran four loads of laundry, plus [used a] hose to rinse the king-size blanket. And then, Little Man [her dog] got a bath, and then I got a shower.

“And at 9:30, I finally sat down to eat, and I'm in the living room. And all of a sudden I hear, boom, and there's dead grass around the pump house which is in flames right now.”

“Everything was out by the time the fire department got here. They suspected, or deemed it as electrical. The fuse box burnt up.”

“So we fixed that one evening, and got it back up and running. And I believe it was October.”

“I don't realize I have gas in the water as of October, and one Sunday I ran a load of clothes, and then two loads of laundry with the bed.

“And I'm outside at my back door, and I hear something. I turn my head, 30 feet from me, and I look at the pump house. I just heard something. I don't know what I heard. It made me turn my head to the pump house.

“The pump house doors flew open, and in the duration of time that I said-- "Holy f--king shit," the flames were gone.

“It was like a dragon just spit fire out of it, and blew the doors open.

“I didn't lose anything but a bag of salt the first time just because it was thin plastic, but I had garden pots. I had plastic orange fencing. I had my snow tires. That puppy was full of plastic.”

“That could have been a very ugly thing. But the gas burnt up, and then was done.”

“And Culligan came back, and he came with a big gallon and a half water jug empty.

“He filled the water jug from my kitchen sink, put the top on it, shook it very well, lit his Zippo lighter, and took the top off, and it went-- whoosh!-- [a gas flame].”

“And I was like, ‘Holy cow.’”

“So then we did it again because I wanted it on video. I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to do with it.”

“After Thanksgiving, I delivered [mail to] the guy that owns Culligan down here. I'm a mail lady. And Lyle found me on the street.

“He said, ‘I think we have a solution. We're going to do this pipe with a vent. It's about $500."

He said it “might work” and “should work.”

“He says ‘you seem hesitant.’ I said, ‘Well, Hell yeah I seem hesitant. You want me to just give you $500?... That's a lot of money."

“I've put all my money into [this house], and the second water guy has a plan that is an $8,000 system?” said Helen.

Stop Drinking The Water!

Helen said she started following the injection well permit issues in February of 2024.

“I was like, ‘Hmm, I don't know if this is correlated, or is important, but maybe I should text the lawyer" [involved in the injection well issue, Lisa Johnson].”

“So [in May] I texted Lisa, and Marci Michalski [her paralegal] my video [of the burning jug of water]. And I said, ‘I just had a well guy up here. I shared the video with him. I'm thinking maybe I should share it with you."

“And Marci called me immediately like, ‘Do you drink that?’ I said, "Well, the dog and chickens do, and I cook with it."

“She's like, ‘Stop it.’ I'm like, ‘Marci, what?’ She goes, ‘Helen, you can't drink that. It's not safe.’

DEP Starts Investigating

“I was like, Okay.’ So I stopped drinking it. Then with my permission, Lisa [Johnson] got a hold of the DEP for me for them to come up, do testing. They did testing in late May.”

Helen said DEP started their investigation with water testing-- in fits and starts at times-- and tested her home and other areas with a methane detector.

“During the first visit, DEP took a sample of my house water but did not submit it for isotopic testing because it was a Friday and the lab would not accept it for testing,” said Helen.

DEP also recommended she install a vent on her well shed to direct any accumulating gas in the shed outside.

“I said, I'm not a well person. I've gutted this whole house, but I do not play with electrical." It's not my wheelhouse.

“And now, I'm upset because I'm like, I don't know what to do with this, and I was just frustrated. So ever since that, there is no vent on the [water well shed]. I tried. I don't know what I'm doing, and I don't know.”

Helen said one of the things DEP discovered was, “Within 500 feet of my well, there are so many spots that there is methane leaking out of the ground. It’s literally seeping out of the ground.”

DEP Offers To Drill A New Well

On July 29, 2024, DEP notified Helen of its formal determination that her well has been “impacted by oil and gas activity,” although the “Department was not able to determine the precise source(s) of the gas in your water supply.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 140]

“Based on the information reviewed, the Department suspects that your water well may be a former oil and/or gas well that has been plugged back to a shallower depth for use as a water well.”

DEP’s sample results show her well water had 64.8 mg/l of methane. DEP’s action level is 7 mg/l. [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 173] [Penn State Extension Methane Fact Sheet]

As a result of its determination, DEP said, “To address these concerns, the Department proposes to drill out and re-plug your well to stop any potential natural gas migration.

“Additionally, as explained to you on May 31, 2024, the Department will provide funding for a new water well to be located and drilled for you.” [DEP July 29, 2024 memo, page 143]

Gas Sample Results

In an August 12, 2024 Addendum to its July 29, 2024 determination, DEP reported the test results of gas samples it took from a number of locations in June, including at the Catalyst Energy, Inc. injection well site.

DEP said the gas sampled in Helen’s well and the injection well is “not similar.” Several other samples showed some gas was microbial (from microorganisms) in origin, others were thermogenic (from conventional gas formations).

The addendum again confirmed the offer to plug Helen’s existing well and fund drilling a new water well.

No Temporary Water

Shortly after DEP’s July 29, 2024 determination arrived, Helen, through the attorney Lisa Johnson, made a request to DEP to see if arrangements could be made for a temporary water buffalo to provide water to her home until a new well could be drilled.

Helen had only stopped using her well water to drink and cook since contacting DEP in late May. She still uses the contaminated well water to bathe, do laundry, and dishes.

She brings water in to drink, cook, do canning and for the dog and her 11 chickens.

“Right now, I have three water jugs [like] on the sideline of a football game, two five gallons, and a ten. And right now, when they're empty, I put them in the car. I use someone's hose so that we can leave them in the car.

“And then, I bring them home, and my 122 pound little body brings those puppies into the house. And I'm like, ‘God, I can't do this in the winter.’”

In an August 9, 2024 email to Helen’s attorney Lisa Johnson, DEP said “The Department will provide alternate water when the current well is disconnected and will continue that until the new well is drilled.”

DEP explained in a related Commonwealth Court filing the unique facts of this case-- that the likely source of the pollution of her water supply was Helen’s former plugged-back conventional oil or gas well, under the state Oil and Gas Act they could offer to remedy the pollution by plugging that well and drilling her a new one. [DEP Commonwealth Court, pages 18-19]

However, under the narrow Section 3218 of the Act, no other responsible party was presumed responsible with a well within 1,000 feet of the water well and the pollution did not occur within six months after completing that oil and gas well, and no other remedy was possible. [DEP Commonwealth Court, pages 7]

Grateful To DEP

Helen said, “So I don't know what I would have done without them [DEP] saying they're going to do it. But in their paperwork, they straight up say they will plug my well and dig me a new one at their cost.”

“I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. I don't know. I just hope it comes through and the stress can be relieved because this is just overwhelming.”

“I am absolutely stunned... I'm absolutely grateful as well, because I don't know what I would do. I know what I can get as a loan, and it's not going to cover any well,” said Helen.

“Yes, I am grateful, but this has come at a great cost to me. This has been very stressful, frustrating and I am hesitant that they will even find me clean water that my household can consume!” added Helen.

The fact that DEP also said in that August 9, 2024 email, just days after the initial July 29, 2024 determination her well water was impacted by oil and gas operations and had very high levels of methane [64.8 mg/l of methane when DEP’s action level is 7 mg/l], that “there are no known health concerns with the current readings in her water” left very much confused.

Status Of Hearing Board Appeal

On July 31, 2024, the appellants in the Environmental Hearing Board case filed a motion to have the appeal stayed due to the fact, among other things, DEP was conducting an ongoing investigation of methane contamination in Helen Dragonette’s water well and any possible connections to the 59+ abandoned conventional wells within 2,500 feet of her well. EHB Docket: 2024016

Chief Judge Steven Beckman denied the motion on August 22, 2024 without explanation.

Judge Beckman did extend the hearing schedule for filing expert reports and motions through November 12, 2024.

Takeaways So Far

Helen Dragonette’s water well issues so far highlight gaps in the way Pennsylvania helps well owners deal with contamination issues caused by oil and gas operations.

Just a few examples--

-- Lack Of Information: Water well owners often lack information on how to diagnose when their water wells are being impacted by conventional oil and gas or shale gas operations and how much of a threat they can be to their health and safety.

As a result, they can be drinking, bathing and supporting pets and livestock on contaminated water for a very long time before the cause is discovered and use of the water is stopped.

Having a credible baseline of testing of a private water supply is also important before problems develop.

-- Don’t Know Who To Call: Well owners don’t know who to call for help when they suspect impacts or that DEP can help with answering basic questions about whether there might be oil and gas impacting their well.

Those first contacts are especially critical to educating well owners about those possible impacts and preventing the continued use of contaminated water.

-- Gaps In Water Supply Replacement: In March, DEP reported that since 2008, DEP has formally determined 397 private water supplies have been impacted at one point or another by conventional and unconventional shale gas drilling activities across the state. Read more here.

DEP said the trend in the number of methane contaminated water supplies is increasing. Read more here.

The two months it took DEP to make a formal determination Helen’s water supply was impacted by oil and gas operations was relatively quick in cases like.

In cases of shale gas drilling impacts, it can take a year or more.

But, DEP’s very first water samples can make it clear that some sort of impact has taken place from oil and gas operations and the water exceeds action levels usually in less than two or three weeks from a complaint.

However, DEP presently relies on the good intentions of a conventional or shale gas driller to provide replacement water supplies to the affected water well owner until after a formal determination is made, if there is a responsible party.

In a case where there is no responsible party yet identified because the wells are abandoned or the technical issues in identifying a responsible party are complex, like in the case of some shale gas wells, it is not clear in law or regulation that DEP will provide at least temporary water until the problems are permanently fixed.

This is now the subject of appeals and other litigation.

In Helen’s case of an abandoned conventional well complaint in May, DEP did offer to plug her old well and drill a new one relatively at the end of July, but DEP also said on August 9 they would provide temporary water only when her old well was disconnected and until the new one was in operation.

DEP does have a water replacement policy for shale gas well impacts that says DEP can request an operator to provide water, but only after DEP determines the operator is responsible or if the impacted well is within the 2,500 foot area of presumption for shale gas wells.

DEP has also said in an FAQ on the presumption of water supply liability that the ability to request oil and gas well owners to provide water supply replacement within 1,000 feet of a conventional well and 2,500 feet of a shale gas well “is not applicable to pollution of a water supply resulting from plugging a well.”

Again, it can be a long time between when sampling initially confirms a water well is impacted by oil and gas operations and when DEP makes its official determination.

It should be clear that DEP can require and/or provide replacement water supplies the moment its sampling confirms water wells are being impacted by oil and gas operations.

If a potentially responsible party can do that, good. If there is no responsible party willing to step up or in the case of abandoned wells, then DEP should be able to provide replacement water until the water issues can be resolved.

Water well owners should not be left hanging for problems they had no part in creating.

(Photos: Helen Dragonette; Her dog Little Man and water jugs; Her water well/repurposed conventional oil/gas well in pit under her shed; DEP map showing conventional well investigation near her home (a star) and the Catalyst Energy injection well (brown dot #083-46237 southeast of the star).)

Upcoming Events

-- September 24-- Center For Coalfield Justice Hosts Program In Washington County On Increasing Setbacks From Oil & Gas Infrastructure

Related Article - Water Well Impact:

-- No One Warned A Cameron County Family Their Water Well Was Contaminated By A Seneca Resources Shale Gas Wastewater Pipeline Rupture [PaEN]

Resource Links - Water Replacement:

-- Penn State Extension Methane Gas And Its Removal From Water Wells

-- DEP Policy For The Replacement or Restoration Of Private Water Supplies Impacted By Unconventional Oil & Gas Operations

-- DEP Frequently Asked Questions About Presumptive Liability For Pollution Of Water Supplies During Well Plugging

-- DEP Landowners’ Guide To Oil and Gas Wells

-- DEP Oil and Gas District Offices

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 14 to 20 - Seeing Conventional Wastewater Spill From Google Earth; Emergency Well Plugging; Abandoned Shale Gas Wells; Leaking Gas Well Next To Baseball Field [PaEN]