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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

From September 14 to 20, DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 540 inspection entries, and caught up posting some past inspection reports.

So far this year, DEP took these actions as of September 13--

-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 77 conventional, 16 unconventional

-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 5,953 conventional and 750 unconventional

-- Enforcements 2024: 371 conventional and 94 unconventional [Orders, Agreements]

-- Inspections Last Week: 293 conventional and 489 unconventional

-- Year To Date - Inspections: 12,031 conventional and 17,337 unconventional

-- Wells Drilled Last Week: 2 conventional and 4 unconventional

-- Year To Date Wells Drilled: 116 conventional and 219 unconventional

4 Abandoned Conventional Well, 3 Abandoned Shale Well Violations

On September 11, 2024, DEP inspected the WN McCracken 2 conventional well in South Buffalo Township, Armstrong County owned by Reel Resources, Inc. and found the well abandoned and not plugged.

DEP issued the original violation for abandonment on July 19, 2024 and the “operator has not responded to the violation” in the 54 days since that inspection.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Reel Resources holds 40 conventional oil and gas well permits, all listed as active.

DEP’s inspection report continues the earlier violation and again asks the owner to submit a plan by September 30, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

On September 16, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Cunningham 6 conventional well in Pinegrove Township, Venango County owned by Baron Crest Energy Co. and found it to be abandoned and not still not plugged.

Baron Crest is now 77 days beyond the date they said they would start plugging the well.

DEP originally issued the violation for abandonment on January 17, 2024, along with violations for failure to submit production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports.

On this inspection, DEP notes there is some equipment at the site related to plugging, but said on an August 2, 2024 inspection report plugging was supposed to have started July 1, 2024.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Baron Crest holds 72 permits for conventional wells, many never drilled and some inactive, but none listed as abandoned, including this one.

DEP’s inspection report continued the abandonment and other violations, but had no requests of the well owner.

On September 17, 2024, DEP did an inspection of two conventional wells in Smith Township, Washington County owned by Michael D. Graham in response to a request to transfer the wells to another owner and found them abandoned and not plugged.

The wells included--

-- Farrah 3: Abandoned, not plugged, leaking gas, failed to submit production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports

-- Morgan 2: Abandoned, not plugged, leaking gas, failed to submit production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports

DEP’s inspection reports included violations for these infractions and requested the owner to submit a plan by October 9, 2024 to bring the wells into compliance.

3 Abandoned Shale Gas Wells

On September 2, 3 & 4, 2024, DEP did inspections of three shale gas wells owned by Big Dog Energy LLC in Clearfield County and found them all were abandoned and not plugged, and one was leaking gas. The wells included--

-- Beccaria Twp.: Hegarty-A 1H - Original violation June 26, 2023, inactive well status expired April 22, 2021 DEP 9/4/24 inspection report

-- Covington Twp.: Gerhart (CK-19) 1H - Original violation May 23, 2023, Inactive well status expired March 27, 2021 DEP 9/2/24 inspection report

-- Karthaus Twp.: RHP-A 5H - Original violation May 23, 2023, inactive well status expired April 22, 2021 DEP 9/3/24 inspection report

These wells have been out of compliance with inactive status regulations for more than 41 months.

DEP issued an administrative order to Big Dog Energy to bring these three wells and two others into compliance on August 20, 2024.

No action was taken by the well owner in response to the order.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Big Dog Energy holds 32 oil and gas well permits, all of them are listed as “active.”

Big Dog Energy was issued violations in 2022 by DEP for installing 30 gas-fired generators with a capacity of 10 MW at the Hegarty A shale gas well without permits to support its cryptocurrency mining operations. Read more here.

757 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations In 2024

So far in 2024, DEP issued 757 new or continued violations to conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging wells.

So far in 2024, 21 violations were issued or continued to 10 shale gas well owners [Big Dog Energy LLC follow-up; Big Dog Energy LLC; EQT Production Co.; Diversified Prod LLC; Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, Atlas Resources, LLC; Atlas Resources, LLC (follow-up inspection)’ Repsol Oil & Gas, EQT Chap LLC; M4 Energy; M4 Energy (follow-up inspection); EQT (Rice Drilling B LLC); and Roulette Oil & Gas LLC; Roulette Oil & Gas LLC (follow-up inspection)] for abandoning wells and not plugging wells.

Emergency Conventional Well Plugging Contract McKean County

On September 9, 2024, the Department of Environmental Protection began an emergency contract to plug a conventional oil well leaking oil, wastewater and gas in the front yard of a home in Lafayette Township, McKean County.

The well-- Lewis Run Hudson Lease 2 OP 2-- is owned by Penn Resources, Inc. with a business address in the Philadelphia Main Line community of Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Penn Resources holds 13 permits for conventional oil and gas wells, all but three are listed as “inactive,” including the well being plugged.

Conventional well owners often put their wells in “inactive” status on the road to abandoning them.

As of September 17, 2024, the contractor plugging the well was drilling out the well and reached a depth of 30 feet. Read more here.

Conventional Well Wastewater Spill Seen From Google EArth

On September 17, 2024, DEP conducted an inspection of the Carpentertown Coal & Coke 25 conventional well in Pine Township, Armstrong County owned by Murphy Production, Inc. in response to a complaint to the PA Emergency Management Agency who forwarded it to DEP.

The report said a 2,000 gallon wastewater storage tank “had been struck by bullets and was leaking produced fluids onto the ground. The reporting party stated that it was first noticed on June 24, 2024.”

“The reporting party was at the spill location recently and noticed that the spill had still not been addressed, which prompted their complaint submittal.”

DEP said-- “It needs to be noted that the aerial photograph from Google Earth dated June 15, 2024, shows the spill clearly.”

DEP was in contact with the well owner who said contaminated soil had been removed from the site and the tank repaired, but the area was not seeded

The DEP inspector said it could not be determined whether the contaminated soil had been removed, but the soil appeared to be clean.

The wastewater tank was not connected to the well at the time of the inspection.

[The well owner did not indicate where the contaminated soil was taken for disposal or provide a bill of lading or an estimate of how much wastewater was released.]

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Murphy Production holds 255 permits for conventional oil and gas wells, all of them active.

DEP’s inspection report included violations for not reporting the release to DEP and for the spill and requested the owner to submit a plan by October 8, 2024 on how the well site will be brought into compliance. Read more here.

These kinds of violations are not an isolated event with this conventional well owner.

Murphy Production, Inc. was issued these same kinds of violations-- failure to notify DEP of wastewater spill leaking from holes in a storage tank and causing a release from the C&K Coal Co 7 conventional well in Piney Township, Clarion County on August 23, 2024. [DEP inspection report]

In that case, DEP sent a separate notice of violation to Murphy Production.

On September 20, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of this well site and found most of the area restored and seeded.

DEP’s inspection report continued the earlier violations for this well, however, until the bills of lading are produced by the well owner for where contaminated soil was sent for disposal.

Conventional Well Owner Has 2 Wastewater Spills Same Day

On September 6, 2024, DEP inspected two different conventional well sites owned by Diversified Production LLC in response to notifications from the company on September 5, 2024 there had been wastewater spills at well sites in two different counties.

At the Falcon 6 conventional well in Redbank Township, Clarion County Diversified reported a release of an estimated 1,680 gallons of wastewater onto the ground from a storage tank not within secondary containment.

The well owner said a discharge valve on the tank was “broken off by cattle in the pasture.”

DEP said “a path of oil saturated soil 40'-50' [feet] west of the tank” and an estimated “100' [foot] path of dead vegetation that includes the oily area.”

DEP’s inspection report included violations for the spill and a request to submit a plan by September 20, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

At the Krick 16 conventional well in Greenwood Township, Clearfield County Diversified reported “a small stone punctured the bottom” of a storage tank causing a release of an estimated 800 gallons of wastewater that contaminated an area 35 by 15 feet.

DEP’s inspection report included violations related to the release

The well owner was requested to submit a plan by September 26, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

2024 Act 2 Oil & Gas Facility Pollution Cleanups

So far in 2024, DEP received or acted on 207 Act 2 Land Recycling notices related to oil and gas facility site cleanups. Read more here.

Conventional Well Leaking Gas Next To Baseball Field

On September 13, 2024, DEP inspected the Frick Park 1 conventional gas well in Mount Pleasant Borough, Westmoreland County owned by Kriebel Natural Gas Co LLC as a result of a complaint and found the well was venting gas.

DEP noted the well, wastewater storage tank and other equipment were located inside a fence right beside a baseball field.

DEP issued a permit to drill the well in 2007 and the well was last inspected on September 15, 2008.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Kriebel Natural Gas holds 1,681 conventional well permits, all but one active.

DEP’s inspection report included violations for venting gas and requested the well owner to submit a plan by September 20, 2024 to bring the well into compliance.

Significant Conventional Well Gas Leak

On September 3, 2024, DEP inspected the Tutelo 1 conventional gas well in Upper Burrell Township, Westmoreland County owned by Dakota Oil & Gas Co in response to a complaint and found there was a “significant gas leak” at the well.

DEP said the well was active and producing gas and its annual reports were up-to-date.

DEP’s inspection report included a violation for the gas leak and requested the well owner to submit a plan by October 11, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

Stray Gas Investigation Continues In Elk Viewing Area

On September 19, 2024, DEP inspected the Marion Brooks 1 conventional gas well in Benezette Township, Elk County owned by EQT Production Co. as part of a continuing stray gas investigation of a contaminated water supply in this popular elk viewing area that began last week. Read more here.

DEP said this well was approximately 1,100 feet north of the complainant’s water well.

DEP’s inspection report said no leaking gas was detected and the annual reports for the well were up-to-date.

Use the location of the well in the inspection report-- Latitude 41.279281 Longitude -78.400321-- in DEP’s Oil and Gas Mapping Tool to see if this well is close to you.

If you are having problems with your well water in this area, contact DEP’s Knox Oil & Gas Program Field Office.

Several other conventional wells with Unknown owners were also inspected as part of this investigation.

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.

Use DEP’s Oil and Gas Mapping Tool to find if there are oil and gas wells near or on your property and to find wells using latitude and longitude on well inspection reports.

(Photos: Row 1-- Michael D. Graham request to transfer conventional well leaking gas to new owner; Emergency plugging of conventional well leaking gas, oil, wastewater in McKean County; Kriebel Natural Gas Co LLC leaking as next to baseball field; Dakota Oil & Gas Co active conventional well with significant gas leak; Row 2-- Big Dog Energy LLC abandoned shale gas well and storage tank not maintained; Murphy Production, Inc. conventional well spill as seen from Google Earth; Diversified Production LLC had 2 conventional wastewater spills the same day, this is one.)

[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 - 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]

-- Homeowner Complaint Results In DEP Emergency Plugging Of A Penn Resources, Inc. Conventional Oil Well Leaking Gas, Oil, Wastewater In McKean County [PaEN]

-- DEP Discovers Wastewater Spill From Conventional Oil/Gas Well That Could Be Seen From Google Earth In Armstrong County As A Result Of A Complaint [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - September 21 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 77 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In September 21 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week - Gas:

-- 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 [PaEN]

-- Cecil Township, Washington County Posts Proposed Ordinance Increasing Setbacks From Shale Gas Well Pads Of 2,500 Feet From Homes, Businesses; 5,000 Feet From Schools, Hospitals; Nov. 4 Hearing, Meeting Set [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: State Dept. Of Health Progress On Implementing Recommendations After Pitt Health Studies Show Impacts From Shale Gas Development ‘Extremely Limited’ [PaEN]

-- Protect PT: Westmoreland Landfill Surrenders Air Quality Permit For An Evaporator System To Dispose Of Leachate Wastewater Impacted By Shale Gas Drilling Waste [PaEN]

-- Del-Chesco United For Pipeline Safety: Texas Explosion Shows Communities In PA With Energy Transfer's Mariner East Pipeline And Other Pipelines Are Vulnerable To The Same Unmitigated Risk From Unsecured Pipeline Valves [PaEN]