On December 10, 2024, the Department of Environmental Protection found Apollo Resources LLC continues to be in violation of a compliance order issued on August 9, 2024 to cleanup wastewater spills at the Nelson 2 conventional well site in Dunbar Township, Fayette County.

The original spills were discovered on the site on May 11, 2023 and the well owner has since then failed to take action to respond to the violations at the site.

DEP did follow-up inspections on June 22, 2023, September 6, 2023, March 1, 2024 and August 6, 2024 in an attempt to get the well owner to respond to the original violations. Read more here.

During the August 6 inspection, DEP found conductivity readings around the wellhead still indicated the area was contaminated in spite of gravel spread around the site.

“It appears visually that the area around the wellhead and area extending approximately 10ft to 15ft from the wellhead are not remediated due to the stained gravel, the lack of vegetation, and high conductivity readings.”

DEP issued a violation for failing to comply with the cleanup order on August 15, 2024.  DEP inspection report.

During the December 10 inspection, DEP discovered evidence of new spills at the well site and issued new violations. DEP inspection report.

DEP requested the well owner to submit a plan by December 27, 2024 to bring the well site into compliance.  DEP inspection report.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Apollo Resources holds 1,894 conventional oil and gas well permits, all active.

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 and Inspection Reports Viewer webpages to search their compliance records by date and owner.

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: May 11, 2023 photo of contaminated well site; December 10, 2024 new area of contamination on the well site, from DEP inspection reports.)

[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 - Dec. 14 to 20 -- Shale Gas Wells Abandoned For 42 Months; Failure To Cleanup Conventional Well Spill For 19 Months; Gas Pipeline Land Slump  [PaEN]

-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind:  DEP: Diversified Production LLC Failed To Plug 2 Abandoned Shale Gas Wells For 42 Months + At Least 9 Other Shale Gas Wells Abandoned  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Apollo Resources, LLC Failed To Comply With Order To Cleanup Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill 19 Months After It Was Discovered In Fayette County  [PaEN]

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

-- DEP Posted 63 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In December 21 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

Related Articles:

-- Save The Date: Feb. 27 - Shale Gas And Public Health Conference, Duquesne University  [PaEN] 

-- EarthWorks Blog: Common Sense Needed In The Commonwealth - How To Protect Pennsylvanians From The Environmental, Health Impacts Of The Oil & Gas Industry - By Melissa Ostroff & Charlie Palladino, EarthWorks  [PaEN]

-- PUBLIC NOTICE: Proposed Oil & Gas Well Plugging Settlement With Diversified Energy, EQT May Affect Pennsylvania Surface Landowner Rights; Apply To Have A Well Plugged  [PaEN]

-- DEP To Review Shell Petrochemical Plant Title V Air Quality Permit Under Environmental Justice Policy Enhanced Public Participation Process  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Revised Application, Instructions Available For Coal-Mine Methane Enclosed Flares Air Quality General Permit  [PaEN]

-- PUC Chairman Stephen M. DeFrank Appointed Chair Of National Assn. Of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Committee On Natural Gas  [PaEN]

-- North American Electric Reliability Corp: AI Poses Threat To North American Electricity Grid  [PaEN]

-- US DOE Releases LNG Gas Export Study: Facilities Already Approved Will Meet Global Demand For Decades; Unfettered Exports Would Increase Domestic Natural Gas Prices; Electricity Prices; Costs To Manufacturers  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- TribLive: Additional Hearing Required For Proposed Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Plum Borough, Allegheny County That Doesn’t Meet Setbacks

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak, et al: Expanding Natural Gas Exports Will Increase Prices, Pollution, Report Says

-- Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition Calls For Immediate Lift Of LNG Export Facility Permit Review Ban  [EQT, PA Shale Gas Says We Have A ‘Duty’ To Sell More Gas To China Our Economic, Military Competitor]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Energy & Business Groups Respond To US DOE LNG Gas Export Study  [PDF of Article]

-- Reuters: Demand For US LNG Gas Exports Head For First Decline In 8 Years; Europe Bracing For New Price Shock As Weather Depletes Storage

-- Bloomberg: Natural Gas Markets Brace For ‘Volatility’ With Expiration Of Gas Transit Deal Between Russia And Ukraine Jan. 1

-- Bloomberg: Republican Administration Threatens Tariffs If EU Doesn’t Buy More US Oil, Natural Gas

-- Bloomberg: Oil/Gas Sector Lobbies Republican Administration To Spare It From Tariffs, Regulation

-- Post-Gazette: PA Lawmakers Talk Of Requiring Natural Gas Detectors In Buildings After Explosion That Killed 7 In Reading

-- TribLive: Residents Of Mt. Peasant Personal Care Homes Start Returning Hours After Natural Gas Leak In Westmoreland

-- The Derrick - Makayla Keating: Aqua PA Cites Existing Problems At Rhodes Utilities Water Companies  [PDF of Article]  [Water Companies Related To Venango County Conventional Well Spill Incident]  

-- The Guardian: DOE Warns ‘Unfettered’ Natural Gas Expansion Would Drive Up Domestic Costs

-- Utility Dive: US LNG Gas Exports Raise Electricity Bills, Gas Prices And Emissions, DOE Report Concludes

-- Financial Times: LNG Gas Export Boost Would Increase Prices, Hurt Climate, US Study Says

-- Reuters: US DOE Releases LNG Gas Export Facility Study Urging Caution On New Permits

-- Bloomberg: Biden’s LNG Gas Export Study Presents ‘Speed Bump’ For New Republican Administration

-- S&P Global: Major New US Industry At A Crossroads - A US LNG Impact Study - Phase I

-- Reuters: US Keeps LNG Gas Exports Crown Even With Facility Outages, Delays In Projects Under Construction, Slowing Demand

[Posted: December 21, 2024]

12/23/2024