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PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Jan. 11 to 17 - More Abandoned Shale Gas, Than Conventional Wells So Far In 2025; Failed Act 2 Cleanup; Acid Forming Rock; Expired Permits

From January 11 to 17, DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 721 inspection entries.

Follow these links to spreadsheets showing the violations and inspections occurring between January 11 to 17--

Click Here for violations issued between January 11 to 17.

Click Here for inspection entries between January 11 to 17.

Enforcement Actions Taken Last Week

So far this year, DEP took these actions as of January 10--

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

-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 13 conventional and 9 unconventional

-- Enforcements (2025): 8 conventional and 1 unconventional (orders, agreements)

-- Inspections Last Week: 275 conventional and 405 unconventional

-- Year To Date - Inspections: 418 conventional and 660 unconventional

Abandoned Conventional Wells

Andrew F. Suchko - Violations: Abandoned Well, Failure To Bond, File Reports

January 2, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Suchko Tract 2 conventional well in South Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violations issued October 18, 2022 for abandonment, failing to obtain a bond, failure to submit production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports. Request response by January 28. Suchko holds 3 conventional well and one pipeline permit. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Unplugged Well (4 Months)

January 14, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Keslar 3 conventional well in Redstone Township, Fayette County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation Sept. 26, 2024. Response requested by January 27. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Unplugged Well

January 9, 2025 inspection of the William H. Betler ET UX 4593 conventional well in Unity Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Response by February 2. DEP inspection report.

Mary A. Woodring - Violations: Abandoned, Unplugged Well

January 14, 2025 inspection of the 1582 Waterhouse Dr 1 conventional well in Harborcreek Township, Erie County found the well abandoned and not plugged. An attempt was being made to plug the well, but no work has been done since November 13, 2024. The well is located in a cement cellar in front of the home’s garage. No response requested. Woodring holds 1 conventional well permit listed as abandoned. DEP inspection report.

Abandoned Shale Gas Wells

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (43 Months)

January 14, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Lynn 9 shale gas well in Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation issued June 9, 2021. Response requested by January 28. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (43 Months)

January 14, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Smith Unit 59H shale gas well in Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation June 9, 2021. Response requested by January 28. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (32 Months)

January 15, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Carr 19A shale gas well in Salem Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation issued May 24, 2022. Response requested by February 4. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (21 Months)

January 8, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Pritts Unit 1 shale gas well in Lower Tyrone Township, Fayette County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violations for abandonment were issued April 5, 2023. Response requested by January 27. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (19 Months)

January 10, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Smith 21 shale gas well in Salem Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation issued June 2, 2023. Inspection noted a controller unit has been “sleeping” since January 3, 2022. Response requested by February 3. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (4 Months)

January 9, 2025 follow-up inspection of the W. Smith 1 shale gas well in Henry Clay Township, Fayette County found the well abandoned, not plugged and leaking gas. Original violations Sept. 26, 2024. Response by January 28. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (4 Months)

January 13, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Keslar 9 shale gas well in Redstone Township, Fayette County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation issued September 26, 2024. Response requested by January 27, 2024. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (4 Months)

January 13, 2025 follow-up inspection of the ORR 33 shale gas well in Washington Township, Fayette County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violations issued September 25, 2024. Response requested by January 27. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (4 Months)

January 14, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Shuglie 4 shale gas well in Sewickley Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation issued September 26, 2024. Response requested by February 4. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (2 Months)

January 14, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Kepple 5 shale gas well in Salem Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation issued November 18, 2024. Response requested by February 4. DEP inspection report.

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Abandoned, Not Plugged Shale Well (2 Months)

January 14, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Kepple 4H shale gas well in Salem Township, Westmoreland County found the well abandoned and not plugged. Original violation issued November 18, 2024. Response requested by February 4. DEP inspection report.

Unknown Owners

January 14-15, 2025 inspections of 15+ abandoned conventional wells with Unknown owners to evaluate them for future abandoned well plugging in Greene and Washington counties.

9 Abandoned Conventional, 11 Abandoned Shale Gas Well Violations 2025

So far in 2025, DEP issued or continued 9 violations to 8 conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging their wells- [Diversified Production LLC, MTN Energy, SK Opr Inc., Andrew F. Suchko, Washington Energy Co LLC, Mary A. Woodring]

So far in 2025, DEP issued or continued 11 violations to one shale gas drilling company for abandoning and not plugging their wells-- [Diversified Production LLC]

MERP Well Plugging Grant Inspections

Pembrooke Oil & Gas Inc.

January 13-14, 2025 inspections of 8 conventional wells in Sugarcreek Borough and Cornplanter Township, Venango County as part of the evaluation of a Methane Emission Reduction Grant application.

PennHills Resources LLC

January 14, 2025 inspections of 20 conventional wells in Howe Township, Forest County as part of the evaluation of a Methane Emission Reduction Grant application.

LT Oil Co LLC

January 16, 2025 inspections of 2 conventional wells in Allegheny Township, Venango County as part of the evaluation of a Methane Emission Reduction Grant application.

Wastewater Impoundment Cleanup Failed Act 2 Remediation

Southwestern Energy Prod Co. - Disapproval: Failed To Comply With Act 2 (5 Years)

On January 2, 2025 DEP issued a disapproval letter for an Act 2 Final Report on the remediation of a release from the Greenzweig shale gas wastewater impoundment located in Herrick Township, Bradford County. The original releases from the facility were first documented by DEP on February 3, 2020.

DEP’s investigation found the liner of the impoundment was compromised causing a slow release of wastewater at multiple locations around and under the facility.

Southwestern Energy is using the Act 2 Land Recycling Program to document the cleanup of the release and submitted a Final Report on November 6, 2024.

However, DEP disapproved the report January 2 finding the extent of the release had not been fully characterised at multiple points and the water column had not been evaluated to determine if the wastewater impacted surface water.

No further requests were made of Southwestern Energy.

Failed To Cleanup Spills

Northeast Natural Energy LLC - Violations: Failed To Cleanup Spill (6 Months)

January 9, 2025 inspection of the I Gornick conventional well serving the Trafford Gas Storage Reservoir in Penn Township, Westmoreland County found no action was taken to remediate a spill discovered by DEP on August 13, 2024. The owner also did not respond to violations issued at that time. Response requested by January 28. Northeast Natural holds 36 oil and gas well and related permits. DEP inspection report.

Seneca Resources Co. LLC - Violations: Failed To Cleanup Spills (3 Months)

January 14, 2025 routine inspection of the Taft 851 shale gas well site in Middlebury Township, Tioga County found the owner has failed again to cleanup spills and releases originally discovered on October 2, 2024 in a stormwater basin and on the well pad. DEP “recommends” the owner “determine the cause of elevated conductance discovered during previous inspections to prevent future occurrences. Remove the elevated conductance fluids and contaminated soils from the pad surface and the sediment basin.” No response deadline. DEP inspection report.

2025 Act 2 Oil & Gas Facility Pollution Cleanups

So far in 2025, DEP received or acted on 11 Act 2 Land Recycling notices related to oil and gas facility site cleanups. Read more here.

Underground Gas Storage Area Well Leaks

Columbia Gas Trans LLC - Violations: Failed To Prevent Gas Leaks

January 2, 2025 inspections of six conventional gas wells serving the Donegal Gas Storage Reservoir in Donegal Township, Washington County found all wells were leaking gas. Violations were issued or continued. Response requested by February 2.

The wells included: TH Wallace L3876 (new); Charles & Daisy DeFrance 2 (original violation Oct. 8, 2024); Stanley Buick UX L4077 (original violation Oct. 4, 2024); Stanley Buick UX 3 (original violation Oct. 4, 2024); Beulah DeFrance 0 (new); and Martin Chaney L3702 (original violation Oct. 4, 2024).

Shale Gas Well Continues Leaking Gas

BKV OPR LLC - Violations: Defective Cement, Leaking Gas (26 Months)

January 14, 2025 inspection of the Reel-Macialek Unit McConnell 3H shale gas well in Tunkhannock Township, Wyoming County found it continued to leak gas from defective well casing. Original violation issued November 23, 2022. Response requested by January 22. DEP inspection report.

Acid Forming Rock Violations

Olympus Energy, LLC - Violations: Failure To Comply Acid Forming Rock

January 9, 2025 administrative review of the Artemis shale gas well pad in Upper Burrell Township, Westmoreland County found the owner failed to comply with requirements on the handling acid forming rock material (coal and black shale typically containing pyrite that can produce acid runoff when exposed to water) encountered during the construction of the well pad on or about December 5, 2024. Violations were issued. Response requested by January 28. DEP inspection report.

Pipeline Erosion Violations, Expired Permit

EQM Gathering OPCO LLC - Violations: Erosion Violations, Expired Permit

January 14, 2025 administrative review of the NIJUS046 Pipeline route in Morris Township, Greene County resulted in DEP issuing multiple violations for violations originally discovered on November 26, 2024 for erosion and sedimentation noncompliance, failure to restore stream to its original dimensions and an expired stream crossing permit for a High Quality stream. Response requested by January 28. DEP inspection report.

Failure To Restore Shale Gas Well Site, Remove Equipment

XTO Energy Inc. - Violations: Failure To Remove Equipment, Restore Shale Gas Pad

January 2, 2025 follow-up inspection of the Hall 8423H shale gas well in Springfield Township, Fayette County found the site has not been restored and production equipment has not been removed. This violation was originally issued October 28, 2024. Violations related to well abandonment were issued on October 27, 2023 and photos show the well is not plugged and not classified as inactive. Well was drilled in 2009. DEP inspection report.

Expired Conventional Permits, Failure To Restore Well Sites

First Amer Energy Inc. - Violations: Expired Permits, Failure To Restore Well Site,

January 14, 2025 inspection of three conventional well sites-- PAPCO 1435, PAPCO 1438 and PAPCO 1141 in Mead Township, Warren County found the permits for the wells expired in October and the sites have not been restored. Response requested by January 29.

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: Row 1- Diversified Prod LLC abandoned shale gas well; Diversified Prod LLC another abandoned shale gas well wastewater tanks; Diversified Prod LLC another abandoned shale gas well; Diversified Prod LLC another abandoned shale gas well wastewater tank with holes; Row 2- Diversified Prod LLC another abandoned shale gas well inside cattle gates Diversified Prod LLC another abandoned shale gas well chemical drums and storage containers; Northeast Natural Energy LLC gas storage area well spill; Andrew F. Suchko abandoned conventional well: Row 3- Southwestern Energy Prod Co. remediation of a 2020 release from the Greenzweig Wastewater Impoundment failed to comply with Act 2; Olympus Energy, LLC failed to comply with acid forming rock regulations during pad construction; XTO Energy Inc. shale gas well pad not restored, prior violation for abandonment.)

[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.]

Extreme Cold Alert!

-- Public Utility Commission Urges Consumers To Prepare For Extreme Cold Next Week [PaEN]

-- Shapiro Administration Urges Readiness In Advance Of Dangerous Cold Weather

-- PJM Interconnection: New All-Time Peak Electricity Demand Possible Jan. 20-22; PJM Working With Gas Generators To Try To Get Them Online Before Extreme Cold Hits [PaEN]

-- Bloomberg: Wintry Blast To Unleash Snow, Test Electric Grids From Midwest To NYC

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Jan. 11 to 17 - More Abandoned Shale Gas, Than Conventional Wells So Far In 2025; Failed Act 2 Cleanup; Acid Forming Rock; Expired Permits [PaEN]

-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: Diversified Production LLC Starts 2025 With 11 Violations For Abandoning, Not Plugging Shale Gas Wells [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - January 18 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 107 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In January 18 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

What The Shale Gas, Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind:

-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: Diversified Production LLC Starts 2025 With 11 Violations For Abandoning, Not Plugging Shale Gas Wells [PaEN]

-- What The Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells On Federal Lands - Shenango River Lake, Allegheny National Forest [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Registration Now Open! 2025 Shale Gas & Public Health Conference At Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Online Feb. 27 [PaEN]

-- Rep. Vitali Introduces Bill To Ban Road Dumping Millions Of Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater, Supported By The Shapiro Administration [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Oil & Gas Companies Need Greater Incentives To Cap Their Old Wells [Higher Well Plugging Bonds Needed To Keep Number Of Abandoned Wells From Rising]

-- Rep. Vitali Introduces Bill To Establish DEP Environmental Justice Permit Review Program In Law, Analyze Cumulative Impacts Of Pollution From Facilities, Supported By DEP [PaEN]

-- EPA Issues Permit To Seneca Resources Company For Elk County Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well [PaEN]

-- TECfusions Unveils Massive 1,400-Acre Data Center Project With 3 Gigawatts Of Natural Gas-Fired Power Generation In Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- 30 Stakeholder Comments Received By PUC On Adequacy Of Electricity Supplies In Pennsylvania; Increasing Natural Gas Power Plant Reliability To 90-95% Would Mean No Imminent Capacity Problem [PaEN]

-- Gov. Shapiro Threatens To Pull Pennsylvania Out Of PJM If It Does Not Protect Consumers Against Soaring Power Prices [PaEN]

-- PUC Commissioner Kathryn Zerfuss Appointed To National Committees On Natural Gas, Pipeline Safety

-- PennTAP: Small & Mid-Size Industries Must Complete An Energy Technical Assessment Report To Be Eligible For RISE PA Decarbonization Grants [PaEN]

-- DEP Hosts Jan. 24 Webinar Q&A On RISE PA Decarbonization Grant Program [PaEN]

-- NASEO Hosts Jan. 27 Webinar On RISE PA Decarbonization Grant Program, PA Energy Programs For Industry [PaEN]

-- PA Solar Center Hosts Jan. 31 Webinar On RISE PA Decarbonization Grant Program For Industry [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- PennLive Letter: There Must Be More Oversight Of Dangerous Fracking Wastewater In PA - By Dr. Robert Little