On March 25, the Department of Environmental Protection was called to the scene of a conventional well explosion in East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County.

The well-- Wissinger 001-- is owned by Kriebel Natural Gas Co. LLC that also had  a conventional gas well explosion and fire on March 19 in Manor Borough, Westmoreland County.  Read more here.

The March 25 explosion involved a production storage tank and occurred at 10:25 a.m while the well tender was blowing out the well.  DEP arrived on site at 11:30 a.m.

“It appears that a faulty tank ground on the poly brine [wastewater] tank allowed static electricity to build up and during the process of "blowing the well" to the tank, which is a common practice to remove brine/fluids from the well-bore to allow gas to be produced in higher quantities, it is believed that static charge then ignited the gas vapors in the tank causing a flash fire and extreme pressure that resulted in the tank explosion and also the fire to be immediately extinguished.

“At that time the well tender, who was blowing the well and at the wellhead, immediately shut the well in.” No injuries were reported.  DEP inspection report Part 3.

A large piece of the production tank landed about 30 feet from its original site and the remainder of the tank was found 140 feet away.  DEP inspection report Part 2.

About 420 gallons of oil and wastewater was released and heavily contaminated an area of about 40 feet around the production equipment. The contamination also went into a ditch and traveled roughly 120 feet down slope from the site.

Steps were being taken to remediate the site during the inspection.

Violations issued. Response requested by April 9.  DEP inspection report Part I. 

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: Former site of storage tank; site cleanup underway; pieces of storage tank.)

[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 - March 22 to 28 - Failed To Comply With Well Plugging Order For 63 Months; Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Hit 113; Another Conventional Well Explosion, Same Owner  [PaEN]

     -- DEP: Conventional Well Owner Has 2nd Well Explosion, Fire In A Week In Westmoreland County  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 29 [PaEN]

    -- DEP To Hold May 7 Hearing On Proposed Title V Air Quality Permit For Tennessee Gas Pipeline Compressor Station 219 In Jefferson Twp., Mercer County  [PaEN] 

     -- DEP Invites Comments On 401 Water Quality Certification For Rover Pipeline Rover-Bulger Compressor Station, Harmon Creek Meter Station Expansion In Smith Twp., Washington County   [PaEN]

     -- DEP Invites Comments On Chapter 105 Permit For A MarkWest Liberty 4.5 Mile, 20-Inch  Natural Gas Pipeline In Allegheny, Washington Counties Impacting Montour Trail Property  [PaEN]

     -- DEP Invites Comments On Air Permit For Kratos Cryptocurrency Mining Facility Powered By Natural Gas In Clinton County  [PaEN]

     -- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 50 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In February [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 103 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 29 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]  

Related Articles This Week:

-- Criminal Convictions; Record Penalties, Restitution Of Over $158.3 Million Highlight Big Shale Gas, Related Petrochemical Industry Compliance History In Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

-- DEP Reports 575 Water Supply/Stray Gas Complaints About Oil & Gas Operations In Last 2 Years; Investigation Can Take A Year, Sometimes 2-3 To Find Those Responsible [PaEN]

-- Daily Grind Living Next To Oil & Gas Industry: Spills, Polluted Water Supplies, Smells Like Gas, Noise, Air Pollution, Explosions, Truck Traffic, Erosion, Radioactive Waste, Gas Flares, Dust, Lights, Road Dumping Waste, Abandoned Wells  [PaEN] 

-- DEP To Recommend Environmental Quality Board Accept A Petition For Study To Increase Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells At April 8 Meeting  [PaEN]

-- DEP Soliciting Bids On 3rd Conventional Abandoned Oil & Gas Well Plugging Contract For 19 Wells In Clarion, Jefferson Counties At Taxpayer Expense  [PaEN]

-- DEP: US Interior Dept. Withdraws Orphan Oil & Gas Well Regulatory Improvement Grant Program To Help Prevent Future Well Abandonments, A Severe Problem In PA  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission: Low Stream Flows Triggering Restrictions On 19 Shale Gas Water Withdrawals, 17 More Approaching Restrictions  [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Releases Natural Gas Industry Water Use Report 2019-2023

-- PUC Launches Review Of Electric Grid Impacts From Data Center Growth, Sets April 24 Hearing  [PaEN] 

-- PJM Interconnection Reliability Initiative Attracts 94 Applications For 26.6 GW Of New Electric Generation Capacity; Reviews To Be Completed By 2026; List Of Projects Not Available Now  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- WHYY: Bucks County Residents Sue Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Over Pipeline Leak That Contaminated Their Wells

-- Courier Times: Bucks County Residents Suing Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline For Pipeline Leak That Poisoned Drinking Water

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Pennsylvania Caps 300 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In 2 Years 

-- The Energy Age Blog: Fracking Under Ohio’s Largest State Park Gets Underway; How The Industry Has Changed Guernsey County

-- High Country News: President Halts Historic Orphaned Oil & Gas Well Plugging Program

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Public Utility Commission Sets Hearing On A.I. Data Centers’ Impacts On Electricity Grid

-- Utility Dive: PJM Fast-Track Interconnection Process Draws 26.6 GW In New Electric Generation Capacity

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Expect Higher Electric Bills This Summer By As Much As 20%  [Thousands Of Energy Projects Stuck In PJM Review] - By Rob Altenburg, PennFuture

-- Kleinman Center For Energy Policy Blog: More Bad Ideas To Promote Natural Gas, More Clean Energy Solutions For Load Growth - By John Quigley, Senior Fellow, Fmr DEP Secretary

[Posted: March 29, 2025]

3/31/2025