The Department of Environmental Protection Monday announced it has entered into a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty with Chevron Appalachia, LLC for violations related to a fatal explosion and fire at the company’s Lanco Well Site in Dunkard Township, Greene County.
The CACP requires the company to pay a $939,552 fine for violations at the well site. The penalty points to Chevron’s failure to construct and operate the well site to ensure that health, safety and environment were protected, as required by the state’s Oil and Gas Act.
The explosion and fire at the site occurred on February 11, 2014, as workers were preparing the Lanco 7H well for production. The force of the explosion damaged and ignited the Lanco 6H well, which was on the same well pad.
One worker was killed and another injured.
The well fires continued to burn for four days. The wells continued to emit gas and production fluids until they were capped several days later.
DEP’s Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation which determined that an ejected nut and pin assembly on Lanco 7H well allowed gas to escape into the air. Chevron has since inspected other wells with similar installations and has made operational changes and issued guidelines on how those changes are carried out.
The CACP is available online. The Bureau of Investigation report is also available online as is DEP’s After Action Review of the response to the gas well fire.
Also available are DEP’s Air Monitoring Report and Radiological Sampling Report done for the well fire.
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