DEP Issued Conventional Oil & Gas Operators 663 Violations For Abandoning, Not Plugging Wells In Last 15 Months; 392 In 2024 Alone

The Department of Environmental Protection has issued conventional oil and gas well operator 663 violations for abandoned, unplugged wells in the last 15 months.  In 2024 alone, DEP issued 392 violations.

Information obtained in a Right To Know request shows in 2023, 95 conventional operators were found to be in violation of state law prohibiting well abandonment without plugging for 271 individual conventional oil and gas wells.  Read more here.

Click Here for the list of 93 operators and their wells in violation.  Read more here.

So far in 2024, DEP issued 392 violations to conventional oil and gas operators for abandoning and not plugging their wells.  Read more here.

Report Violations

To report oil and gas violations or any environmental emergency or complaint, visit DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.

Check These Resources

Visit DEP’s Compliance Reporting Database webpage to search their compliance records by date and operator 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.

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 16 to 22 - Truck Rollover; 12 More Abandoned Wells; Failure To Submit Annual Reports; Another Chewed Wastewater Line Leaking  [PaEN] 

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 23  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 80 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 23 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]  

Related Articles This Week - Gas:

-- DEP Reports The Number Of Methane Contaminated Water Supplies From Oil & Gas Drilling Is Up ‘Across The Board,’ ‘Not A Good Trend’  [PaEN] 

-- DEP: Shale Gas Drilling Resulted In 54 Incidents Of New Wells Interfering With Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells, Water Wells Or Other Shale Gas Wells   [PaEN] 

-- DEP Pursuing Federal Funding To Further Define Human Health Impacts Of Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells  [PaEN]

-- Spring Road Dumping Season Underway As Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Get Rid Of Their Wastewater   [PaEN] 

-- Fayette County Commissioners Unanimously Pass Ordinance Restricting Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Wells  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Notified Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County It Can No Longer Operate Under An Air Quality Construction Permit And Has 120 Days To Submit A Full Title V Air Quality Permit Application  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- PA Utility Law Project: On-Demand Webinar: Exploring The Impact Of LNG Gas Exports On Pennsylvania Families

-- EQT CEO Needs More Pipelines Because US Has A 'Duty' To Supply China With LNG Gas

-- Bloomberg: EQT Gas CEO Says There’s ‘No Longer An Effective Lid On Prices’ After Coal Power Plants Closed Because Of Competition With Natural Gas  

-- The Energy Age Blog: Well Communication Events Over Past 8 Years 

-- The Energy Age Blog: Development Of Range Resources-Appalachia Augustine George Shale Gas Well Pad - Act 14 Notice To Municipalities

-- The Energy Age Blog: Act 14 Notice To Local Governments Offering The Chance To Comment On EQT For Habanero Well 22 In Washington County

-- DeSmog: Activists Launch Their Own Investigation Of Mud Spill Near Sunoco Mariner East Pipeline In Chester County

-- TribLive: Protect PT To Scrutinize Beaver Run Reservoir Fracking Water Usage In Wake Of Drought

-- TribLive: CNX Resources To Pay Nearly $13,000 For Each 1.5 Million Gallons Drawn From Beaver Run Reservoir, 3 Million Gallons A Day Limit, For Fracking In Westmoreland 

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Federal Rules Push Average Well Plugging Cost To $100,000

-- Observer-Reporter Letter: Shale Gas Fracking Leaves A Trail Of Destruction - By Megan McDonough

-- Broad+Liberty Guest Essay: Natural Gas Pipeline Progress In Pennsylvania Shouldn’t Be Held Back Because Of Reading Chocolate Plant Explosion And The Deaths  - By Fmr Rep. Becky Corbin

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Appalachian Methane Initiative Adds More Members Among Oil & Gas Producers

-- The Allegheny Front: Taxpayers Subsidize Polluting Plastics Plants Like Shell’s Petrochemical Plant, Report Finds 

[Posted: March 25, 2024]  PA Enviornment Digest