PA Environment Digest Blog: PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - June 8 to 14 - Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Now Top 512, Equaling All Of 2023

From June 8 to 14, DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 659 inspection entries, and caught up with posting inspection reports from last week..

So far this year, DEP took these actions as of June 7--

-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 35 conventional, 7 unconventional

-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 4,050 conventional and 484 unconventional

-- Enforcements 2024: 252 conventional and 64 unconventional

-- Inspections Last Week: 268 conventional and 311 unconventional

-- Year To Date - Inspections: 7,247 conventional and 10,960 unconventional

-- Wells Drilled Last Week: 4 conventional and 0 unconventional

-- Year To Date Wells Drilled: 63 conventional and 144 unconventional

DEP’s June 7 Weekly Workload Report: Zero Shale Gas Wells Drilled In PA, 2 New Permits Issued, Only 1 New Shale Gas Application Received, Only 1 Under Review. [Gas Industry Cutting Back To Raise Prices]

35 More Abandoned Conventional Well NOVs

On June 6, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Adams Shriver 1 conventional gas well in Wayne Township, Greene County owned by Diversified Prod LLC and found it was still abandoned, not plugged and gas and water was bubbling out of the casing.

DEP originally issued violations for these infractions on February 13, 2023 and the owner did nothing.

DEP’s inspection report continued the violations and requested the owner-- again-- to submit a plan by July 1, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

On June 10 & 11, 2024, DEP did a routine inspection of 33 conventional wells in Harmony Township, Forest County owned by Lendrum Energy LLC and found them to be abandoned and not plugged.

The wells include: Kline 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15,16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28; Milford 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 64, 65, 67.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Lendrum Energy LLC holds 128 permits for conventional wells, none are listed as abandoned.

DEP’s inspection reports [Kline 18 as an example] include violations for abandonment and requests the owner to submit a plan by June 24, 2024 for how the wells will be brought into compliance.

On June 12, 2024, DEP did a routine inspection of the Orndoff L2574 conventional well at the holbrook Gas Storage Reservoir in Centre Township, Greene County owned by EQT Gathering of PA LLC and found the owner in the process of plugging the abandoned well.

The original well abandonment violations were issued on October 4, 2023.

DEP’s inspection report continues the well abandonment violation.

From June 10 to 14, 2024, DEP did inspections of 13 conventional wells with Unknown Owners to score them for the Abandoned Well Plugging Program--

-- Allegheny County, Robinson Twp.: McMurtrie 1

-- Allegheny County, Crescent Twp.: Riverview Road 1

-- Allegheny County, Richland Twp.: Montour Road 2

-- Erie County, Harborcreek Twp: 8754 E. Lake RD 1 - Met with contractor to try to locate odor of gas, adoption forms being completed by contractor

-- McKean County, Foster Twp.: Warrant 3496-1 - Well a concern for upcoming PennDOT Project

-- Potter County, Pleasant Valley Twp.: Daugherty 1

-- Warren County, Eldred Twp: Miller 1

-- Warren County, Mead Twp.: Yeardon & Messerly 4

-- Washington County, Canton Twp.: J.Miller 2 - Methane detected

-- Westmoreland County, Arona Boro: Agnes Bossart 1 -

-- Westmoreland County, Hempfield Twp.: Rumbaugh 3, 4 & 6

520 Conventional, 8 Shale Gas Abandoned Well Violations In 2024

So far in 2024, DEP issued 520 new or continued violations to conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging wells; and 8 violations were issued to five shale gas well owners [Repsol Oil & Gas, EQT Chap LLC, M4 Energy, EQT (Rice Drilling B LLC) and Roulette Oil & Gas LLC)] for abandoning wells and not plugging wells.

In all of 2023, PA Environment Digest’s weekly Oil & Gas Compliance Dashboard reported DEP issued at least 512 violations to operators for abandoning wells without plugging them. Read more here.

Plugged Shale Gas Wells Continue To Vent Gas

On June 5, 2024, DEP did an inspection of two plugged shale gas wells at the Blanche Poulsen Pad in Auburn Township, Susquehanna County owned by Chesapeake Appalachia LLC and found wells 1H and 2H continue to vent gas even though the wells were plugged in June 2022.

DEP issued the original violations for faulty casing and cementing and venting gas on November 18, 2021.

DEP’s inspection report continued the 2021 violations and noted the company plans to reenter the wells for inspection in July 2024.

Conventional Wells Still Leaking Wastewater

On June 3, 2024, DEP did an inspection of the Zemba 1 conventional gas well in West Pike Run Township, Washington County owned by Dakota Oil & Gas Co in response to a company notification of a spill on May 31.

The spill was from a leaking wastewater tank that was removed before the inspection.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Dakota Oil & Gas Co holds 326 conventional oil and gas well permits, including one abandoned well.

DEP’s inspection report included violations for the spill and requested the owner to submit a plan by June 21, 2024 on how the well site will be brought into compliance.

On June 11, 2024, DEP did follow-up inspections of three conventional wells owned by Keystone Crude LLC in Allegheny County and found none of the spills and other issues identified in violations on August 10, 2023 were dealt with.

The wells included--

-- McCurdy 10 - Robinson Township: Leaking wastewater tank and other issues not cleaned up. DEP inspection report.

-- John Panner 3 - Robinson Township: Leaking wastewater. DEP inspection report

-- DM Logan 3 - North Fayette Township: DEP inspection report

DEP again gave the owner time to submit a plan-- by June 30, 2024-- for bringing the wells into compliance.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Keystone Crude LLC holds 33 conventional oil and gas well permits-- one inactive and the remainder active.

Conventional Wells Continue Venting Gas

On June 11, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Fed Distr Co Inc 1 conventional gas well in the City of Erie, Erie County owned by Fed Distr Co and found it was still venting gas.

DEP originally inspected the well on April 9, 2024 in response to a complaint of a gas smell in the area and the well owner was given until May 7, 2024 to submit a plan for bringing the well into compliance. DEP’s inspection report.

Another inspection was done on April 16, 2024 and caution tape was installed around the well to keep the public away.

No response from the well owner was included in the inspection reports.

The purpose of the June 11 inspection was to show a local contractor the well for the purpose of either fixing or plugging it.

DEP’s inspection report continued the violations and noted the contractor would be providing an estimate in the near future.

On June 10, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the NT Carson 032-1 conventional gas well in Fallowfield Township, Washington County owned by Washington Energy Co LLC and found it was still venting gas.

The original violation was issued on April 10, 2024 and a fix was attempted, but obviously failed.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Washington Energy Co LLC-- not to be confused with the Washington Energy Proc Inc-- holds 121 permits for conventional oil and gas wells.

DEP’s inspection report continued the violation, but included no follow-up requests of the well owner.

On June 11 & 12, 2024, DEP conducted a stray gas investigation in Keating Township, McKean County in response to a complaint and found two wells owned by Richard B. Herzog to be leaking gas.

Both the Tidewater Bingham 337 and Tidewater Bingham T1 conventional gas wells were plugged in 1977 and 1981 respectively.

No violations were included in the inspection reports yet, pending results of isotopic testing.

2024 Land Recycling/Brownfield Cleanups

So far in 2024, DEP received or acted on 147 Act 2 Land Recycling notices related to oil and gas facility site cleanups.

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 webpage to search their compliance records by date and owner 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.

Act 14 Notices To Municipalities

Many communities and citizens are not aware that a state law passed in 1984 gives them the first chance to comment on Department of Environmental Protection permit applications even before they are submitted to the agency. Read more here.

Act 14 requires applicants to submit notices to municipalities and counties for air quality, water obstruction (Chapter 105), any permit issued under the Cleans Streams Law (including Chapter 102, stormwater, NPDES, many more), any solid waste and hazardous waste, land recycling and water allocation permits.

These notifications, sent by registered mail, must give municipalities and counties at least 30 days to comment to DEP and in the case of solid waste and hazardous waste at least 60 days, according to the law.

Without proof Act 14 notices were sent to municipalities and counties within the required timeframe, a DEP permit application is not complete and DEP cannot review it.

And the notices must be sent each time an applicant wants to modify, renew or expand what their applications cover, so there can be a lot of them. Read more here.

(Photos: Row-1-- One of 33 conventional wells Lendrum Energy LLC abandoned; Fed Distr Co in out-building still venting gas; One of three Keystone Crude LLC leaking wastewater and other violations; Row 2- Washington Energy Co LLC conventional well leaking gas; Dakota Oil & Gas Co wastewater tank leak, dead grass; Diversified Prod LLC conventional well bubbling gas and water.)

[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 - June 8 to 14 - Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Now Top 512, Equaling All Of 2023 [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - June 15 [PaEN]

-- DEP’s June 7 Weekly Workload Report: Zero Shale Gas Wells Drilled In PA, 2 New Permits Issued, Only 1 New Shale Gas Application Received, Only 1 Under Review

-- DEP Posted 74 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In June 15 PA Bulletin [PaEN]