Follow these links to spreadsheets showing the violations and inspections occurring between April 4 to 17--
Click Here for violations issued. Click Here for inspection entries.
[Note: There were many more violations issued by DEP than PA Environment Digest can highlight here.]
Enforcement Actions Taken Last Week
So far this year, DEP took these actions as of April 3--
-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 29 conventional, ZERO unconventional
-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 1,276 conventional and 291 unconventional
-- Enforcements 2025: 99 conventional and 72 unconventional (orders, agreements)
-- Inspections Last Week: 332 conventional and 338 unconventional
-- Year To Date - Inspections: 4,739 conventional and 7,020 unconventional
So far this year, DEP took these actions as of April 10--
-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 24 conventional, 7 unconventional
-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 1,377 conventional and 329 unconventional
-- Enforcements 2025: 111 conventional and 74 unconventional (orders, agreements)
-- Inspections Last Week: 327 conventional and 319 unconventional
-- Year To Date - Inspections: 5,136 conventional and 7,428 unconventional
DEP Conducts Record Number Of Inspections In 2025
On April 13, the Department of Environmental Protection released a summary of its inspection activity in the Oil and Gas Program during 2025.
DEP conducted a record 53,189 inspections, including siting visits, administrative and file reviews and compliance evaluations during 2025; an increase over the 47,736 conducted in 2024.
The inspections also included 5,213 conventional oil and gas wells that were never inspected before supported by funding from the federal Abandoned Well Plugging Program.
The program also responded to 674 complaints, spill and other incidents.
Click Here for a DEP Linkedin article reporting on inspections in 2025. [PDF of Article]
The last comprehensive annual report issued by the DEP Oil and Gas Program covering 2023 and including information like enforcement actions taken and most frequent violations.
Click Here for previous annual reports.
Software Malfunction Releases Up To 704,000 Gallons Of Fresh Water
On April 5, 2026, Coterra Energy Inc. reported an apparent software malfunction opened valves at a 10 million gallon water impoundment at the Brooks shale gas well pad in Springville Township, Susquehanna County resulting in the release of an estimated 704,000 gallons of fresh water that ran through a pasture and into Messoppen Creek. The incident is still under investigation. Read more here.
Repsol Oil & Gas Recovers 166,729 Gallons From Shale Gas Well Pad Spill
On March 24 at 11:32 a.m., Repsol Oil and Gas USA LLC notified DEP they discovered a spill of about 630 gallons of production wastewater at 6:00 a.m. that morning from its Ugliuzza shale gas well pad in Pike Township, Bradford County.
As of April 6, Repsol reported recovering 166,729 gallons of contaminated fluid from the site (the most recent number available in DEP inspection reports). Read more here.
Failure To Restore 3 Shale Gas Well Pads, 5 Water Impoundments For 3,197 Days
On April 15 & 16, 2026, the Department of Environmental Protection did follow-up inspections of the two Frontier Natural Resources shale gas well pads with four water impoundments located in East and West Keating Townships, Clinton County and found the pads and impoundments had not been restored. A third well pad and impoundment inspected last April in the same area were also not restored.
The original violations for failure to restore all three well pads and five impoundments on July 14, 2017-- 3,197 days before the most recent inspections. Read more here.
Who Will Pay The Water Bill Resulting From Conventional Wastewater Spill?
On April 17, 2026, TheDerrick.com reported Aqua Pennsylvania is “evaluating its options” for recovering money it spent operating the Venango Water Company from the oil and gas well owner that contaminated Bellows Spring, a source of water for the Village of Reno and Sugarcreek Township.
DEP determined in an August 2023 order Petro Erie, Inc. was responsible for the spill that contaminated the spring.
The recovery action is important to Venango Water Company customers because any money recovered from the oil and gas well owner would not have to be paid by VWC customers. Read more here.
14 Abandoned Conventional Well Violation
Allegheny County - Big Sand Drilling Co Inc. [659 Days]
April 14, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Deklewa 1 and Bowman 1 conventional oil and gas wells in South Fayette Township found they continued to be abandoned and not plugged. The owner also failed to submit annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports. Original violations issued June 24, 2024. Response requested by May 4. Big Sand holds 3 permits.
Butler County - Patrick K. Henry
April 13, 2026 inspection of the Gibson 3 and Gibson 4 conventional oil and gas wells in Fairview Township found them abandoned and not plugged. Written violations issued. Response requested by April 28. Henry holds 12 permits.
Erie County - MKP Enterprises Inc.
April 9, 2026 inspection of the Erie Petro Inc 1 conventional well in the City of Erie in response to a complaint about leaking gas found the well abandoned and not plugged. The owner also failed to submit annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports. Response requested by April 30. DEP inspection report. MKP Enterprises holds 28 permits.
Fayette County - Diversified Prod LLC [762 Days]
April 14, 2026 compliance review of the Chess 7 plugged conventional well in Georges Township; the Diamond 3 plugged conventional well site in Nicholson Township ;and the Myers 12 and Clemmer 6 plugged conventional wells in Springfield Township found all 3 well sites were not restored after being plugged on March 13, 2024 and May 12, 2025, respectively, in violation of a Consent Order issued on March 7, 2019. Unlawful conduct violation issued. Response requested by May 1.
Somerset County - JPS Lawncare & Landscaping [239 Days=
April 2, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Edward E. Beener Gas Unit 1 conventional well in Milford Township found the well abandoned and not plugged. Owner failed to submit annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports. Original violations issued Aug. 6, 2025. Violations continued. Response requested by April 22. DEP inspection report. JPS Lawncare holds 1 permit.
Venango County - Carol A. Morrison Baker
April 10, 2026 inspections of 4 conventional never before inspected wells on State Game Lands in Cranberry Township found the wells abandoned and not plugged. The wells include 45-J97, 45-J111, 45-J101 and 45-J100. DEP is working with the heirs of the deceased owner to determine the status of the 217 wells they own. So far 43 wells are classified abandoned so far.
180 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations In 2026
So far in 2026, DEP issued or continued 180 notices of violation for conventional oil and gas well abandonment.
Conventional Well Spills/Releases
Beaver County - Thomas & Jean Thurma [57 Days]
April 2, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Barnhart 4 conventional well in Independence Township found no action taken to cleanup spills and releases at the well site. No response to violations issued on Feb. 4, 2026. Response requested by April 14. Response requested by April 9. Thurmas hold 7 permits.
Erie County - Penta Oil Corp
March 25, 2026 follow-up inspection of the William Czarneci 1 conventional well in Amity Township found the well site “in worse state than previously inspected” with evidence of spills and releases and continuing failure to submit annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports. Some violations go back to March 23, 2021. New and continuing violations issued. No response requested from well owner. DEP inspection report. Penta Oil holds 28 permits, including 1 abandoned well.
Washington County - Thomas & Jean Thurma [112 Days]
April 2, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Hall 1 and Hall 2 conventional wells in Cecil Township found no action taken to cleanup spills and releases at the well site. No response to violations issued on Dec. 11, 2025. Response requested by April 14. Thurmas hold 7 permits.
Washington County - Frank L. Washabaugh Oil Producers [504 Days]
April 2, 2026 follow-up inspection of the William M. Johnson 1 conventional well in Cross Creek Township found continued failure to comply with spill cleanup order issued on June 16, 2025. There was no evidence any remediation of the release has begun. The original violations for the release were issued on November 13, 2024, which the owner never responded to. Follow-up inspections in December 2024, September 11, 2025 and November 5, 2025 found no progress. Failure to comply with order violation continued. No specific requests made of owner. DEP inspection report. Washabaugh Oil holds 5 permits.
Shale Gas Well Casing/Cementing Failures
Bradford County - EOG Resources Inc. [2,468 Days]
April 7, 2026 pre-plugging inspection of the Oberkamper 1H and Oberkamper 2H shale gas wells in Springfield Township to deal with casing/cementing failures first discovered on July 5, 2019. No schedule given for when the well will be plugged. EOG holds 512 permits, including 1 abandoned well.
Susquehanna County - Expand OPER LLC [2,451 Days]
April 2, 2026 inspection of the Koromlan1H shale gas well in Auburn Township as part of a regular monitoring for casing/cementing failure found evidence of continuing failure first discovered on July 17, 2019. Violations continued, monitoring continued. DEP inspection report.
Failure To Restore Shale Gas Well Pad
Forest County - Nucomer Energy LLC
April 9, 2026 inspection of the DR02 shale gas well pad and impoundment in Hickory Township under a Stipulated Order signed on March 17, 2025 found numerous erosion and sedimentation violations and a failure to restore the well pad. Violations issued. Response requested by April 24. DEP inspection report.
Failure To Submit Monthly Production/Waste Reports
The following shale gas well owners failed to submit monthly production and waste reports for one or more wells. Notices of violation issued April 17, 2026, but not online--
-- Apollo Resources LLC - Holds 1,895 permits, including 2 abandoned wells
-- Beech Resources LLC - Holds 32 permits
-- John E. McCool - Holds 467 permits, including 5 abandoned wells
-- Monona LLC - Holds 3 permits
Failure To Submit Well Integrity Reports
The following oil and gas well drillers failed to submit well integrity reports. Notices of violation issued April 10, 2026, but not online-
-- Anegada Energy LLC - Holds 12 permits
-- EOG Resources Inc. - Holds 512 permits, including 1 abandoned well
-- Frontier Natural Resources - Holds 9 permits
-- Scott J. Isaacs Jr. - Holds 1 permit
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.
[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:
-- DEP Investigating Possible Software Malfunction That Released An Estimated 704,000 Gallons Of Fresh Water From Coterra Energy Shale Gas Water Impoundment In Springville Twp., Susquehanna County [PaEN]
-- DEP: Frontier Natural Resources Failed To Restore 5 Water Impoundments At 3 Shale Gas Drilling Sites In Clinton County For 3,197 Days [PaEN]
-- TheDerrick.com: Who Will Pay The Water Bill? Aqua Pennsylvania Is 'Evaluating Its Options’ For Recovering Money It Spent Operating The Venango Water Company From Oil & Gas Well Owner After Wastewater Spill [PaEN]
-- Residents Around MarkWest Harmon Creek Natural Gas Cryogenic Processing Plant In Washington County Urge DEP To Deny A New Air Quality Permit Because Of Frequent, Ongoing Black Smoke, Incomplete Combustion Violations At The Plant’s Natural Gas/Chemical Flare [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - April 18 [PaEN]
-- DEP Issues 2nd Air Quality General Permit For Diesel-Fired Nonroad Engines At Homer City A.I. Data Center Campus In Indiana County
-- DEP published notice in the April 18 PA Bulletin announcing the rescission of the Standards and Guidelines for Identifying, Tracking and Resolving Oil and Gas Violations technical guidance and posting a Standard Operating Procedure with the same name and posted on DEP’s website.
-- DEP published notice in the March 28 PA Bulletin announcing the rescission of a technical guidance document Civil Penalty Assessments in the Oil and Gas Management Program and posting with separate Civil Penalty Assessment Standard Operating Procedures for conventional oil and gas well owners and shale gas well owners that have now been posted on DEP’s website.
-- DEP Posted 76 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In April 18 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Renewal Of Wastewater Permit For Restart Of Constellation Energy’s Three Mile Island Nuclear Data Center Power Plant In Dauphin County [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Water Encroachment Permit For Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC Project To Rebuild Power Lines To Three Mile Island Nuclear Data Center Power Plant In Dauphin County [PaEN]
-- DEP Accepting Comments On Stormwater Permit For SNA North LLC/QTS A.I. Data Center Project In Salem Twp., Luzerne County [PaEN]
-- DEP published notice in the April 18 PA Bulletin inviting comments on an Individual Stormwater permit covering 25.87 acres of the Keystone Appalachian Transmission Company (FirstEnergy) Stoney Springs Junction 138kV transmission line project located in Salem Twp., Westmoreland County. (PA Bulletin, page 2143)
Related Articles This Week - Energy:
-- House Energy Committee Reports Out GeoThermal Energy, Advanced Transmission Technology, Energy Financing Authority Bills [PaEN]
-- PA House Passes Bills To Develop Model Zoning Ordinance To Help Local Governments Regulate, Mitigate The Impacts Of A.I. Data Center Developments; Report Water, Energy Use [PaEN]
-- PA House Blue-Green Labor, Environmental Caucus Endorses 9-Bill Package To Expand Clean Energy Generation, Strengthen Workforce [PaEN]
-- Spotlight PA: Gov. Shapiro Repeats Threat To Pull Pennsylvania Out Of PJM Regional Grid Operator, If Electricity Costs Keep Rising
-- Shapiro Administration Secures $14 Million From US DOE For Enhanced GeoThermal Systems Pilot Demonstration Project In Indiana County [PaEN]
-- US Dept. Of Energy Announces $14 Million To Support DEP Project For Enhanced Shale Gas Well GeoThermal Demonstration In Pennsylvania [PaEN]
-- Report: President Canceled 28.2 Gigawatts Of US Electric Generation- Funding For 13 Gigawatts Lost In Pennsylvania- In Face Of Unprecedented A.I. Data Center Demand, Grid Reliability Concerns [PaEN]
-- DEP Linkedin: Oil & Gas Program Sets Inspection Record In 2025, Including 5,213 Wells Never Inspected Before, Responded To 674 Complaints, Incidents [PDF of Article]
-- Mountain Watershed Association Appeals 90% Reduction In Mine Subsidence Damage Bond For Rustic Ridge Coal Mine In Westmoreland, Fayette Counties From $3.1 Million To $292,679 [PaEN]
-- Susquehanna River Watershed Low-Flow Conditions Trigger Stop To Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawals At 19 Locations, 13 More Approaching Restrictions [PaEN]
-- PA House Passes 3rd Natural Gas Safety Bill After Fatal Reading Chocolate Factory Explosion [House Bill 1522]
-- PECO Withdraws Proposed 12.5% Electric, 11.4% Natural Gas Rate Increases From PUC Consideration [PaEN]
-- PUC Opens Investigation Into UGI Electric Proposed 12.8% Rate Increase [PaEN]
-- PUC To Investigate Proposed 13.1% Rate Increase Request by Peoples Natural Gas [PaEN]
-- PUC Modifies UGI Gas Settlement To Require More Direct Support To Customers Impacted By Improper Service Terminations
-- PUC Marks April As Safe Digging Month
-- Penn State Extension Hosts Anaerobic Digestion On The Farm Conference, June 9-11 [PaEN]
-- PennFuture June 4 Energy Dialogue 2026 - Growing A Sustainable Energy Economy In Pennsylvania To Be Held In Hershey [PaEN]
-- Penn State Extension Energy Essentials News: Data Centers Q/A; National Biogas Conference; Tips For Picking Reputable Solar Developer
NewsClips:
-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: Philadelphia Gas Works Proposed LNG Natural Gas Plant Replacement In Port Richmond Neighborhood Now In Limbo
-- Reuters: Williams CEO Says PA-NY Constitutional Natural Gas Pipeline Could Be Online In 2027
-- EPA, DOE, DOI Break Ground On Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement Natural Gas Pipeline Taking PA Gas Into New York City
-- The Guardian: Top Oil, Natural Gas Companies Set To Make An Extra $234 Billion By End Of 2026
-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: As Tech Groups Predict Huge Pennsylvania A.I. Data Center Growth, Critics Say Some Bills Would Reduce Local Control; One State Senator Plans 3-Year Moratorium
-- PennLive/LehighValleyLive: Republican Sen. Coleman Calls For Giving Local Governments Authority To Put A Moratorium On A.I. Data Centers While They Revise Zoning Ordinances
-- WESA/The Allegheny Front: Electric Transmission Line Company Wants Authority To Condemn Property From PA PUC For Proposed Power Line In SW PA To Feed A.I. Data Centers In Virginia
-- Gov. Shapiro Demanded, And PECO Withdrew Its 12.5% Electric, 11.4% Natural Gas Rate Increase Saving PA Consumers $510 Million
-- WHYY: PECO Withdraws Its Rate Hike Case After Backlash From PA Governor, Lawmakers
-- Inquirer: PECO Withdraws Request For Double-Digit Rate Hike, After Facing Backlash
-- Post-Gazette: Solar Energy Facility To Help Offset Energy Costs Of 4 Pittsburgh Schools
-- LancasterOnline: Muddy Run Pump Storage Hydroelectric Plant To Test Warning Sirens In Lancaster, York Counties April 23
-- Center For Rural Pennsylvania April 17 Hearing On A.I. Data Centers, Coolidge Theatre At The Deane Center, Wellsboro, Tioga County
-- Breathe Project - April 20 Webinar On When Air Kills - Pittsburgh’s Hidden PM2.5 Particulate Toll, 7:00 p.m.
-- Better Path Coalition To Host May 13 A.I. Data Centers Virtual Town Hall Meeting, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
-- The Hill: US DOE Secretary Predicts Energy Prices May Rise, Hit Peak In ‘Next Few Weeks’
[Posted: April 18, 2026] PA Environment Digest
No comments :
Post a Comment