Follow these links to spreadsheets showing the violations and inspections occurring between May 9 to 15--
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 May 8--
-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 49 conventional, 6 unconventional
-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 1,905 conventional and 424 unconventional
-- Enforcements 2025: 158 conventional and 85 unconventional (orders, agreements)
-- Inspections Last Week: 469 conventional and 307 unconventional
-- Year To Date - Inspections: 7,173 conventional and 9,647 unconventional
PA General Energy Co Permit For Access Road, Staging Area Denied
On May 6, 2026, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a letter to PA General Energy Co. LLC denying its Chapter 105 Encroachment Permit for a proposed 3.9 mile permanent access road and staging area in Loyalsock State Forest in Gamble and Cascade Townships, Lycoming County.
DEP said-- “PGE failed to properly address the mitigation of all stream impacts, provide plans showing that the access road is properly graded in relation to the stream relocation and adjacent stormwater control measures, and provide clarification and detail concerning potential bridge design effects on the Proposed Project’s limits.” Read more here.
Tubing Replaced In Penneco Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well After Leak
On April 13, 2026, a routine DEP inspection of the Penneco Environmental Solutions LLC Sedat 3A oil and gas wastewater injection well in Plum Borough, Allegheny County found the owner replacing the tubing in the well and other equipment that showed signs of a leak and corrosion. Read more here.
12 Violations Issued To Delta Inland Oil For Abandoned Conventional Wells
On May 11 & 12, 2026, the Department of Environmental Protection issued 12 violations to Delta Inland Oil Res LLC for abandoning and not plugging 12 conventional oil and gas wells in Warren County, Sugar Grove Township. Read more here.
10 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Issued
Erie County - Niche Energy LLC [1,313 Days]
May 7, 2026 inspection of 4 conventional wells in Conneaut Township found the wells abandoned, not plugged and failed to comply with Oct. 5, 2022 Consent Order to produce or plug the wells. New violations issued. Response requested by May 27. The wells included E&A Potter 1, E&A Potter 2, Arlo & Vivian Potter 3 and Arlo & Vivian Potter 4
Greene County - Parry Ivan
May 1, 2026 inspection of the NB Griffith 1 conventional oil and gas well in Springhill Township found the well abandoned, not plugged and evidence of a spill on the site. The owner failed to submit annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports. Response requested by May 26. DEP inspection report.
Venango County - Vista Petro Inc.
April 28, 2026 inspection of 5 conventional oil and gas wells-- W Field G27P, W Field G25P, Fields A18, Field G17, Field H4-- in Cornplanter Township found them all abandoned, not plugged. The wells were never inspected before. The owner failed to submit annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports. Multiple violations issued. DEP will contact owner to determine plans for producing or plugging the wells.
229 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations In 2026
So far in 2026, DEP issued or continued 229 notices of violation for conventional oil and gas well abandonment.
Inspected 70+ Abandoned Conventional Wells In 8 Counties
DEP last week had 12 oil and gas inspectors in 8 counties inspecting 70+ abandoned conventional wells as part of the federally-funded conventional oil and gas well plugging program.
The counties included Butler, Elk, Erie, Jefferson, McKean, Warren, Washington and Westmoreland.
They were assessing abandoned wells for plugging, inspecting plugging job sites and reviewing plugging certificates, generating 80 inspection records.
Failure To Submit Inactive Well Reports
On May 13, 2026, DEP issued violations to these companies for not submitting annual inactive oil and gas well monitoring reports for one or more wells-- Conventional- Diversified Prod LLC, PPG Oper LLC; Shale Gas- Seneca Resources Co LLC, Penn View Exploration, Inc., PPG Oper LLC. [Not online] Inactive wells are one step away from being abandoned. Oil & Gas Compliance Database
Water Supply Contamination Investigation Armstrong County
Armstrong County - Unknown Well Owner
May 12, 2026 inspection of the abandoned Valensic 1 conventional oil and gas well in North Buffalo Township as part of a private water supply investigation found evidence of structural failure of the well, including the discharge of wastewater and the presence of bubbling gas. The well is located 830 feet from the complainant’s water well. The mechanical integrity of the well appears to be severely compromised. The well has already been evaluated for plugging using taxpayer funds. DEP inspection report.
DEP inspected a second conventional well owned by Mark A. Ward as part of the same investigation and found the well leaking gas, severe corrosion in the casing and other issues, but no violations were issued. DEP inspection report.
Conventional Well Spills/Releases
Allegheny County - Keystone Crude LLC [688 Days]
April 30, 2026 follow-up inspections of three conventional well sites-- McCurdy 10, John Panner 4 and DM Logan 3-- in Robinson Township found the owner failed to address violations related to spills and releases dating back to June 11, 2024 (McCurdy, Paneer) and July 29, 2025 (Logan). There was also evidence of recent wastewater spills. DEP noted there were now eight 55-gallon drums of what appeared to be contaminated material and rainwater on the McCurdy site. Response requested by May 20.
Clearfield County - Danken-Sammar LLC [510 Days]
May 7, 2026 inspection of the Green Glen 1 conventional well site in Huston Township found the owner failed to complete the cleanup of a storage tank wastewater spill discovered on Dec. 13, 2024. DEP requested the owner to complete the cleanup of the spill. DEP inspection report.
Crawford County - Ows Energy LLC [73 Days]
May 4, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Ernest P. Brunst 1 conventional well in Rome Township found the owner failed to replace a cracked pipe from a wastewater storage tank discovered on Feb. 20, 2026. Violations continued. DEP inspection report.
Crawford County - Ows Energy LLC
May 4, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Harry E. Firth 4 conventional well in Sparta Township found a severely corroded pipe that broke away from a wastewater storage tank that could result in a release. Violations issued. Inspection report sent to owner.
Crawford County - Ows Energy LLC
May 4, 2026 inspection of the Albert H. Ebitz 2 conventional well in Rome Township found evidence of multiple areas of wastewater contamination on the site. Multiple violations issued. Inspection report sent to owner.
Crawford County - Ows Energy LLC
May 4, 2026 inspection of the Robert Frankenfield 1 conventional well in Rome Township found evidence of multiple areas of wastewater contamination on the site. Multiple violations issued. Inspection report sent to owner.
Washington County - Kriebel Natural Gas Co LLC
May 6, 2026 routine inspection of the R. Little 2 conventional well in Centerville Borough found gas bubbling out of the well head casing and multiple areas of oil spilled around the site. Absorbent pads were being used to contain the spills. Multiple violations issued. Response requested by May 28. DEP inspection report.
Washington County - Frank L. Washabaugh Oil Producers [325 Days]
May 7, 2026 follow-up inspection of the WM Johnson 1 conventional well in Cross Creek Township found owner failed to comply with June 16, 2025 order to clean up releases from storage tanks. Violations were issued on June 25, 2025 and January 6, 2026 for failing to comply with that order. Violations continued. Inspection report sent to owner.
Washington County - Michael D. Graham [35 Days]
May 7, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Farrah 1 conventional well in Smith Township found the owner failed to take any actions and did not respond to violations issued on April 2, 2026 related to cleaning up spills at the site. Response requested by May 19. DEP inspection report.
81 Act 2 Shale Gas Pollution Cleanups In 2026
So far in 2026, DEP received or acted on 81 Act 2 Land Recycling notices, reports related to cleanups at shale gas operations. Read more here.
Continuing Monitoring Of MarkWest Loss Of 1.2 Million Gallons Of Drilling Fluid
Washington County - MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources LLC
May 14, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Chiarelli to Imperial Pipeline construction route in Mount Pleasant and Robinson Townships found no evidence of inadvertent drilling mud returns from horizontal pipeline drilling coming from abandoned mine drainage discharge points. DEP inspection report.
On May 13, 2026, MarkWest submitted its regular weekly inspection report on the construction route looking for evidence of inadvertent returns to DEP. DEP posted report.
During construction of the pipeline from October 2025 to January 2026, MarkWest reported losing 1,241,500 gallons of drilling fluids into abandoned mine voids during inadvertent returns from horizontal drilling. Read more here.
Conventional Well Casing/Cement Failures
Clearfield County - Danken-Sammar LLC [583 Days]
May 7, 2026 inspection of the Green Glen Corp 4 conventional well in Huston Township is a monitoring well for the Povlik #1 oil and gas wastewater injection well found the well still venting gas into a poly tank. The original violation for casing/cement failure was issued on Oct. 1, 2024 and regular monitoring has been conducted since then. Violations continued. DEP inspection report.
Shale Gas Erosion & Sedimentation Violations
Fayette County - EQT Chap LLC
May 6, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Ritter Unit shale gas well pad in Redstone Township found the owner failed to conduct long-term maintenance of post-construction stormwater management practices at the site resulting in accelerated erosion and sedimentation on a public road. No response from owner to April 13, 2026 violations. Violations continued. Inspection report sent to owner.
Greene County - Equitrans LP [EQT] [58 Days]
May 6, 2026 inspection of the Swarts and Hunters Cave Gas Storage Area well replacement project in Center Township found the owner failed to address significant erosion and sedimentation violations issued on March 9, 2026 that resulted in sediment washing off the permit area. Violations continued. Response requested by May 26. DEP inspection report.
Tioga County - STL Resources LLC
May 12, 2026 follow-up inspection of the Endless MTN Energy State Game Lands shale gas well and water impoundment site in Morris Township found the owner failed to complete restoration of the site, erosion and sedimentation violations found April 3, 2026 continue including failure to install restoration BMPs as required by permit. Temporary BMPs not installed in a manner to prevent discharge of sediment from the site. No requests made of owner. DEP inspection report.
Washington County - Diversified Prod LLC [495 Days]
May 12, 2026 follow-up inspection of the NV39HS well site in South Franklin Township found significant erosion and sedimentation issues remain after first discovered in a January 2, 2025 inspection. Owner failed to implement BMPs contained in permit. Response requested by May 29. DEP inspection report.
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:
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 9 to 15: 229 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations This Year; Denied Shale Gas Pipeline Permit; Failed To Cleanup Conventional Spills At 3 Sites For 688 Days [PaEN]
-- DEP Denies Water Encroachment Permit For PA General Energy Co. 3.9 Mile Permanent Access Road, Staging Area In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County [PaEN]
-- DEP Issues 12 Violations To Delta Inland Oil Res LLC For Abandoning, Not Plugging Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In Warren County; 223 Abandonment Violations Issued In 2026, So Far [PaEN]
-- DEP: Penneco Environmental Replacing Tubing, Other Equipment At Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Plum Boro, Allegheny County Due To Leak, Corrosion [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - May 16 [PaEN]
-- DEP Issues Chapter 105 Permit For Coterra Energy, Inc. 4.9 Mile, 20-Inch Shale Gas Fresh Water Pipeline In Auburn Twp., Susquehanna County [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Expand Operating 4 Mile, 16-Inch Shale Gas Fresh Water Pipeline In Auburn Twp., Susquehanna County [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 73 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In May 16 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
-- DEP To Hold June 23 Hearing On Stormwater Permit For Mora Solar LLC 60 MW, 390-Acre Solar Energy Facility In Kidder Twp., Carbon County [PaEN]
-- DEP Accepting Comments On Tentative Denial Of A Stormwater Permit For Stoneybrook Solar, LLC 20 MW Solar Energy Facility In Orange Twp., Columbia County [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Stormwater Permit For PPL Utilities Chanceford 500kV Transmission Line Rebuild In York County Related To Restart Of Three Mile Island Nuclear Data Center Power Plant [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- DEP Considering Permits For 17 A.I. Data Center Projects, Aware Of 34 Other Proposals; Data Centers In Fast Track Permitting Program Need Same Permits, Meet Same Standards As Everyone Else [PaEN]
-- PUC Releases Final Order Establishing First-of-Its-Kind Voluntary Large Load (Data Center) Model Tariff Framework [PaEN]
-- Better Path Coalition Briefing: May 18 Webinar On Data Center Noise - Understanding Community Impacts [PaEN]
-- UGI Energy Services, Prime Data Centers Announce $100 Million Partnership To Develop New Natural Gas Infrastructure For A Power Plant To Feed A.I. Data Center Development, Likely In Cameron, Potter Or Tioga Counties [PaEN]
-- Allegheny National Forest: Visitors Alerted To Conventional Abandoned Oil & Gas Well Plugging Operations Impacting Trail Use In Forest County [PaEN]
-- Environmental Groups Request DEP Do A Science-Based Assessment Of Health, Environmental Risks From Landfill Leachate Contaminated By Radioactive Oil & Gas Drilling Wastes [PaEN]
-- Guest Essay: Lessons From A Children's Story: If You Give The Oil & Gas Industry A Wellpad, It Will Lead To An Escalating Chain Of More Polluting Gas Infrastructure - By Melissa Ostroff, EarthWorks [PaEN]
-- ‘Emergency’ Upset Natural Gas/Chemical Flares At Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County Burned Overnight From At Least 8:52 p.m. May 10 to 3:30 a.m. May 11 - Breathecam
-- ‘Emergency’ Upset Natural Gas/Chemical Flares At The MarkWest Harmon Creek/Energy Transfer Revolutions Cryogenic Natural Gas Processing Plants Burned All Night Again In Washington County - Live Breathe Project Cameras [May 12]
-- PA US Sen. Fetterman Introduces Legislation To Promote Development Of LNG Natural Gas Export Facilities; LNG Facilities Proposed In PA Communities Already Burdened By Pollution [PaEN]
-- PUC Commissioners Tell PA US Senators Federal Permitting Reform Should Maintain State Oversight of Transmission Line Siting Projects [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- The Center Square: Citizens A.I. Data Center Town Hall Speakers Criticize Industry, Shapiro, Secrecy [Vast Extent Of Intense Opposition To PA Data Center Boom Bulldozing Communities Evident In Town Hall]
-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: Outpouring Of Frustration Over PA’s Rapid A.I. Data Center Growth At Citizens Online Town Hall Meeting
-- American-Dream.com Guest Essay: Radioactivity Leaching Out Of Pennsylvania Landfills From Shale Gas Drilling Wastes - By Dr. John F. Stolz, Duquesne University
-- PennLive - John Beauge: DEP Pulls Plug On Permit For PA General Energy Shale Gas Well Access Road, Staging Area In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County
-- Pipeline & Gas Journal: UGI To Build Natural Gas Infrastructure To Support Large-Scale A.I. Hyperscale Data Center Campus Development In Northern Tier PA [Cameron, Potter, Tioga Counties]
-- Environmental Defense Fund Blog: Pennsylvania PUC Moves To Protect Utility Customers From A.I. Data Center Costs With Model Tariff
-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: Philadelphia Gas Commission Rejects PGW’s Expanded Port Richmond LNG Gas Plant Until Further Study
-- TribLive Guest Essay: How To Save Billions On Energy Bills - Set PJM Price Cap At $175/MWday Not Present $325 - By Kevin Walker, President, Duquesne Light Co
-- WHYY - Sophia Schmidt: PECO Signs Agreements With A.I. Data Centers Requiring Them To Pay For Their Own Grid Upgrades
-- Utility Dive: PJM Grid Operator May Be ‘Too Big To Function:’ FERC Chairman Swett
[Posted: May 16, 2026 ] PA Environment Digest
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