Equitrans/DEP In Discussions To Resolve EHB Appeal Of DEP’s Order To Fix Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Area Conventional Access Wells

On March 13, Kurt Klapkowski, Acting Deputy for Oil and Gas Management, told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board the agency is in discussions with Equitrans to resolve their appeal of DEP orders in December to fix conventional wells providing access to the Rager Mountain underground natural gas storage area in Cambria County.

In November, one of the wells leaked an estimated 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the facility, one of the largest leaks of natural gas in the world in 2022.  Read more here. It took the company two weeks to shut down the leak.  Read more here.

In December, DEP issued orders to Equitrans to plug several of the 12 conventional wells accessing the storage area and upgrade other wells to modern well casing and cementing standards. Read more here.

The orders required Equitrans to--

-- Monitor all storage wells in the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir and surrounding soil for gas migration;

-- Mitigate and/or control gases coming or migrating from the storage wells;

-- Conduct mechanical integrity testing of each wells in the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir;

-- Submit a plan to recondition or plug wells that are not cased and cemented according to current Pennsylvania regulations;

-- Conduct a third-party audit of all storage wells, observation wells, and storage fields owned and/or operated by Equitrans in Pennsylvania;

-- Cease injection of natural gas into the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir until the audit has been completed and injection approved by DEP; and

-- Provide DEP with a plan and schedule to withdraw gas from the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir in the event that withdrawal becomes necessary in the future for DEP review.

Equitrans Challenges

On January 5, Equitrans filed an appeal of the orders with the Environmental Hearing Board alleging DEP’s authority is preempted from taking actions against Equitrans by the federal Pipeline Safety Act and/or the federal Natural Gas Act since Rager Mountain is regulated under these laws by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Although the wells providing access to the natural gas storage area are conventional gas wells under Pennsylvania law and are regulated under state law, Equitrans says DEP cannot order the company to--

-- Cease injecting natural gas into the Rager Facility;

-- Submit a withdrawal plan;

-- Monitor wells for gas migration;

-- Test the wells for mechanical integrity and recondition them; and

-- Other measures.

Click Here to read the Equitrans appeal.  

Click Here for documents related to the appeal.

Klapkowski said he expects there will be an agreement to resolve the appeal in the near future.

He said as a result of the appeal, he could not brief the Advisory Board on the Equitrans uncontrolled release or where DEP stands on reviewing the program to regulate underground natural gas storage areas.

For more information and available handouts, visit DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board.  Questions should be directed to Todd Wallace twallace@pa.gov or 717-783-6395.

(Photo: Rager Mountain natural gas leak from space, Environmental Defense Fund.)

Related Articles - Equitrans:

-- DEP Issues Orders To Equitrans To Plug Additional Wells At Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, Bring Other Wells Up To Current Casing Standards And Take Other Actions  [PaEN]

-- DEP Has Ordered A ‘Top To Bottom Review’ Of How It Regulates Underground Natural Gas Storage Areas As A Result Of The Equitrans Gas Leak In Cambria County In Nov.  [PaEN]

-- UPDATED: After 14 Days, Efforts To Stop A Natural Gas Leak At A Cambria County Underground Gas Storage Area Have Apparently Been Successful  [PaEN]

-- The Guardian: One Of The Worst Global Methane Leaks In 2022 Was In PA - Equitrans In Cambria County; Routine Abandonment, Non-Compliance Of Conventional Gas Wells   [PaEN]

-- EDF: Conventional Gas Wells In Allegheny National Forest Leaked Over 6 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In 2019; Conventional Operators Seek To Block Methane Limits  [PaEN]

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-- PA Business Groups Urge EPA To Speed Up Approval Of State Primacy Applications For Injection Well Regulation [PaEN]

-- Equitrans/DEP In Discussions To Resolve EHB Appeal Of DEP’s Order To Fix Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Area Conventional Access Wells  [PaEN] 

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[Posted: March 13, 2023]  PA Environment Digest