Agenda: DCED Conventional Oil/Gas Operators Advisory Committee Meets May 25 On Well Plugging; Proposed Waste Management Rules; Methane Emissions; Road Dumping Drilling Wastewater

Click Here for a summary of what happened at the May 25 meeting.

The DCED PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council is scheduled to meet on May 25 to discuss a variety of issues including well plugging, proposed waste management regulations, methane emission court challenge, road dumping drilling wastewater and more.

The agenda includes--

-- Well Plugging

     -- Davis Bacon and Prevailing Wage Rates, Federal Well Plugging Program Presentation

     -- Presentation from Project Innerspace – Trent McFadyen

     -- Federal Well Plugging Program Updates: 13 plugging packages, project tracker discussion, formula grant development update.

     -- Well Plugging Workgroup 2023 Meeting Dates

     --  DEP Abandoned and Orphan Wells Interactive Map verses, DEP Well Inventory Database query of abandoned and orphan wells. 

-- DEP Update

     -- Act 136 well plugging grant program

     -- Proposed Drilling Waste Management Regulations

     -- Status of Underground Injection Well Program Primacy

-- Follow Up On Penn State Road Dumping Study

     -- August 18, 2022 CDAC Production Wastewater Resolution

-- Committee Reports

     -- 2022 Annual Report Draft

     -- Letter To Attorney General On Investigation Of Road Dumping Drilling Waste

     -- Communication between DEP and Chair of CDAC

Click Here for the formal agenda. 

The meeting will be held in the Desert Room Plaza Level, Keystone Building, Harrisburg from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Click Here for options to join the meeting remotely.

Visit the DCED PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council [conventional oil/gas well operators] webpage for available information.  Questions should be directed to Adam Walters, 717-214-6548, adwalters@pa.gov.

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Struggle To Plug Tatonka Oil Co. LLC’s Nancy 13 Conventional Well Leaking Gas, Production Wastewater Since 2018; Citizen Complaint Finds ‘Bubbling’ Gas Well  [PaEN]

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 20 to 26; DEP Issues More NOVs For Conventional Well Abandonments  [PaEN]  

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - May 27   [PaEN] 

-- DEP Posts 63 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In May 27 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions  [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts  [PaEN] 

Related Articles:

-- Marcellus Drilling News: 3 Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Groups File Lawsuit To Block Rule Limiting VOC/Methane Emissions From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities  [PaEN]

-- DCED Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling Advisory Council Feb. 16 Meeting Agenda Includes Discussion Of Poor Compliance Record Of Industry, Status Of Regulations Updates, Challenge To VOC/Methane Regs  [Background on key issues]   [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]

-- DEP To Submit Letter Of Intent To EPA As Early As This Week For Primacy To Regulate Underground Injection Wells  [PaEN]

-- Triumph Township, Warren County Advertising For 100,000 Gallons Of ‘Salt Brine’ To Dump On Township Roads  [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Conventional vs Unconventional Oil & Gas Wells - Not As Different As You Might Think - By Laurie Barr, Save Our Streams PA  [PaEN]

PA Environment Digest

-- Oil & Gas Industrial Facility Impacts

Related Article This Week:

-- Democrats On House Environmental Committee Report Out Bill To Help Prevent The Routine Abandonment Of 561 Conventional Oil/Gas Wells A Year  [PaEN]

-- Citizens Voice Editorial: Renew Bonds To Close, Cleanup Conventional Oil, Gas Wells  [PaEN]

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Hold Conventional Oil/Gas Industry Responsible For Capping Wells

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Meets June 15 On Water Withdrawal Projects, Including 12 Related To Shale Natural Gas Drilling  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 36 Shale Gas Well Drilling Pad Water Use Permits In Bradford, Clearfield, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wyoming Counties  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Signs Consent Order Including $10 Million In Penalties, Local Payments With Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County To Resolve Air Quality Violations; Plant To Restart May 24  [PaEN]

-- Things Are Different In The House: Hearing On Hydrogen Hubs Became ‘Democracy’ vs. ‘Open Mic Night’  [PaEN] 

-- Observer-Reporter Editorial: Court Drills Down On Environment - Environmental Quality A Right Not A Luxury [The Heart Of The Unconventional Shale Gas Drilling Industry]  [PaEN]  

-- Warren Times Editorial: Keeping A Natural Lifeline Pure With Environmental Rights Amendment - Environmental Quality A Right Not A Luxury [The Heart Of The Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling Industry]  [PaEN] 

-- Citizens Voice Editorial: PA Supreme Court Reaffirms Environmental Quality Is A Right Not A Luxury In Shale Gas Drilling Ruling   [PaEN]

[Posted: May 22, 2023]  PA Environment Digest