Game Commission Board OKs More Shale Gas Drilling In Lycoming County, Home To The Hellbender, And Sullivan County

On September 16, the Board of Game Commissioners approved another oil and gas agreement with PA General Energy allowing it to extract oil and gas from beneath a portion of State Game Lands 134 in Gamble and Plunketts Creek townships, Lycoming County and Hillsgrove Township, Sullivan County, provided it confines all of its equipment to one right of way.

In exchange, PA General Energy will convey to the Game Commission 3,931 acres in Jay Township, Elk County – the heart of the elk range – for what will become State Game Lands 338. 

PA General Energy will also make a $500,000 contribution to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for use in creating elk habitat in cooperation with the Game Commission.

In addition to the land gained, these two gas leases will generate future revenues to the Game Commission, with a 16% royalty rate due on all gas produced.

Home Of the Hellbender

Gamble and Plunketts Creek townships in Lycoming County have been ground-zero for a controversy over construction of a PA General Energy withdrawal on the Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek.

The construction of PA General Energy Company’s Shawnee Water Withdrawal last summer on the Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek resulted in multiple Clean Streams Law violations, an out-of-court settlement with the Fish and Boat Commission for other violations and threatened the habitat of the rare Eastern Hellbender, Pennsylvania’s clean water ambassador.

The construction resulted in multiple, heavy sediment plumes as PA General Energy constructed the water withdrawal and related freshwater and natural gas pipelines on both sides of the Loyalsock to service planned unconventional shale gas well pads on DCNR State Forest Land.

PA General Energy also failed to construct the water withdrawal structures as authorized in their DEP and Susquehanna River Basin Commission permits and they now have to be amended.  Read more here.

No monetary penalties or enforcement actions other than issuing notices of violation by DEP have been taken by either DEP or the Susquehanna River Basin Commission for any of these construction violations.

PA General Energy came to a private agreement with the Fish and Boat Commission covering some of the construction violations.  Read more here.

No enforcement actions have been announced by DEP or SRBC for the failure of PA General Energy to build its water withdrawal and pipeline corridor across the Loyalsock Creek in compliance with its original permits, except for notices of violation.

(Photo: PA General Energy constructed an SRBC-approved water withdrawal in the Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek attracting notices of violation from DEP and the Fish and Boat Commission.)

NewsClips:

-- PA Chapter Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Oppose Transfer Of $150 Million From Game Fund To Clean Streams Fund In Senate Budget Bill; Could Make State Ineligible For Federal Wildlife Funds  [PaEN] 

-- PA Federation Of Sportsmen & Conservationists Oppose State Budget Bill Transfer Of $150 Million From Game Commission Fund To Clean Streams Fund

-- Growing Greener Coalition Opposes Senate Amendment Taking $150 Million From Game Commission Fund That Threatens Federal Wildlife Funding  [PaEN] 

-- Lancaster Farming: Game Commission Braces For Impact Of $150 Million Transfer Out Of Game Fund

-- Citizens Voice: Game Commission Could Lose Nearly $150 Million In Revenue If State Budget Bill Passes

Related Articles - PGE Violations:

-- DEP Finds PA General Energy Installed Its Shawnee Water Withdrawal On The Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek At Sizes Larger Than Authorized By Its SRBC, DEP Permits  [PaEN] 

-- Fish & Boat Commission Investigation Of Pollution From PA General Energy Natural Gas Development Construction Site On Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek Results In Settlement Agreement  [PaEN]

-- Citizen Complaints Result In DEP Issuing PA General Energy More Violations At Loyalsock Creek Gas Pipeline/Water Withdrawal Construction Site In Lycoming County   [PaEN]

-- Bay Journal: Hellbender Habitat Slammed By Pollution From Shale Gas Development In PA's Loyalsock Creek - By Ad Crable, Chesapeake Bay Journal  [PaEN]

-- Rare Eastern Hellbender Habitat In Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County Harmed By Sediment Plumes From Pipeline Crossings, Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawal Construction Projects   [PaEN]

-- DEP: PA General Energy Cited For More Water Pollution Violations, Blocking The Whole Width Of Loyalsock Creek At Gas Pipeline/Water Withdrawal Construction Site In Lycoming County  [PaEN]

-- NO SPECIAL PROTECTION: The Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek In Lycoming County Is Dammed And Damned - Video Dispatch From The Loyalsock - By Barb Jarmoska, Keep It Wild PA  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues 2 NOVs Against PA General Energy For Water Pollution Discharges Into The Loyalsock Creek From Gas Pipeline/Water Withdraw Construction In Lycoming County   [PaEN]

-- DEP, Fish & Boat Commission Investigate Multiple, Continuing Water Pollution Discharges From PGE Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Site On Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County   [PaEN]

-- Exceptional Value Water Quality Designation, State Forest Land, River Honors Were Not Enough To Protect Loyalsock Creek From Natural Gas Drilling & Pipelines In Lycoming County - By Friends Of The 'Sock  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- Williamsport Sun: Locals Help Give Hellbenders A Voice

-- What It’s Like To Raise A Family In The Most Fracked County In PA - Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- Uncontrolled Natural Gas Emissions From Equitrans Steelhead Compressor Station, Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 16 to 22 -  2nd Abandoned Shale Gas Well Pad?  5 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Failure To Comply With Order  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Issues NOVs To Roulette Oil & Gas LLC For Abandoning Another Conventional Well In Potter County; Roulette Applying For Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permit  [PaEN]

-- Petro Erie, Inc. Appeals 2nd DEP Order Requiring The Operator To Restore The Village Of Reno’s Water Supply Contaminated By A Spill Of Conventional Oil Well Wastewater In Venango County  [PaEN]  

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - September 23 [PaEN]  

-- DEP Posted 73 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In September 23 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]  

NewsClips:

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Senators To Introduce Bill To Increase Setbacks On Gas Drilling

-- Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition Lobbyist Responds To Health Concerns Raised In Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial - ‘Fracking Is Making Pennsylvanians Sick, Lawmakers Must Act’

-- Tribune-Democrat Guest Editorial: Natural Gas Development Making Pennsylvanians Sick, Lawmakers Must Act

-- What It’s Like To Raise A Family In The Most Fracked County In PA - Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- Uncontrolled Natural Gas Emissions From Equitrans Steelhead Compressor Station, Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- The Allegheny Front: ‘Ezell: Ballad Of A Land Man’ Performance About Fracking And Belonging Coming To Pittsburgh

-- The Derrick - Makayla Keating: Petro Erie Appeals DEP July Order To Clean Up Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill That Contaminated The Village Of Reno’s Water Supply In Venango County  [PDF of Article]

-- Inside Climate News: EPA Approves Permit For Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Plum Boro, Allegheny County

-- TribLive Guest Essay: EPA/DOE Money Should Be Spent Wisely On Plugging Conventional Oil & Gas Wells - By Russell Zerbo, Clean Air Council

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: IFO Report: PA Natural Gas Prices Down, Shale Gas Drilling Falls

-- Reuters: US Energy Regulator Recommends Revising Reliability Standards For Natural Gas, Power Grid Infrastructure During Extreme Weather

-- Utility Dive: Record 13% Of Eastern US Electric Generation Capacity Failed - 63% Natural Gas-Fired During Winter Storm Elliott  [70% In PJM Were Natural Gas Failures]

-- PUC Responds To NTSB Actions Regarding Reading Factory Natural Gas Explosion

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: NTSB Kicks PUC Out Of Investigation Into Deadly Natural Gas Explosion At A Chocolate Factory In Reading

-- Reading Eagle: West Reading Chocolate Factory Explosion: Feds Demand PUC Hand Over UGI Inspection Reports

-- AP: NTSB Investigators Subpoena PUC Records Related To Reading Factory Natural Gas Explosion

-- PennLive: Lancaster County House Explosion Leaves 1 Man Dead: Police

-- MCall: Natural Gas Leak In Lehigh Valley Prompts Brief Shelter-In-Place Order Wednesday

-- The Allegheny Front: Ohio Commission Delays Vote On Shale Gas Fracking Under State Parks During Raucous Meeting

-- TruthDig - Justin Nobel: Abandoned Radioactive Oil, Gas Wastewater Treatment Facility Has Become A Party Spot In Marion County, West Virginia

-- WTRF: Marshall County, WV Emergency Director Confirms Oil Well Pad Fire Has Been Extinguished

Related Articles This Week:

-- Senators Santarsiero, Comitta To Introduce Bill Increasing Setback Safety Zones From Shale Natural Gas Drilling Sites From 500 To 2,500 Feet, Based On Latest Science  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 8 Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawals - 1 In Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek, Home To The Hellbender  [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 34 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In  Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga Counties  [PaEN] 

-- Game Commission Board OKs More Shale Gas Drilling In Lycoming County, Home To The Hellbender, And Sullivan County  [PaEN]

-- EPA Approves Permit For Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Plum Boro, Allegheny County; 30 Days To File Appeal  [PaEN]

-- DEP To Increase Monitoring, Develop Surface Water Standard For PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' After Study Shows 76% Of Streams, Rivers Contained At Least One Of These Chemicals  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Widespread Presence Of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Fresh Water Leading Shale Gas Operators To Use Contaminated Water In Fracking Operations; DEP Doesn’t Require Routine PFAS Testing  [PaEN]

-- DEP Hears Concerns, Some Support From Water Resources Committee On Draft Reg. On Reporting Unauthorized Spills, Releases  [PaEN]

-- House Environmental Committee Meets Sept. 26 On Cryptocurrency Mining Moratorium Bill [PaEN]

-- Dickinson College Will Host An Evening With Environmental & Indigenous Rights Advocate Tara Houska On Her Groundbreaking Advocacy Work Oct. 4  [PaEN]

-- FracTracker Alliance Now Accepting Nominations For 2023 Community Sentinel Award  [PaEN] 

-- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, NERC Final Report On Winter Storm Elliott Says Legislative Action Needed To Establish Reliability Rules For Natural Gas Infrastructure  [PaEN]

-- PUC To Seek Public Comment On Proposed $100,000 Penalty Settlement With Mifflin Energy Corp. For Natural Gas Explosion Destroying Home/Business In Greene County  [PaEN]

[Posted: September 21, 2023]  PA Environment Digest