PA Environment Digest Blog: Attorney General Henry Announces Greylock Shale Gas Driller Will Pay $140,000, Plead No Contest To Multiple Criminal Charges For Environmental Violations In Greene County

On August 14, Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Greylock Production, LLC, a natural gas energy production and delivery company, has pleaded no contest to multiple environmental violations stemming from the operation of several wells over a period of five years.

Greylock Tuesday pleaded to four counts of Clean Streams Act Violations and two Solid Waste Management Act Violations related to incidents that occurred in Greene County between 2015 and 2020.

[The original criminal charges also involved sites in Clearfield County. Read more here

[Greylock and Energy Corporation of America, the previous owner of the sites in both counties, entered into a consent order with DEP in 2018 that required ECA to pay a $1.7 million penalty for drilling violations in Greene and Clearfield counties. Read more here.]

As part of the new sentence, the company was required to pay several fines, including $15,0000 to the Clean Water Fund and $15,000 to the Solid Waste Fund.

Additionally, it must pay $60,000 to the Chestnut Ridge Trout Unlimited Chapter #670 charity to benefit the Glade Run project and $50,000 to Stream Restoration Inc., charity to benefit the Maiden Creek stream restoration project.

Furthermore, Greylock must conduct site investigations at six of its well pads to determine if further cleanup is required, with any necessary remediation to be carried out under the supervision of the Department of Environmental Protection.

“Protecting Pennsylvania’s water and soil from contamination should be a top priority of any industry that is operating in Pennsylvania,” Attorney General Henry said. “This company was aware that there was water contamination that resulted from their operations, and not only failed to ensure adequate cleanup, but used additional contaminants which hid the presence of the initial pollution event. My Office will remain dedicated to safeguarding and preserving our environment for current and future generations.”

The case was initially referred to the Office of Attorney General by the DEP.

The subsequent investigation found that Greylock Production, LLC, which had purchased assets from Energy Corporation of America, often used unpermitted impoundments at unconventional well pads.

According to the investigation, Greylock became aware that many of these well pads had issues that caused leaks and contamination, including at least two at domestic water supplies.

These instances were reported by local landowners. In one case, it was confirmed that pollutants meant to be confined to the well pad were leaking from numerous holes in the well pad’s liner.

The investigation also revealed that, despite Greylock inheriting many of these issues, they continued the criminal conduct at a newer well pad that experienced a spill in February 2020, while the newer wells were still being drilled on the pad.

The waste that spilled ended up in an unnamed tributary.

The evidence shows that Greylock management ordered an employee to spray a defoaming agent on the rocks above the stream, which removed evidence of the spill but left all the pollutants in the water.

The investigation also led to criminal charges against two employees, John David Sollon, Jr., and Donald Supcoe, III, who were responsible for overseeing these projects.

While Donald Supcoe is deceased, John David Sollon, Jr.’s case remains pending.

This case is being prosecuted by Chief Deputy Attorney General Rebecca Franz.

Resource Links:

-- AG Shapiro Charges Energy Corporation Of America/Greylock, 2 Employees With Environmental Crimes Involving Leaks At Oil & Gas Well Sites In Clearfield, Greene Counties [PaEN - June 2022]

-- Attorney General Henry Files Charges Against Shell Falcon Pipeline For Failure To Report Drilling Issues That Caused Industrial Waste, Potential for Water Pollution [PaEN - April 2024]

-- Attorney General Henry Announces Criminal Charges Against Equitrans For 2018 Natural Gas Explosion That Destroyed Home In Greene County [PaEN - November 2023]

-- Attorney General Henry Charges 2 With Criminal Risking Catastrophe Charges Related To Work On Natural Gas Pipeline In Lawrence County; Pipelines Have Worst Environmental Compliance Record In PA [PaEN - May 2023]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 10 to 16 - Failure To File Critical Annual Report Violations Sent To Owners Of 5,300+ Conventional Wells; Failure To Fix Leaking Wells [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - August 17 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 63 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In August 17 PA Bulletin [PaEN]