PA Environment Digest Blog: DCED Conventional Oil & Gas Advisory Council Meeting Agenda Includes Road Dumping Wastewater; Updates On Abandoned Well Plugging; Changing Definition Of Abandoned Wells

The DCED PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council is scheduled to meet on August 15 starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Technology Center, Room 243, 200 Innovation Blvd. in State College.

The draft agenda includes--

-- President’s Report: Update On GCI Water discussions with DEP on treatment of oil and gas wastewater. GCI made a presentation on their process to the Council in April

[The CDAC also sent a letter to the Attorney General’s Office requesting information on the nature of their investigation of GCI, but so far have not received a response. Read more here.]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater--

-- Presentation by Alex Lopez of Perma-Fix consultancy on radioactive materials associated with oil and gas production. [Perma-Fix was the consultant who did DEP’s 2015-16 study of naturally-occurring radioactive materials associated with oil and gas development. One of its flaws was it did not consider repeated exposure to oil and gas wastewater disposed of on roads over a period of years.]

-- Update from DEP concerning “the discrepancies” in the studies co-authored by Dr. Williams Burgos of Penn State on road dumping oil and gas wastewater released in May 2022. [Dr. Burgos responded to comments from the Council on the study in January 2023 in writing saying many of the Council’s criticisms took his comments and the study results out of context. Read more here. The industry wants DEP to rewrite the study showing road dumping wastewater is not harmful. Read more here.]

-- Abandoned & Orphan Wells--

-- Presentation by Adam Peltz of the Environmental Defense Fund on the Undocumented Orphaned Well Pilot Program In Pennsylvania

-- Update on the description of “attainable bottom” and “reasonable effort” in well plugging

-- DEP--

-- Certified Inspector Program Concept Discussion - Edward Kubinsky, Owl Services and John Sieger of Sheetz [At previous meetings conventional operators were cool to the idea of paying anyone for inspections saying it was an “unnecessary cost.” Read more here.

[Conventional oil and gas well owners only pay a very small percentage of the $10.6 million annual cost of regulating their industry-- typically about $46,100 in permit fees in a “good” year and the number of permit applications has been down significantly the last five years. Read more here.

[Conventional well owners also don’t pay to plug the thousands of abandoned wells they own and dispose of their wastewater free by dumping it on public roads; these costs picked up by taxpayers who pay the bills for bad roads and polluting wells.]

-- Updates on federal well plugging program, Act 96 state well plugging program, methane emission reduction program well plugging. [In March, DEP said conventional well owners not in compliance with state oil and gas regulations and law will not be eligible for methane emission reduction well plugging funding, including failure to submit production, waste generation and well integrity reports. Read more here.

[89% of conventional well owners failed to submit well integrity reports [Read more here] and 86% of well owners did not submit production and waste generation reports in 2023, according to DEP. Read more here.]

-- Presentation on well bonding, financial assurance. [A recurring topic at Council meetings is a discussion of initiatives to get conventional oil and gas well owners to put aside adequate amounts of money to plug wells before they abandon them so taxpayers don’t have to pay the bill like they do now.

[At the October Council meeting, DEP discussed the innovative concept of having a “life insurance” program for conventional wells to pay for well plugging. Read more here.

[An attempt to raise bonding amounts for conventional well owners was cut short in 2022 when the conventional industry got a law passed prohibiting DEP from increasing bonding amounts for 10 years. Read more here.]

-- DEP Chapter 129 control of methane, volatile organic compounds from oil and gas wells. [Conventional well owners took DEP to court in December 2022 challenging these regulations. Read more here.]

-- Changing the definition of abandoned and orphan wells in law. [Conventional oil and gas well owners believe they look bad when DEP issues hundreds of violations for abandoned wells and want to change the definition to avoid responsibility for plugging abandoned wells they own.

So far in 2024, DEP has issued 700 violations to conventional well owners for abandoning and not plugging wells they own. Read more here.]

-- New Business:

-- Discussion of the letter sent from DEP to conventional well owners on reuse of wastewater other than road spreading.

Public Comment Period

The agenda includes a public comment period where anyone can present comments to the group.

To sign up to present comments, contact Adam Walters by sending email to: adwalters@pa.gov or call 717-214-6548.

Joining Meeting Remotely

The meeting will be available via Microsoft Teams - Click Here to join (Meeting ID: 274 896 265 706. Passcode: GfvsJL) Or by telephone by calling +1 267-332-8737. ID 377 402 179#

For more information, visit DCED’s PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council webpage. Questions should be directed to Adam Walters 717-214-6548 or adwalters@pa.gov.

Resource Links:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 3 to 9 - Diversified Prod LLC Fails To Comply With Order To Plug Abandoned Shale Gas Wells; 700 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Violations To D & B Gas Prod LLC For Abandoning, Not Plugging 110 Conventional Gas, Coalbed Methane Wells In Indiana County; Total Abandonment NOVs 697 In 2024 [7.31.24]

-- DEP Declares 101 Medina Res Dev Co. LLC Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Abandoned, Not Plugged In Crawford, Erie Counties On March 5 [3.7.24]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Says It’s A ‘Terrific Lie’ To Say It Is Responsible For Abandoning Thousands Of Wells; Industry To Change Definition So They Can Avoid Responsibility [4.30.24]

-- DEP: Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Will Not Be Eligible For New Methane Reduction Well Plugging Grants If They Are Not In Compliance With State Law, Regulations [3.13.24]

-- DEP: 89% Of Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Did Not Comply With Well Integrity Reporting For 34,455 Wells In 2023 [3.27.24]

-- DEP: 86% Of Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Did Not Comply With Waste Disposal, Production Reporting For 33,505 Wells In 2023 [3.29.24]

-- Erie Times: How PA's Oil & Gas Industry Continues To Illegally Dump Wastewater On Roads Across The State [PaEN]

-- House Committee Reports Out Bills To Ban Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Prohibit Use Of PFAS 'Forever Chemicals’ In Consumer Products [6.11.24]

-- House Hearing: Shapiro Administration Supports Bill Banning Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater, Prohibiting Its Use As Coproduct Under Residual Waste Regulations [6.10.24]

-- House Hearing: Penn State Expert Says ‘Pennsylvania Should Ban Road Spreading Of Oil & Gas Wastewater;’ Contaminants Exceed Health, Environmental Standards [6.10.24]