PA Environment Digest Blog: PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 27 to August 2 - 120 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; 3rd Pipeline Construction Spill; 1,260 Gallon Conventional Oil Spill

From July 27 to August 2, DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 518 inspection entries and caught up posting inspection reports from the previous week.

So far this year, DEP took these actions as of July 26--

-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 111 conventional, 41 unconventional

-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 5,159 conventional and 620 unconventional

-- Enforcements 2024: 304 conventional and 73 unconventional (orders, consent agreements)

-- Inspections Last Week: 259 conventional and 283 unconventional

-- Year To Date - Inspections: 9,605 conventional and 13,969 unconventional

-- Wells Drilled Last Week: 5 conventional and 8 unconventional

-- Year To Date Wells Drilled: 88 conventional and 180 unconventional

Important Gas Infrastructure Announcements

On July 15, Eureka Resources submitted a request to the Department of Environmental Protection to terminate the water quality permit for a proposed oil and gas wastewater treatment facility in Dimock, Susquehanna County due to changed “commercial factors.” DEP approved the request to terminate the permit in a July 24 letter saying it will become effective in 30 days. Read more here.

On August 1, the Public Utility Commission moved to accelerate the process for identifying, removing, and replacing older plastic piping and components in Pennsylvania’s natural gas distribution systems. The Commission voted 5-0 to approve a motion by Chairman Stephen M. DeFrank which is patterned after the state’s successful ongoing efforts to eliminate other at-risk materials from natural gas utility systems. Click Here for motion and more background on the plastic pipe issue. Read more here.

120 Abandoned Conventional Wells + 11 Unknown

On July 29, 2024, DEP declared 110 conventional wells owned by D & B Gas Prod LLC in Indiana County as abandoned and not plugged and issued violations for each one, according to DEP’s Oil & Gas Compliance Database.

Six of the wells are conventional gas wells and 104 are conventional coalbed methane wells.

The wells include--

-- Black Lick Township: Dunlap 023.3, 021-1, 024-1; USA 2, 3, 4; Testa 1, 2, 3, 4; P.Long 3; McConnell 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12; Patterson 1, 2, 4; Adamchick 6; Glass 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9; Stewart 1; Sigmund 2; Stiles 1, 2, 3; Davis 1, 3, 4; M Hogue 1; Clawson 1, 2, 4, 5, 7; Carlson 2, 6; Platt 1; Minarcik 2, 3; Auen 1, 2, 3; Staats 1; Farkas 1, 2; Jones 1, 2; Phillips 4; Hunt 1; Smith 1; Campbell 1; P.Long 2; Losier 3, 4; Bogdanski 2; R&L Development 1; Adamchik 1; Graff 2; Barron 005; Bevilacqua 1; Sigmund 1;

-- Burrell Township: Howard 2; Zug 6; McLauchlin 1; Losier Unit 1; Loiser 2; Bonarrigo 1, 2, 3; N.Cambria 1, 2, North Cambria Fuel Co. 3; Tamsula 014-1; Joyce 2; W.McConnell 1; Blazek 3, 007-2; Torrance 9-1; Bracken 1; Zias 1; Citeroni 004, 008-2; Martin L. Bearer 1; M. Bearer; Carlson 3, 4; Kunkle 3, 011-1; C.Kendall 1, 2; Cornell 1; Howard 1, 2; Blazek 013-5, 012-4; Hiltabidle 1; Bearer-Cambria Unit 1

DEP’s eFACTS database shows D & B Gas Prod LLC, based in Apollo, Armstrong County, holds 342 conventional well permits. No wells were listed as abandoned before this action.

DEP’s Oil & Gas Compliance Database shows D & B Gas Prod LLC had no violations in 2019, 2020 and 2021, one minor violation in 2022, no violations in 2023 and one violation prior to these in 2024.

In March, DEP issued violations to Medina Res Dev Co. LLC for abandoning and not plugging 101 conventional wells in Crawford and Erie counties. Read more here.

Earlier in July, DEP inspection reports said notices of violations for well abandonment to Stonehaven Energy MGT Co. LLC were “returned to sender” by the Post Office, that may indicate trouble to come.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows the Clearfield County-based company holds permits for 727 conventional oil and gas wells. Read more here.

On July 25 & 26, 2024, DEP did follow-up inspections of six conventional wells in Allegheny County owned by Amer Natural Resources LLC and found them all to be abandoned and not plugged. The wells included-

-- Aleppo Twp.: Merle Minick Unit 1 & 2

-- Glenfield Boro: John Straka Unit 2

-- Ohio Twp.: Grove/Grambo Unit 1 & 2; John Lenzner Unit 1

DEP’s inspection notes the well owner failed to comply with a DEP order to plug these wells issued on December 12, 2019-- nearly five years ago.

Other violations included drilling and operating a well without a permit and failure to submit annual production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Amer Natural Resources LLC holds 50 conventional oil and gas well permits, but many of the wells were never drilled and none were listed as abandoned.

DEP’s inspection reports [Merle Minick Unit 2 as an example] requested the owner to submit a plan by August 15, 2024 on how the wells will be brought into compliance.

On July 26, 2024, DEP inspected the WE Meggs 1 conventional gas well in Jefferson Township, Washington County owned by Charlemagne Investment Corp and found it to be abandoned and not plugged.

DEP also issued violations for failure to submit annual production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports. The well was equipped for production.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Charlemagne holds six conventional oil and gas well permits, none abandoned.

DEP’s inspection report requested the well owner to submit a plan by August 20, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.

On July 26, 2024, DEP inspected two conventional wells-- Spinner 187C and Smith 184B-- in Munster Township, Cambria County owned by Vessels Coal Gas Inc. and found them to be abandoned and not plugged.

DEP also noted violations for failure to submit annual production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports.

DEP inspected the Smith 190B and Kosaber 180 conventional wells in the same area by the same owner and issued violations for failure to submit annual production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Vessels Coal Gas Inc. holds 14 conventional well permits, none of them listed as abandoned.

DEP’s inspection reports [Smith 184B well as an example] requested the owner to submit a plan by August 26, 2024 for bringing the wells into compliance.

On July 30, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Cunningham 1 conventional well in Pinegrove Township, Venango County owned by Baron Crest Energy Co. and found no action is being taken to plug the abandoned well.

The owner said well plugging would start on July 1, 2024.

DEP’s inspection report continues the violations for abandonment and failure to submit annual production, waste generation and mechanical integrity reports.

No specific requests were made of the well owner.

On July 30 & 31, 2024, DEP inspected 11 abandoned and unplugged conventional wells with Unknown owners to document their location and status, including--

-- Clarion County, Porter Twp.: Frazer 1 (conventional)

-- Greene County, Franklin Twp.: Elizabeth Waters M339 & M372 (conventional)

-- Greene County, Washington Twp.: Bennett 1330 (conventional)

-- Potter County, Hebron Twp.: Milo Simpson, EA Coyle (conventional)

-- Warren County, Mead Twp.: Lily Tract 9, 10, 11, 28 (conventional)

-- Washington County, Smith Twp.: Linn 5 (conventional)

1 Abandoned Shale Gas Well

On July 29, 2024, DEP inspected the Guardian Pad 6H shale gas well in Hebron Township, Potter County owned by Roulette Oil & Gas Inc. in response to a “pending submittal of a Regulatory Inactive Extension application.”

DEP’s inspection report continued the violations for well abandonment, but found no other violations at the site.

Switching the well status to Inactive would mean it is no longer considered abandoned.

DEP’s eFACTS database shows Roulette holds 347 conventional well permits, at least 19 are abandoned.

On July 29, 2024, DEP inspected two shale gas wells in Sergeant Township, McKean County owned by Seneca Resources Co. LLC. The wells included-- 38991 (spud on 5.24.2209 - inactive) and 39053 (spud on 1.13.2010 - active).

DEP inspection reports noted the wells fall within the Environmental Defense Fund Bloomberg Project well plugging, monitoring criteria so no violations were issued at this time.

DEP 38991 inspection report and 39053 inspection report

697 Conventional, 11 Shale Gas Abandoned Well Violations In 2024

So far in 2024, DEP issued 697 new or continued violations to conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging wells.

So far in 2024, 11 violations were issued or continued to seven shale gas well owners [Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, Atlas Resources, LLC; Atlas Resources, LLC (follow-up inspection)’ Repsol Oil & Gas, EQT Chap LLC; M4 Energy; M4 Energy (follow-up inspection); EQT (Rice Drilling B LLC); and Roulette Oil & Gas LLC; Roulette Oil & Gas LLC (follow-up inspection)] for abandoning wells and not plugging wells.

Two Seneca Resources Co. LLC shale gas wells may be included in the Environmental Defense Fund Bloomberg Project well plugging, monitoring.

1,260 Gallon Conventional Oil Well Spill

On July 29, 2024, DEP inspected the Matson 2 conventional oil well in Warsaw Township, Jefferson County owned by Diversified Prod LLC and found a spill of an estimated 1,260 gallons of oil from a storage tank.

DEP issued multiple violations related to the spill, including failure to notify DEP.

DEP’s inspection report requested the owner to submit a plan by August 15, 2024 on how the well site will be brought into compliance.

Shale Gas Pipeline Construction Spill - 3rd In 3 Weeks

On July 29, 2024, DEP inspected the NFG Midstream Covington LLC Connector Pipeline Project in Chatham Township, Tioga County in response to a notification of a spill on July 26, 2024 during horizontal drilling under Crooked Creek.

A spill estimated to be between 420 and 840 gallons occurred.

This is the same spot where spills occurred related to this pipeline construction on July 16 and July 24. Read more here.

The difference in this new spill was it found its way into Crooked Creek.

DEP’s inspection report noted remediation of the spill had occurred and closed the new violations for this incident.

2024 Land Recycling/Brownfield Cleanups

So far in 2024, DEP received or acted on 181 Act 2 Land Recycling notices related to oil and gas facility site cleanups. Read more here.

Failure To Fix Conventional Well Venting Gas

On July 26, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the G.Hoskinson 2 conventional gas well in Springhill Township, Greene County owned by Zama Petro, Inc. and found no action had been taken to stop the well from venting gas.

The original violations for venting gas and for failing to submit a mechanical integrity report were issued on April 5, 2024-- nearly four months before.

DEP’s inspection report said the well owner has parts “on order” to fix the well. No specific requests were made of the owner.

Continued Failure Of E&S Controls On Shale Gas Well Pad

On July 30, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Fedorchak Shale Gas Well Pad in Ohioville Borough, Beaver County owned by Geopetro LLC and found no action had been taken to clean up multiple areas with “excess water” on the well pad.

On February 12, 2024, the well pad owner said they would start cleaning up the excess water on the pad by February 15, 2024 and so far that has not happened.

As a result of other inspections, DEP issued violations for failure to properly implement erosion and sedimentation on April 30, 2024.

DEP’s inspection report continues the violations, but does not include specific requests of the well pad owner.

Report Violations

To report oil and gas violations or any environmental emergency or complaint, visit DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.

Text photos and the location of abandoned wells to 717-788-8990.

Check These Resources

Visit DEP’s Compliance Reporting Database webpage to search their compliance records by date and owner and the Inspection Reports Viewer.

Sign up for DEP’s eNOTICE service which sends you information on oil and gas and other permits submitted to DEP for review in your community.

(Photos: Row 1-- One of six abandoned conventional wells Amer Natural Resources LLC failed to plug under DEP order; Charlemagne Investment Corp conventional abandoned well; Vessels Coal Gas Inc. abandoned conventional well; Zama Petro, Inc. conventional well still venting gas; Row 2-- Diversified Prod LLC 1,260 gallon oil spill from conventional well; third spill in three weeks by NFG Midstream Covington LLC during pipeline horizontal drilling; Geopetro LLC failure to implement erosion and sedimentation controls.)

[Note: If you believe your company was listed in error, contact DEP’s Oil and Gas Program.]

[Note: These may not be all the NOVs issued to oil and gas companies during this time period. Additional inspection reports may be added to DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database.]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 27 to August 2 - 120 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; 3rd Pipeline Construction Spill; 1,260 Gallon Conventional Oil Spill [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - August 3 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 66 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In August 3 PA Bulletin [PaEN]