So far this year, DEP took these actions as of August 2--
-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 146 conventional, 5 unconventional
-- Year To Date - NOVs Issued: 5,312 conventional and 626 unconventional
-- Enforcements 2024: 316 conventional and 73 unconventional
-- Inspections Last Week: 335 conventional and 258 unconventional
-- Year To Date - Inspections: 9,961 conventional and 14,233 unconventional
-- Wells Drilled Last Week: 5 conventional and 20 unconventional
-- Year To Date Wells Drilled: 93 conventional and 200 unconventional
Failure To Comply With Order To Plug Abandoned Shale Gas Wells
On August 5, 2024, DEP inspected the Ashbaugh 1H Shale Gas Well in Ashland Township, Clarion County owned by Diversified Prod LLC and found the well abandoned and unplugged.
DEP’s inspection report said the owner failed to comply with an August 1, 2021 consent order modified by an August 3, 2023 consent order to plug or place in production all remaining abandoned wells by August 1, 2024.
This well was originally drilled in 2010 and was in inactive status in 2013.
DEP requested the owner to submit a plan by August 20, 2024 to bring the well into compliance.
On August 5, 2024, DEP inspected the Emrick 1H Shale Gas Well in Elk Township, Clarion County owned by Diversified Prod LLC and found the well abandoned and unplugged.
DEP’s inspection report said the owner failed to comply with an August 1, 2021 consent order modified by an August 3, 2023 consent order to plug or place in production all remaining abandoned wells by August 1, 2024.
This well was originally drilled in 2010 and was in inactive status in 2013.
DEP requested the owner to submit a plan by August 20, 2024 to bring the well into compliance.
2nd Attempts To Plug Shale Gas Wells
On August 1, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the KARP WYO 2H Shale Gas Well in Lemon Township, Wyoming County owned by Chesapeake Appalachia LLC to determine if the second attempt to plug the abandoned well was successful.
The first attempt to plug the well on June 20, 2022 failed and resulted in gas continuing to vent from the well.
DEP’s inspection report said there was no gas detected at or around the well after this second attempt, but the violations for venting gas were continued.
On August 5, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Epsilon Blanche Poulsen 1 H Shale Gas Well in Auburn Township, Susquehanna County owned by Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC and found a second attempt to plug the well in progress to stop the flow of leaking gas.
DEP issued the original violation for defective casing or cementing and leaking gas on November 18, 2021 and the owner has since tried to plug the well.
DEP’s inspection report said a contractor was drilling out the well in preparation for a second attempt to plug the well.
3 Abandoned, Unplugged Conventional Wells
On August 8, 2024, DEP inspected the Bickel 2 and John Mathews 5 conventional wells in Bloom Township, Clearfield County owned by Stonehaven Energy MGT Co Inc. and found them both abandoned and unplugged.
Other new violations included failure to submit production, waste generation and well integrity reports.
DEP’s inspection reports [Mathews 5 + Bickel 2] did not include any follow-up actions by the well owner.
On August 8, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the CM Lemmon 3 conventional well in Jackson Township, Greene County owned by Zama Petro Inc. and found the owner had failed to take steps to plug the abandoned well and stop leaking gas.
The original violations were issued on May 15, 2024. The owner did submit production, waste generation and a mechanical integrity report for the well in response to earlier violations.
DEP’s inspection report continued the violations and-- again-- requested the owner to submit a plan by August 23, 2024 on how the well will be brought into compliance.
On August 5 to 8, 2024, DEP also documented other abandoned, unplugged conventional wells with Unknown owners, including--
-- Allegheny County, Sewickley Heights Boro: Metcalf 1
-- Greene County, Jefferson Twp.: RL Scott M369
-- Greene County, Morris Twp.: TF Rutan 1032
-- Greene County, Morris Twp.: Thomas Anderson 1038
-- Potter County, Allegany Twp.: Mamie Cole\
-- Potter County, Hebron Twp.: Leauber L 1
-- Venango County - Scrubgrass Twp.: Honeysuckle AWI 1
700 Conventional, 13 Shale Gas Abandoned Well Violations In 2024
So far in 2024, DEP issued 700 new or continued violations to conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging wells.
So far in 2024, 13 violations were issued or continued to eight shale gas well owners [Diversified Prod LLC; 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.
Leaking Conventional Wastewater Tank
On August 6, 2024, DEP inspected the R Stopko 5 conventional well in West Bethlehem Township, Washington County owned by Diversified Prod LLC and found the production wastewater tank leaking and erosion and sedimentation violations.
DEP’s inspection report requested the owner to submit a plan by August 27, 2024 to bring the site into compliance.
Failure To Cleanup Conventional Spills 13 Months Old
On August 6, 2024, DEP did a follow-up inspection of the Nelson 2 conventional well in Dunbar Township, Fayette County owned by Apollo Resources LLC and found the owner failed to take any action to cleanup spills discovered on June 22, 2023.
DEP noted the owner failed to provide information on the spills requested on June 22, 2023, September 6, 2023 and March 1, 2024.
DEP’s eFACTS database shows Apollo Resources holds 1,837 conventional oil and gas well permits, all active.
DEP’s inspection report continued the previous violations and requested the owner to-- again-- submit a plan by August 9, 2024 to bring the site into compliance.
Shale Gas Well Venting Gas
On August 8, 2024, DEP inspected the Cowden 41 Shale Gas Well in Cross Creek Township, Washington County owned by Diversified Prod LLC and found the well was leaking gas.
DEP’s inspection report included a violation and requested the owner to submit a plan by August 26, 2024 to bring the well into compliance.
Conventional Well Leaking Gas
On August 7, 2024, DEP inspected the M. Halliday 1 conventional gas well in response to a complaint in Freehold Township, Warren County owned by PPP Future Dev. Inc. and found it “hissing and smells strongly of gas.”
In addition, nearly hidden tanks onsite were found to be bubbling and gurgling and nearly full of wastewater and one was collapsed.
DEP’s eFACTS database shows PPP Future holds 428 conventional oil and gas well permits, including 15 abandoned wells..
DEP’s inspection report included a violation and requested the owner to submit a plan by September 2, 2024 to bring the well into compliance.
2024 Land Recycling/Brownfield Cleanups
So far in 2024, DEP received or acted on 188 Act 2 Land Recycling notices related to oil and gas facility site cleanups. Read more here.
Multiple Failures Of Erosion Controls At Shale Gas Pipeline Site
On August 2, 2024, DEP inspected the Leto to Deer Creek Pipeline and Interconnect in West Deer Township, Allegheny County owned by Hyperion Midstream LLC [Olympus Energy] after erosion and sediment control failures were reported by another DEP inspector.
The inspection found multiple instances of erosion and sediment BMP control failures at multiple locations.
DEP’s inspection report included 14 violations related to these failures and requested the owner to submit a plan by August 20, 2024 on how the sites will be brought into compliance.
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-- Hyperion Midstream LLC multiple erosion control failures along pipeline route; Apollo Resources LLC failure to cleanup conventional well spills 13 months old; Diversified Prod LLC leaking conventional wastewater tank; Diversified Prod LLC abandoned, unplugged shale gas well; Row 2-- Diversified Prod LLC shale gas well leaking gas; PPP Future Dev. Inc. gurgling conventional wastewater tank; Stonehaven Energy MGT Co Inc. abandoned conventional well (one of two this week); Zama Petro Inc. abandoned, leaking conventional well.)
[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 Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - August 10 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 62 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In August 10 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Erie Times: How PA's Oil & Gas Industry Continues To Illegally Dump Wastewater On Roads Across The State [PaEN]
-- Residents, Environmental Groups, Advocates To Hold A Stand With Dimock Day On Aug. 16 In Montrose, Susquehanna County [PaEN]
-- Center For Coalfield Justice Hosts Aug. 20 In-Person Program On Investigations Into Rare Childhood Cancers In Washington County [PaEN]
-- Environmental Health Project Contributes To New Book On Sustainable Development & Rural Public Health - From Fossil Fuels To Greener Futures [PaEN]
-- Guest Essay: Pennsylvania May Not Be Able To Keep All The Lights On In Four Years - By Terry Fitzpatrick, Energy [Utilities] Association Of PA [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- TribLive Guest Essay: Fracking And Harris - How Close Is Too Close? - By Terrie Baumgardner, Clean Air Council’s Beaver County Outreach Coordinator
-- Erie Times - How PA’s Oil & Gas Industry Illegally Dumps Waste On Roads Across The State
-- Courier Times: How PA’s Oil & Gas Industry Illegally Dump Wastewater On Roads Across The State
-- NPJ Climate Action: Community Rights And Energy Politics In Lycoming County
-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: DEP Won’t Use Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners To Plug Abandoned Wells - By Commonwealth Foundation [Factually Wrong On Plugging Contracts + Conventional Well Owners Own Tens Of Thousands Of Abandoned Wells + They Got 687 Violations For Abandoning Wells So Far In 2024, One Well Owner Abandoned 120 Last Week Alone]
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Diversified Energy Grows Via Culling, Harvesting Mature Conventional Gas Wells [PDF of article]
-- City & State PA Guest Essay: New Gas, Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Rules Must Be Enacted For The Health Of Current And Future Generations - By State Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) and Pete Gosar, Wyoming, Western Leaders & Appalachian Leaders Voices
-- FracTracker Alliance: PA Oil & Gas Industry Trends - Drilled Wells, Violations, Production, Waste
-- FracTracker Alliance: How Fracking Bans Protect Communities And The Environment
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Shale Drilling Becomes Leaner & Meaner, Lowering Costs [PDF of article]
-- TribLive Podcast: Looking Back At The Plum Boro Natural Gas Home Explosion In Allegheny County
-- WFMZ: Natural Gas Leak Prompts Evacuations, Road Closure In Palmer Twp., Northampton County
-- AG Henry Announces Settlement With Titan Gas, LLC Over Alleged Unlawful Telemarketing Practices
-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Emma Lewis, Shell Senior VP Of Chemicals Wants To Build Trust And A Legacy At Shell’s Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County
-- Beaver County Times: Native Tree Nursery & Forest Education Center Groundbreaking In Brady’s Run Park [Supported By Shell Petrochemical Plant Penalty Mitigation Fund]
-- Reuters: Petrochemical Makers Battle Global Glut
-- Capital & Main - Audrey Carleton: Despite The Risks, Pennsylvania Races Into The Geologic Carbon Capture Era
-- Utility Dive: Dominion Energy Says Its Ratepayers Will Be Insulated From PJM Capacity Auction Record High Prices
-- Utility Dive: Constellation Energy Raises 2024 Profit Guidance Amid PJM Load Growth, Tighter Power Supplies
-- Utility Dive: Federal Court Vacates FERC’s Reapproval Of 2 LNG Gas Export Terminals, Gas Pipeline
-- Washington Examiner: US DOE Files Appeal To Continue Pause On New LNG Gas Export Facility Permits
-- E&E News: Oil And Gas Jobs Decline Amid Record-Breaking Production
-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Producers Eye More Output Cuts As Prices Sink
-- Reuters: US EIA Sees Tighter US Oil Market For 2024, Lowers Price Outlook
-- Reuters: Natural Gas Price Shocks Play Greater Role In Euro Zone Inflation, ECB Paper Says
[Posted: August 11, 2024] PA Environment Digest
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