PA Environment Digest Blog: PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - January 1 to 10 - First 4 Abandoned Conventional Wells Of 2025; Methane Reduction Grant Inspections; Well Leaking Gas For 27 Months

From January 1 to 10, DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database shows oil and gas inspectors filed 1,098 inspection entries.

Follow these links to spreadsheets showing the violations and inspections occurring between January 1 to 10--

Click Here for violations issued between January 1 to 10.

Click Here for inspection entries between January 1 to 10

Enforcement Actions Taken Last Week

So far this year, DEP took these actions between December 28 and January 3--

-- NOVs Issued In Last Week: 22 conventional, 1 unconventional

-- Year To Date (2025) - NOVs Issued: 5 conventional and 1 unconventional

-- Enforcements (2025): 1 conventional and 0 unconventional (orders, agreements)

-- Inspections Last Week: 190 conventional and 386 unconventional

-- Year To Date (2025)- Inspections: 133 conventional and 255 unconventional

Abandoned Conventional Wells

MTN Energy - Violations: Abandoned Conventional Well, Leaking Gas

January 6, 2025 inspection of the Phillips 1 conventional gas well in Freeport Township, Greene County found the well abandoned, not plugged and leaking gas. Violations issued. Response requested by January 20, 2025. MTN Energy holds 45 conventional oil and gas well permits. DEP inspection report.

Washington Energy Co LLC - Violations: Abandoned Conventional Wells

January 2-9, 2025 inspections of three conventional wells in Washington County found them abandoned and not plugged--

-- North Strabane Twp.: J.Ross 105-1, Response by Feb. 10. [DEP inspection report]

-- Peters Twp.: Eva Wilkinson et al 2, failed to submit production, waste generation reports for 4 years . Response by Feb. 10. [DEP inspection report]

-- Peters Twp.: Hannah & Kathryn Marvin 6, failed to submit production, waste generation reports for 4 years. Response by Feb. 11 [DEP inspection report]

Washington Energy holds 121 conventional oil and gas well permits-- 6 abandoned.

SK Opr Inc. - Violations: Failed To Restore Well Site After Plugging (13 Months)

January 2, 2025 inspection of the Louis Yemc 1 conventional well in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County found the owner failed to restore the well site after plugging the well on December 8, 2023. Original violation October 30, 2024. Violations continued. No response requested of owner. SK Opr holds 39 conventional well permits. DEP inspection report.

Unknown Abandoned Conventional Well Owners

DEP did inspections of 25+ abandoned and orphan wells to evaluate them for future plugging operations in Allegheny, Erie, Greene, Potter, Washington, Westmoreland counties.

4 Abandoned Conventional Well Violations

So far in 2025, DEP issued or continued 4 violations to conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging their wells.

MERP Well Plugging Inspections

S &T SVC & Supply Inc.

January 2-3, 2025 inspections of 24 conventional wells in President Township, Venango County as part of the evaluation of a Methane Emission Reduction Grant application. S&T SVC holds 181 conventional well permits- 6 abandoned, many inactive. Example DEP inspection report.

John M. Stiglitz

January 7, 2025 inspections of 14 conventional wells in Cranberry Township, Venango County as part of the evaluation of a Methane Emission Reduction Grant application. Stiglitz holds 17 conventional well permits-- 10 abandoned. Example DEP inspection report.

Water Supply Contamination Investigation

Venango County, Cornplanter Township

January 9, 2025 inspection of the Berry Plumer 1A conventional gas well owned by Return Oil Corp found the well abandoned, but not leaking gas. It was drilled and fracked in 1974. The well is located 490 feet northeast of the complainant’s water well. DEP inspection report.

Spills & Releases

Murphy Prod Inc. - Violations Cleared: Wastewater Spill (14 Months)

January 6, 2025 follow-up inspection of the C&K Coal Co 7 conventional gas well in Piney Township, Clarion County found the cleanup of a production wastewater spill discovered on August 23, 2023 [DEP inspection report] had been completed on October 30, 2024. Violations removed. Violations continued for pipe and other equipment left on the site. DEP inspection report.

2025 Act 2 Oil & Gas Facility Pollution Cleanups

So far in 2025, DEP received or acted on 3 Act 2 Land Recycling notices related to oil and gas facility site cleanups. Read more here.

Leaking Gas

Washington Energy Co LLC - Violations: Leaking Gas, Ground Subsiding (27 Months)

January 2, 2025 inspection of the Wylie 077-1 conventional gas well in Chartiers Township, Washington County found the well continuing to leak gas and ground around the well subsiding. Original violations issued October 20, 2022. Violations continued. Response requested by February 1. Washington Energy holds 121 conventional oil and gas well permits-- 6 abandoned. DEP inspection report.

EQT Prod Co - Violations: Leaking Gas (2 Months)

January 8, 2025 inspection of the E. Johnson 1206 conventional gas well in Springhill Township, Greene County found the well still leaking gas. Original violation November 12, 2024. Violation continued. Response requested by January 22. DEP inspection report.

Erosion & Sedimentation Violations

Diversified Prod LLC - Violations: Multiple Erosion & Sedimentation

January 2, 2025 follow-up inspection of the NV39HS shale gas well site in South Franklin Township, Washington County found the well owner failed to address multiple erosion and sedimentation control and restoration requirements. Original violations issued December 23, 2024. New violations issued. Response requested by January 22, 2025. DEP inspection report.

EQM Gathering OPCO LLC - Violations: Multiple Erosion & Sedimentation

January 2, 2025 follow-up inspection of the NIJUS046 Pipeline site in Morris Township, Greene County found the pipeline owner failed to address multiple erosion and sedimentation violations originally issued on November 21, 2024. Violations continued. No response requested from owner. DEP inspection report.

Annual Report Violations Cleared

River Ridge Gravel Co. - Violations Cleared: Submission Of Annual Reports (31 Months)

January 2-9, 2025 DEP did inspections of 54 conventional oil and gas wells in Cranberry Township, Venango County subject to a June 23, 2022 DEP order and found the well owner submitted annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports for the wells and is now in compliance. [Wells: Dev Inc-- 1, 2, 3, 4, 17, 19, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 46, 47, 48, 49, 75, 79, 141, 146, 147, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153; River Ridge-- 1R, 2R, 4R, 5R, 7, 7R, 8R, 9, 44, 45, 77, 86, 87, 88, 89, 100, 103, 104, 109, 127, 112, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 132] Example DEP inspection report.

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 and Inspection Reports Viewer webpages to search their compliance records by date and owner.

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.

Use DEP’s Oil and Gas Mapping Tool to find if there are oil and gas wells near or on your property and to find wells using latitude and longitude on well inspection reports.

(Photos: Row 1- MTN Energy abandoned conventional well leaking gas; EQT Prod Co conventional well leaking gas for 2 months; Washington Energy Co LLC conventional gas well leaking gas for 27 months; Return Oil Corp abandoned gas well investigated as part of water supply contamination investigation in Venango County; Row 2- S &T SVC & Supply Inc. conventional well methane reduction grant inspection; John M. Stiglitz conventional well methane reduction grant inspection.)

[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 Dashboard

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 21 to 31 - Record Number Conventional, Shale Gas Abandoned Well Violations In 2024; Gas Storage Area Well Leaks [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - January 1 to 10 - First 4 Abandoned Conventional Wells Of 2025; Methane Reduction Grant Inspections; Well Leaking Gas For 27 Months [PaEN]

-- PUC Approves $700,000 Penalty For Columbia Gas Plastic Pipeline Explosion In Clarion County [PaEN]

-- PUC Approves Settlement In 2019 Philadelphia Gas Works Explosion That Killed 2, Displaced 60 Residents [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - January 11 [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission To Hold Jan. 30 Hearing On New General Into Basin Transfers, Water Withdrawal Requests - 6 For Shale Gas Development [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 84 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In January 11 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

-- Powering The Planet: The Cleanup Bill For The Fracking Boom Is Already Here; Shale Gas Drillers Are Already Abandoning Their Wells - By Justin Mikulka, Powering The Planet [PA Examples] [PaEN]

-- DEP Did Over 107,000 Inspections, Found 35,237 Violations, Responded To 410 Emergencies In 2024 To Protect PA's Environment, Public Safety [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission To Hold Jan. 30 Hearing On New General Into Basin Transfers, Water Withdrawal Requests - 6 For Shale Gas Development [PaEN]

-- Williamsport Sun Editorial: Fate Of Butterflies And More Depends On Us - ‘We Are The Stewards And Caretakers Of This World, The Only World That We Have, It’s Time We Started Acting Like It’ [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- The Energy Age Blog: DEP Invites Comments On Draft Guidance For Land Application Of Excess Water From Shale Gas Well Development Impoundments

-- Bucks County Beacon - Justin Mikulka: The Cleanup Bill For The Fracking Boom Is Already Here In States Like Pennsylvania

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh-Based Epiphany Environmental LLC Frack Waste Treatment Company Files For Bankruptcy - Had Proposed Plant In Potter County With 2023 PennVEST Funding [PDF of Article]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Are U-Turn Shale Gas Wells The Future Of Drilling? One In Susquehanna County Now [PDF of Article]

-- TribLive: Environmental Hearing Board To Review DEP Shale Gas Well Permit Renewals To Apex Energy In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Abandoned Conventional Well Plugging In Western PA Could Speed Up Under Deal Reached With West Virginia Landowners, Diversified Energy

-- ABCNews: Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells Bring Fears Of Leak Dangers, ABC News Investigation Finds

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Methane Emission Reduction Is Becoming A Booming Industry In Pennsylvania - By Center for Methane Emissions Solutions

-- AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $3.06 Ohio- $2.98 PA- $3.26

-- Financial Times: Oil Price Hits 3-Month High On Strong China Demand

-- Reuters: Oil Prices Hold At 3-Month High On Stronger Demand