DEP: Day 155 - Contaminated Water Still Flowing From Seneca Resources Vandergrift Shale Gas Wells, Well Pad; Cleanup Continues In Charleston Twp., Tioga County

On October 15, 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection did a follow-up inspection of the Seneca Resources Vandergrift shale gas well pad and found multiple areas where contaminated water was still flowing from wells and the well pad fill slop in Charleston Township, Tioga County.

The spill was discovered during a complaint inspection on May 13, 2025.

While significant cleanup efforts have been undertaken, this inspection found work crews installing permanent, eight foot deep drainage trenches around the shale gas well cellars to collect contaminated wastewater from the wells for monitoring and disposal.

The inspection also found contaminated liquid flowing down and from the east fill slope of the well pad and into a sump.  The water was then pumped into a fracking wastewater tank on the pad for later disposal.

DEP continued to recommend Seneca monitor for contamination, remediate areas as necessary and continue collecting and disposing of contaminated fluid.

DEP continued the violations from May 13.

Click Here for the October 15 inspection report with photos.

Original Spill

The May inspection found two large areas of distressed vegetation with evidence of a wastewater release in one area 50 feet wide extending down the well pad slope about 120 feet and another area 20 feet wide and stretching 65-70 feet down slope as a result of what Seneca said were leaking valves and wastewater flowing from an open pipe during well plugging operations.  Read more here.

You can chart the progress in cleaning up this wastewater spill through DEP’s inspection reports: July 17, 2025; July 24, 2025, August 6, 2025; August 20, 2025; August 26, 2025; and September 18, 2025.

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: Digging drainage trenches around wellheads; Liquid seeping out and flowing down the fill slope of the pad; Unlined drainage sump.)

[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.]

Resource Links - Vandergrift Shale Gas Pad:

-- DEP: Day 128 - Seneca Resources Failed To Stop Wastewater Seeps, Cleanup Contamination From A May Spill At The Vandergrift Shale Gas Well Pad In Charleston Twp., Tioga County [PaEN] 

-- DEP Samples Confirm Contaminated Wastewater Released During Well Plugging Operations Polluted Areas Off The Seneca Resources Vandergrift Shale Gas Well Pad In Tioga County; Cleanup, Monitoring Continue From May Incident [PaEN] 

-- DEP: Active Wastewater Spill Remediation Efforts Have Continued For 30+ Days At The Seneca Resources Vandergrift Shale Gas Well Pad In Charleston Twp., Tioga County  [PaEN] 

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Oct. 18 to 24:  14,280 Gallon Shale Gas Wastewater Spill; 2nd Major Spill By Conventional Well Owner; Failure To Address Pipeline Slope Failure For 1,440 Days  [PaEN] 

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - October 25 [PaEN] 

-- DEP Posted 81 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 25 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP: 14,280 Gallon Shale Gas Wastewater Spill At EQT Production’s Secretariat Well Pad In Gilmore Twp., Greene County  [PaEN]  

-- DEP: Petro Erie Inc. Has 2nd Major Conventional Oil & Gas Well Wastewater Spill In Sugarcreek Boro, Venango County; Previous Spill Contaminated The Village Of Reno’s Water Supply  [PaEN] 

-- DEP: Contaminated Water From EQM Gathering (EQT) Double Pipeline Construction Site Traveled Nearly 2 Football Fields From Site Of Spill In Nottingham Twp., Washington County  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Day 155 - Contaminated Water Still Flowing From Seneca Resources Vandergrift Shale Gas Wells, Well Pad; Cleanup Continues In Charleston Twp., Tioga County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Extends Temporary Air Quality Permits For Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County; No Schedule Yet For Public Review Of Full Title V Air Quality Permit Accepted July 2024  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Air Quality Permit For 248 MW Wyalusing Energy Center Natural Gas Power Plant To Serve The Klondike Data Center Project In Bradford County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP To Hold Dec. 17 Hearing On An Air Quality Permit For The PEI Power LLC Natural Gas Power Plant In Lackawanna County  [PaEN] 

-- Citizens Interested In Submitting Comments To DEP On Tenaska Natural Gas Power Plant’s First Title V Air Quality Permit Invited To Oct. 29 Public Meeting In West Newton, Westmoreland County  [PaEN] 

-- Protect PT Hosts Nov. 4 & Nov. 11 Online Living Near Shale Gas Development Community Workshops  [PaEN] 

NewsClips:

-- Utility Dive Guest Essay: Reliance On Natural Gas For Power Generation Will Worsen Energy Affordability Crisis - By Cassady Craighill, GridLab

-- PennFuture: PA Senate Republicans’ ‘All Of The Above Energy’ Statements Focused On Natural Gas

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: EQT Gas Driller Secures Option  To 400-Acre Former Steel Plant Site Along Monongahela River In Allenport, Stockdale, Dunlevy Boroughs, Washington County, Mum On Development Plans  [PDF of Article]

-- TribLive: Natural Gas Producer EQT Corp. Posts $407 Million Profit: ‘Firing On All Cylinders’ 

-- Reuters: EQT Production Beats Quarterly Profit Estimates On Strong, Higher Natural Gas Prices

-- Reuters Guest Essay: US LNG Gas Exporters And Households On Natural Gas Already Saddled With Record-High Energy Bills On Collision Course  [PDF of Article]

-- Broad +Liberty Guest Essay: Pennsylvania’s Energy Future Is Bright And Bipartisan, Republicans, Democrats Deserve Credit For Supporting ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ - By Former Gov. Mark Schweiker  [Natural Gas] 

-- Reuters: EU Plans Changes To LNG Gas Sustainability Law As US, Qatar Increase Pressure 

-- Financial Times: Fallout From The A.I.-Fuelled Dash For Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants - Supply Crunch In Giant Turbines Taking Years For Delivery

-- Bloomberg: Halliburton Is Branching Into A.I. Data Center Power Supplies As Fracking Demand Stagnates 

[Posted: October 25, 2025]  PA Environment Digest