PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP: Range Resources Suffers Casing Failure/Loss Of Control Incident During Fracking At Burkett Shale Gas Well Pad Triggering Area Of Review Report On Any Offsite Impacts In Jefferson Twp., Washington County

On December 17, 2025 at 10:30 p.m., the Department of Environmental Protection was notified by email of a casing failure/loss of control incident during fracking operations at the Range Resources Appalachia LLC Burkett shale gas well pad in Jefferson Township, Washington County.

DEP did an onsite inspection of the well pad on December 18 at 9:54 a.m.

Fracking operations were underway in three wells on the pad when at 8:40 p.m. the 4H shale gas well suffered a casing failure and gas pressure spiked to 2,000 psi annulus between the 5 ½ inch casing and 9 ⅝ inch casing setting off a relief valve.

The fracking job on 4H well was shut down at 8:42 p.m. and pressure stabilized at around 4,836 psi. The well was shut in and lines were bled to 0 psi by 8:51 p.m.

After the well was brought under control, two kill plugs were set in the well to seal off the wellbore at 5,976 feet and 5,876 feet.

Pressure in the annulus stabilized at 125 psi and was manually bled off at 9:45 a.m on December 18 and was at 0 psi at the time of the December 18 inspection.

Range Resources planned to run logs of the well to determine the depth and extent of the casing failure to develop a correction plan.

Range Resources said they would finish fracking the other two wells and move off the pad, according to DEP’s inspection report.

Violations

The casing failure and loss of control incident occurred on December 17 at 8:40 p.m. and Range Resources did not immediately report it through DEP’s website until December 18 at 5:53 p.m., even through an email notification was sent December 17 at 10:40 p.m.

Website notifications are required because they are set up to immediately notify DEP staff, where a normal email is not in situations involving “abnormal fracture propagation” and loss of control incidents.

This type of incident also triggers the requirement to prepare an Area of Review Fracture Communication Incident Report to be submitted to DEP within three days of the incident. Read more here.

The initial AOR Report requires the owner to survey water wells, other conventional and shale gas oil and gas wells in the vicinity of the casing failure to determine if the failure resulted in “communication” or contamination of those wells with methane or fracking fluids.

DEP’s inspection report indicates Range Resources failed to submit the AOR report within the three days.

DEP also said Range Resources failed to submit a follow-up notification of the loss of well control incident within two hours of the initial notice as required by the Pressure Barrier Policy. Read more here.

The only violation included in DEP’s inspection report was failure to notify DEP through the website immediately.

Response Requested

In addition to the AOR Report and the Pressure Barrier Policy notification, DEP requested a written response on the incident by January 15 detailing what caused the incident and how Range Resources expects to correct the problem and a schedule for bringing the well into compliance.

As of this writing-- January 3-- no further DEP inspection reports have been posted after the December 18 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: Burkett pad 4H shale gas well; Chart shows pressures during loss of control incident.)

[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 - Dec. 27 to Jan. 2 - Shale Gas Well Casing Failure/Loss Of Control; Shale Gas Well Pad Spills Continue For 426 Days; Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Reach 688 [PaEN]

-- DEP: Range Resources Suffers Casing Failure/Loss Of Control Incident During Fracking At Burkett Shale Gas Well Pad Triggering Area Of Review Report On Any Offsite Impacts In Jefferson Twp., Washington County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Seneca Resources Still Experiencing Spills, Releases While New Well Development Continues At Taft Shale Gas Well Pad In Middlebury Twp., Tioga County For 426 Days And Counting [PaEN]

-- DEP: High Volume Of Truck Traffic, Freeze/Thaw Destabilized EQT Prod Shale Gas Well Pad Access Road Allowing Gravel, Sediment To Wash Off Road In Westmoreland County [PaEN]

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

-- DEP To Hold Feb. 3 Virtual Hearing On Chapter 105 Permit For PA General Energy 3.9 Mile Shale Gas Well Pad Development Access Road, Staging Area In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County [PaEN]

-- DEP To Hold Feb. 4 Hearing On First Title V Air Quality Permit For The Tenaska Natural Gas Power Plant In Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Water Quality Permit For A 3.7 Mile Natural Gas Gathering Pipeline Route In Elk And Forest Counties [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Tentative Decision To Not Renew NPDES Wastewater Permits For 3 Fluid Recovery Services Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Facilities In Indiana, Venango Counties [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Air Quality General Permit For Diesel-Fired Nonroad Engines At Homer City A.I. Data Center Campus In Indiana County [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 57 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In January 3 PA Bulletin [PaEN]