DEP also had a major change in leadership in the Oil and Gas Program with the appointment of Seth Pelepko, P.G. as the Acting Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management in September.
The PA Environment Digest’s weekly review of DEP’s oil and gas inspection reports yielded hundreds of actions taken to enforce the state’s oil and gas laws and regulations and some of the major actions taken are summarized here month by month.
Take a few minutes just to read the headlines first, and you’ll have a better understanding of how the oil and gas industry is having a real impact on Pennsylvania’s communities and the environment.
You will also see cries of help from communities, homeowners and local governments to deal with these very real impacts on our daily lives.
Also realize, this is just a small percentage of what’s really going on out there, given DEP’s limited Oil and Gas Program staff and growing workload to keep up with oil and gas industry violations.
Overview
In 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection issued more than 8,253 notices of violation and more than 831 orders, consent agreements and other enforcement actions to shale gas companies and conventional oil and gas well owners. Read more here.
In 2024, DEP issued more than 10,765 violations and more than 858 orders. Read more here.
DEP also conducted over 52,642 inspections of oil and gas facilities, compliance and administrative reviews. Read more here.
In 2024, DEP conducted over 47,736 inspections. Read more here.
DEP’s workload also increased with the addition of more than 575 new shale gas and conventional wells drilled and issued 762 new oil and gas well permits. Read more here.
In 2024, 475 new wells were drilled and 667 new well permits issued. Read more here.
While DEP’s workload was increasing by 1,050 new wells over the last two years, a freeze on Oil and Gas Program enforcement staff-- in place since December 2016-- was continued, creating more vacancies in the program. Read more here.
The revenue from fees on permits coming in the door at DEP was also again not enough to fund the Oil and Gas Program, so taxpayers had to put up $15 million in General Fund monies to support the program. Read more here.
Criminal Charges
The state Attorney General filed criminal charges against several shale gas companies in 2025 and also began investigations involving a pipeline company and the owner of conventional oil and gas wells that contaminated a Venango County community’s water supply--
-- Attorney General Sunday Files Criminal Charges Against Equitrans For 2022 Leak Of 1.1 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas From Its Rager Mountain Gas Storage Field In Cambria County [7.24.25]
-- Attorney General Sunday: Criminal Charges Filed Against Seneca Resources For 64 Counts Of Illegal Dumping Of Shale Gas Waste In Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga Counties [10.31.25]
-- Courier Times: PA State Attorney General Investigates Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Leaks For Potential Environmental Crimes In Bucks County [Convicted Of Other Criminal Charges, Penalized Over $48.1 Million For Pipeline Violations So Far] [3.16.25]
-- The Derrick: State Attorney General Launches Criminal Investigation Into Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill That Contaminated Venango Water Company Spring [3.8.25]
Click Here for a recent history of criminal charges against the oil and gas industry and a summary of $158.1 million in penalties assessed by DEP and the PUC.
Abandoned Wells
DEP issued over 685 notices of violations to 131 conventional oil and gas well owners for abandoning and not plugging their wells in 2025, a decrease from the 860 violations issued in 2024.
DEP increased other enforcement efforts to try to reduce abandonments by, in one case, issuing violations to 13 conventional oil and gas well owners for failing to submit annual production, waste generation and well integrity reports covering 988 wells. Read more here.
In another example, DEP ordered Timberline Energy, Inc. to submit annual reports on 475 conventional oil and gas wells in six counties that DEP’s recent inspections show many to be abandoned. Read more here.
Failing to submit these reports is an early sign wells may be on the road to abandonment.
DEP issued 70 notices of violation to 21 shale gas drillers for abandoning and not plugging their wells in 2025, a significant increase over the 47 violations issued in 2024.
‘Widespread’ Noncompliance By Conventional Well Owners
DEP again reported “widespread” noncompliance by conventional oil and gas well owners, not only for routinely abandoning their wells, but also by these measures--
-- 85% of well owners failed to submit annual production, waste generation reports covering 23,708 wells leaving millions of gallons of wastewater unaccounted for;
-- 87% failed to submit well integrity reports covering 24,620 wells, critical to preventing gas leaks and releases into groundwater; and
-- More than 99% of conventional well owners failed to comply with VOC/Methane reduction regulations covering 64,660 wells [Read more here].
Order To Cease Producing Oil & Gas
In April 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a rare Order to Stonehaven Energy Management Company, LLC and Jeremy Graham, individually, to “immediately cease and desist producing, extracting, or injecting as, petroleum or any other liquid related to oil and gas production or storage, including brine or other produced fluids” from 551 conventional oil and gas wells located in Clarion, Clearfield, Forest, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Venango and Warren counties. Read more here.
The owner was ordered to submit replacement plugging bonds and inventory the wells to determine which ones were abandoned and not plugged.
Road Dumping Conventional Wastewater Continues
The illegal disposal of conventional oil and gas wastewater by dumping it on paved and dirt and gravel roads continues unabated in Pennsylvania as are efforts to legalize the practice. Read more here.
Conventional well owners continue to push for legalizing road dumping for disposing of their wastewater through changes in law, regulations and policy from DEP. Read more here.
DEP has supported legislation to clearly ban the practice of road dumping conventional wastewater as its own regulations did for shale gas operations since 2016. Read more here.
Multiple studies by Penn State University and many others have documented the public health and environmental impacts of road dumping and of wastewater from conventional and shale gas wells. Read more here.
Pipeline Pollution Releases
DEP dealt with several significant pipeline pollution incidents in 2025.
In March, DEP issued an order to Energy Transfer/Sunoco to install water treatment systems in over 200 homes impacted by a petroleum products pipeline leak in Upper Makefield Township, Bucks County. Read more here.
In December, issued an administrative order to Monroe Energy’s MIPC, LLC to develop an interim cleanup plan and start a thorough investigation at its Chelsea Pipeline Station and Tank Farm in Aston, Bethel, and Upper Chichester townships, Delaware County, as a result of an estimated 378,000 gallon gasoline leak reported from the tank farm. Read more here.
“Inadvertent” releases of drilling mud and other contaminants from horizontal pipeline drilling related to shale gas development continued to be a big issue in 2025.
In a series of 18 incidents from October 2025 to January 2026, MarkWest Liberty Midstream reported the loss of 1,241,500 gallons of drilling fluids into abandoned mine voids under Mount Pleasant and Robinson Townships in Washington County. Read more here.
Blackhill Energy LLC had a series of inadvertent returns during a pipeline construction project in West Burlington Township, Bradford County. Read more here.
EQM Gathering Pipeline also had at least four releases and overflowing drilling mud tanks during pipeline construction in Nottingham Township, Washington County. Read more here.
Seneca Resources Co. LLC had a drilling fluid release during pipeline construction in Richmond Township, Tioga County. Read more here.
Water Supply Complaints Increasing
DEP reported last March, DEP received a total of 575 new water supply/stray gas complaints from the public in 2023 and 2024 and resolved 395, but not necessarily the same complaints that came in the door.
DEP said it is not unusual for their investigation to take two to three years to determine who is responsible for the contamination.
DEP also noted the number of shale gas wells being drilled had decreased in recent years, but the number of water supply complaints stayed the same or increased. Read more here.
Townships Declare Emergencies
In June 2025, Freeport and Springhill townships in Greene County took the unprecedented step of declaring disaster emergencies after residents impacted by shale gas-related water contamination had left homes without permanent water supplies for three years. Read more here. Read more here.
The well water contamination had forced residents to get their water from water buffaloes year-found and people had moved out of the Township because of the water issues and took a big loss on their properties.
Studies by Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh release later in the year found links between shale gas development and the contamination found in the water wells in these townships. Read more here.
Dimock Water Supply
In May 2025, PA American Water began construction of the public water supply that will provide clean water to residences of Dimock Township, Susquehanna County after well water contamination was discovered in the area. Read more here.
Unfortunately, it took 20 years to get to this point while residents lived off water trucked in water to provide for their daily needs.
Coterra Energy was convicted of criminal charges involving the contamination in 2022 [Read more here], but in 2025 Coterra was fined $299,000 for contaminating 12 more water wells in Lenox Township, Susquehanna County just a few miles from Dimock [Read more here].
Allegheny National Forest Conventional Sites/Superfund
In December 2025, the Warren Times Observer reported the US Forest Service is conducting a federal Superfund environmental assessment of the pollution left behind at oil and gas facilities abandoned by American Refining Group [ARG Resources, Inc.] in the Allegheny National Forest in Highland Township, Elk County. Read more here.
The Warren Times said the Forest Service is coordinating with the US Environmental protection and the Department of Environmental protection on the assessment and possible cleanup work.
Both the US Government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have filed claims under the federal Superfund Program with ARG Resources, Inc. and its receiver Resources Preservation Inc. related to cleanup expenses, according to the Warren Times.
Earlier in the month, the US Forest Service issued an order to close the land surrounding the American Refining Group facilities in the Allegheny National Forest to the public due to unsafe conditions caused by hazardous materials and structurally unsound buildings. Read more here.
The areas include the Bear Creek Facility; Chaffee Facility; CO2 Facility; Highland Facility: Horton Facility; Lamont Facility; Lamont Tool House; Sulfa Treat Facility; Weaver Facility; and the Weld Shop.
Trying To Silence Opponents
In May 2025, the Environmental Hearing Board issued a ruling in an appeal of a DEP water supply contamination determination involving the CNX Gas Company that agreed with a Center for Coalfield Justice assertion there was “acute” danger in CNX misusing a deposition in the case to “punish” an environmental advocate for her advocacy against CNX. [EHB Docket No. 2024-114-W] Read more here.
Challenging DEP Authority To Request Information
DEP efforts continued in 2025, to get EQT Production Company to comply with a July 2024 order to produce records as part of the agency’s ongoing investigation into the release of up to an estimated 940,000 gallons of wastewater at the Brova shale gas well pad in North Bethlehem Township, Washington County and similar failures at at least six other EQT well pads. Read more here.
DEP and EQT could not come to a settlement and in December asked the Environmental Hearing Board to schedule consideration of EQT’s appeal of the order. Read more here.
5 Years Since Grand Jury Report
In 2025, it was seven years ago people from more than 70 households began testifying to a Statewide Grand Jury about the impacts of the shale gas industry on their health, their lives and their communities. Read more here.
Five years ago, the Statewide Grand Jury issued its report documenting these impacts in a way the jurors-- ordinary Pennsylvanians-- said, “provided us with a sound and detailed understanding of the realities of this industry and the problems associated with fracking in our Commonwealth.”
“We were moved by the profoundly emotional experiences many have endured."
No laws or regulations have changed in response to the Grand Jury recommendations. Read more here.
On the critical issue of increasing setbacks from shale gas wells, the Environmental Quality Board accepted a rulemaking petition for study to increase setbacks by regulation [Read more here] and the House held a hearing on legislation introduced to increase setbacks in November [Read more here].
Articles On Compliance Actions & Issues
Below is a month-by-month list of articles from PA Environment Digest and other resources describing compliance actions and issues related to the shale gas industry and conventional oil and gas well owners during 2025.
January
-- What The Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells On Federal Lands - Shenango River Lake, Allegheny National Forest [1.17.25]
-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: Diversified Production LLC Starts 2025 With 11 Violations For Abandoning, Not Plugging Shale Gas Wells [1.17.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - January 18 to 24: DEP Issues Abandoned Well Plugging Order; Well Leaks Gas For 9 Months [1.25.25]
-- Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Compliance With 2022 DEP Methane Reduction Regulation Put On Hold Pending Outcome Of Litigation [1.28.25]
-- Range Resources And MarkWest Liberty Midstream File Legal Challenges To The 2,500 Foot Shale Gas Facility Setback Ordinance Adopted By Cecil Township, Washington County [1.28.25]
-- Rep. Vitali Introduces Bill To Restore DEP Authority To Increase Conventional Oil & Gas Well Plugging Bonds To Prevent Hundreds Of New Well Abandonments A Year [1.29.25]
February
-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: DEP: Southwestern Energy Prod Co. Failed To Comply With Act 2 Cleanup Standards At The Greenzweig Shale Gas Wastewater Impoundment In Bradford County After 5 Years [2.10.25]
-- Washington County Judge Rules Sunoco Pipeline Did Not Have Eminent Domain Authority To Take Property For Mariner East Pipelines In Landowner Lawsuit Alleging Fraud [2.11.25]
-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: DEP Signs Consent Order With Roulette Oil & Gas To Plug Shale Gas Well Abandoned For 8 Years In Hebron Twp., Potter County [2.12.25]
-- On Feb. 13 Dept. Of Health, Penn State Project ECHO Held A Webinar To Educate Medical Professionals, Public On Exposures To Natural Gas Facility Pollution; Real Washington County CNX Facility Case Study Used [2.12.25]
-- Inquirer: Federal Pipeline Safety Agency Says Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Leaked Fuel In Bucks County For At Least 16 Months [2.17.25]
-- WHYY: Bucks County Residents Call For Shutdown Of Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline [After 16 Month Leak Contaminated Wells]: ‘Our Lives Have Been Upended’ [2.28.25]
-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: DEP Issues Violations For Abandoning 11 More Shale Gas Wells; Shale Gas Well Owner Fails To Comply With Plugging Order [2.28.25]
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Federal Judge Tosses Landowner Lawsuit Against Delaware River Basin Commission For Fracking Ban [PDF of Article]
March
-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: Coterra Energy Spills 12,600 Gallons Of Wastewater From Shale Gas Well Pad In Bridgewater Twp., Susquehanna County [3.1.25]
-- DEP Orders Energy Transfer/Sunoco To Install Water Treatment Systems In Over 200 Homes Impacted By Petroleum Products Pipeline Leak In Bucks County [3.6.25]
-- What The Shale Gas Industry Is Leaving Behind: DEP: Diversified Production LLC Abandons Shale Gas Powered Cryptocurrency Facility In Elk County; 9 More Violations For Abandoned Shale Gas Wells This Week [3.7.25]
-- The Derrick: State Attorney General Launches Criminal Investigation Into Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill That Contaminated Venango Water Company Spring [3.8.25]
-- Gov. Shapiro Marks Milestone Of Plugging 300 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Over 2 Years; New Technology Finding More Abandoned Wells [3.12.25]
-- PA American Water Identifies Water Source For New Public Water System To Replace Water Wells Contaminated By Shale Gas Fracking 20 Years Ago In Dimock Twp., Susquehanna County [3.13.25]
-- Capital And Main - Audrey Carleton: The Little Town Of Cecil Township, Washington County That Stood Up To Big Shale Gas And Set More Protective Setback Distances And Now Faces Legal Challenges From 2 Shale Gas Drillers [3.14.25]
-- Courier Times: PA State Attorney General Investigates Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Leaks For Potential Environmental Crimes In Bucks County [Convicted Of Other Criminal Charges, Penalized Over $48.1 Million For Pipeline Violations So Far] [3.16.25]
-- DEP Issued Violations To Range Resources, LPR Energy For Not Filing Shale Gas Production And Waste Generation Reports In 12 Counties [3.22.25]
-- DEP Issues One Conventional Well Owner 36 Violations For Abandoning Their Conventional Wells; 7 More Violations Issued To Shale Gas Drillers For Abandoning Wells [3.23.25]
-- Volunteer Firefighters, DEP Respond To Conventional Gas Well Explosion, Fire In Westmoreland County [3.22.25]
-- Mine Subsidence Found Under Olympus Energy/Hyperion Natural Gas Compressor Station Construction Site In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County [3.22.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 15 to 21: 42 More Conventional, 7 More Shale Gas Abandoned Wells; Mine Subsidence Under Compressor Station; Conventional Gas Well Explosion; 2 Shale Gas Companies Fail To Report Shale Gas Waste Generation, Production In 12 Counties [3.22.25]
-- DEP Reports 575 Water Supply/Stray Gas Complaints About Oil & Gas Operations In Last 2 Years; Investigation Can Take A Year, Sometimes 2-3 To Find Those Responsible [3.25.25]
-- DEP To Recommend Environmental Quality Board Accept A Petition For Study To Increase Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells At April 8 Meeting [3.25.25]
-- Criminal Convictions; Record Penalties, Restitution Of Over $158.3 Million Highlight Big Shale Gas, Related Petrochemical Industry Compliance History In Pennsylvania [3.26.25]
-- Daily Grind Living Next To Oil & Gas Industry: Spills, Polluted Water Supplies, Smells Like Gas, Noise, Air Pollution, Explosions, Truck Traffic, Erosion, Radioactive Waste, Gas Flares, Dust, Lights, Road Dumping Waste, Abandoned Wells [3.27.25]
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission: Low Stream Flows Triggering Restrictions On 19 Shale Gas Water Withdrawals, 17 More Approaching Restrictions [3.27.25]
-- DEP Soliciting Bids On 3rd Conventional Abandoned Oil & Gas Well Plugging Contract For 19 Wells In Clarion, Jefferson Counties At Taxpayer Expense [3.28.25]
-- WHYY: Bucks County Residents Sue Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Over Pipeline Leak That Contaminated Their Wells [3.28.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 22 to 28 - Failed To Comply With Well Plugging Order For 63 Months; Abandoned Conventional Well Violations Hit 113; Another Conventional Well Explosion, Same Owner [3.29.25]
-- DEP: Conventional Well Owner Has 2nd Well Explosion, Fire In A Week In Westmoreland County [3.29.25]
-- 7 Years Ago, People From Over 70 Households Gave First-Hand Accounts Of How The PA Shale Gas Industry Impacted Their Health, Lives And Communities To A State Grand Jury Describing The ‘Sometimes Harsh Reality’ Of These Operations [3.31.25]
April
-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies EQT Shale Gas Motion To Exclude Evidence Of Medical Conditions, Toxicology Reports Related To A Landowner Appeal Of A DEP Water Supply Contamination Determination [4.2.25]
-- DEP: Nearly 7 Year Struggle Continues To Cleanup Multiple Conventional Oil Well Spills At Site In Economy Borough, Beaver County [4.5.25]
-- DEP: Shale Gas Driller Failed To Restore 3 Million Gallon Water Impoundment, Well Site For Nearly 8 Years In Clinton County [4.5.25]
-- Conventional/Shale Oil & Gas Industry Association Acknowledges 1.4 Million People ‘Are Impacted By General Oil & Gas Operations’ In Pennsylvania [4.8.25]
-- Late Night Road Dumping: Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Continues To Be Dumped On Dirt, Gravel, Paved Roads; DEP Expected To Provide Update At April 24 Meeting [4.9.25]
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission: Low Stream Flows Trigger Restrictions On 29 Shale Gas Water Withdrawals [4.24.25]
-- Conventional Oil & Gas Facility Owners Must Now File A Methane Emissions Compliance Report By June 1, 2025 Required By A 2022 DEP Methane Pollution Reduction Rule As A Result Of Court Settlement [4.25.25]
-- DEP: Abandoned Shale Gas Water Impoundment Not Used For 7 Years Cited For Not Being Restored In Clarion County [4.23.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 12 to 25: Another Abandoned Shale Gas Water Impoundment; 18 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Exposed Gas Pipeline Crosses Stream [4.26.25]
-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Continue To Push DEP To Legalize Road Dumping Their Wastewater [4.30.25]
-- 6-Inch Conventional Natural Gas Gathering Pipeline Rupture Causes Spill In Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland County; State Agencies Have No Jurisdiction Over Safety Issues [4.30.25]
May
-- Conventional Oil Well Storage Tank Rupture Causes 2,100 Gallon Spill Of Wastewater, Crude Oil In Upper Burrell Twp., Westmoreland County [5.1.25]
-- Consol Conventional Well Plugging Incident Contaminates Livestock Water Supply, 2 Springs, Stream In Morris Twp., Greene County [5.1.25]
-- New Report: Shale Gas Industry Expected To Drill 8,400 More Wells In PA; 171 Shale Wells Abandoned So Far; Shale Well Plugging Expected To Cost Up To $8.5 Billion [5.6.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 3 to 9 - 171 Abandoned Shale Gas Wells; 7 Year Effort To Clean Up Conventional Well Continues; Defective Casing, Cementing [5.10.25]
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Truck Hauling Shale Gas Wastewater Overturns Loses 2,000 Gallons In Stream, Driver Not Injured [PDF of Article] [5.14.25]
-- CBSNews: Residents Say Jet Fuel Pipeline Leak In Bucks County Went Undetected For Months, Poisoned Their Drinking Water [5.14.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 10 to 16 -- 18 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Failure To Comply With Plugging Order; 2,000 Gallon Wastewater Spill; Consol Still Cleaning Up Water Supply Contamination [5.17.25]
-- PA American Water Begins Construction Of Pipeline To Provide Replacement Water For Dimock Township Residents Who Had Wells Contaminated By Shale Gas Drilling 20 Years Ago In Susquehanna County [5.22.25]
-- Late Night Dumping II: Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumping Continues On Roads, This Time With Bigger Trucks; New Research On Harmful Wastewater Impacts [5.22.25]
-- Environmental Hearing Board Agrees There Is ‘Acute’ Danger In CNX Misusing A Deposition In An Appeal Before The Board To ‘Punish’ An Environmental Advocate For Her Advocacy Against CNX [5.23.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 17 to 23 -- Failure To Comply With Shale Well Plugging Order; 28 Months Without 3 Conventional Well Cleanups; 206 Abandoned Conventional Wells; Road Dumping Continues [5.24.25]
-- Inside Climate News: PennEnergy Surrenders Water Withdrawal Approval/Permit Saying Big Sewickley Creek In Beaver County Could Not Provide Enough Water For Shale Gas Operations [5.29.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 24 to 31 -- Failed To Restore 5 Shale Gas Water Impoundments In One County; 5 New Cases Of Defective Shale Well Cement; More Abandoned Shale, Conventional Wells [5.31.25]
-- DEP: XTO Energy Failed To Restore 5 Multi-Million Gallon Shale Gas Water Impoundments In Butler County [5.31.25]
June
-- DEP: Shell Petrochemical Plant Fire Resulted In Possible Release Of An Unknown Quantity Of 1,3-Butadiene And Benzene Into The Atmosphere In Beaver County [6.5.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - May 31 to June 6 - Horizontal Drilling Spill; ‘Control Issue’ Blows Drilling Mud Out A Flare; Failure To Notify DEP Of Spills; More Abandoned Wells [6.7.25]
-- $100/Well Bounty Established For Previously Unknown Oil & Gas Wells Abandoned By Conventional Well Owners Under New Program Funded By Oil Region Alliance; 4 Penn State Extension Workshops Set [6.10.25]
-- Protect PT Will Appeal EHB Decision To Allow CNX Resources To Drill Shale Gas Wells Just Hundreds Of Feet From Homes In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County [6.20.25]
-- Cecil Twp. Zoning Hearing Board Dismisses Range Resources Validity Challenge To 2,500 Foot Setback Ordinance For Shale Gas Wells In Washington County [6.20.25]
-- 5 Years Later: A Progress Report On PA’s Grand Jury Recommendations For Protecting Public Health, Communities From Shale Gas Industry Impacts - A Long Way To Go [6.25.25]
-- DEP: 768 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells May Be Plugged In Next Year; Over 27,000 New Abandoned Wells May Have Been Found; Alternatives To Well Plugging Bonds [6.25.25]
-- DEP Reports It Has No Idea How Many Shale Gas Water/Wastewater Pipelines There Are, The Spills They’ve Had Or Their Impacts [6.25.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - June 7 to 27 - Finding 27,000 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Not Tracking Water/Wastewater Pipelines; Failure To Comply With DEP Orders; Inadvertent Pipeline Construction Returns - Again [6.28.25]
-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies Request To End Appeal Of Catalyst Energy, Inc. Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permit In McKean County [6.30.25]
July
-- PUC Approves $750,000 Penalty Against UGI Utilities For 2020 Natural Gas Main Eruption In Monroe County Killing 1 Person [7.2.25]
-- Environmental Integrity Project: DEP Made Changes To Permit For MarkWest Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant In Washington County To Reduce Air Emissions, Improve Accountability [7.1.25]
-- Warren Times Editorial: Pennsylvania Needs A New Plan For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells; Increasing Bond Amounts Only Part Of Solution [7.1.25]
-- Observer-Reporter: EQT Shale Gas Driller Sues Morgan Twp., Greene County In Federal Court Over Limits On Heavy Equipment Hauling On Local Roads To Prevent Damage [PDF of Article] [7.3.25]
-- CNX Resources Challenges Environmental Hearing Board Authority To Add Conditions To Permits For Shale Gas Wells At The Drakulic Well Pad In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County [7.3.25]
-- 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 [7.4.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - June 28 to July 4 - 30+ Days Of Cleanup Continues At Shale Gas Pad; Failure To Comply With Plugging Order For 67 Months; Failure To Install E&S Controls For 68 Months [7.5.25]
-- The Derrick: Aqua Pennsylvania Details $5.5 Million Upgrade Costs For Rhodes Estates Water Systems In Venango County Area; Fallout Continues From Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill [7.10.25]
-- Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Patrice Tomcik, Mother, Butler County Resident And Moms Clean Air Force Member [7.10.25]
-- Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Kim Anderson, Evangelical Environmental Network - Rager Mountain Leak Of 1.1 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas [7.10.25]
-- Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Sarah Hertweck, Indiana Township Supervisor - ‘I See Up Close How Hobbled We Are By The State To Make The Best Choices For Our Community’ [7.10.25]
-- Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Rachel Meyer, Mother, Beaver County Resident - My Home Is Near A Natural Gas Compressor Station, 8 Shale Gas Well Pads, And The Shell Petrochemical Plant Is In My County [7.10.25]
-- Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Barbara Jarmoska, 77 Year Resident Lycoming County - The Degradation Is ‘Shocking And Tragic’ [7.10.25]
-- Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Vanessa Lynch, Mother, Allegheny County Resident - Its Been 5 Years Since A Grand Jury Report Said Pennsylvania Failed To Protect Families From Fracking, Let's Right Past Failures [7.10.25]
-- Shale Gas Industry VP Attacks Credibility Of A Mom And Allegheny County Resident For Comments She Submitted In Support Of DEP Plan To Reduce Methane Emissions From The Oil & Gas Industry [7.11.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 5 to 11 - Shale Gas Wastewater, Fracking Chemicals Release; Water Pipeline Rupture; Crude Oil Spills; More Abandoned Wells [7.12.25]
-- Courier Times: Bucks County Residents, Sen. Santarsiero Say DEP Isn’t Doing Enough To Make Energy Transfer/Sunoco Define The Extent Of Petroleum Pipeline Leak And Clean It Up [7.17.25]
-- DEP: Shale Gas Well Control Problem Caused Uncontrolled Release Of Wastewater For Over 34 Hours At Repsol’s Broadleaf Holdings Well Pad In Troy Twp., Bradford County [7.18.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 12 to 18 - Uncontrolled Shale Gas Wastewater Release For 34 Hours; Abandoned Conventional Wells Top 300; 102 New Brownfield Sites [7.19.25]
-- Protect PT: CNX Appeals EHB Decision Requiring DEP To Enforce Local Environmental Protection Settlement At The Drakulic Shale Gas Well Pad In Westmoreland County [7.24.25]
-- DEP: Cleanup Efforts Continue At Repsol Shale Gas Well Pad Where A Well Control Problem Caused An Uncontrolled Release Of Wastewater For 34 Hours In Bradford County [7.24.25]
-- Attorney General Sunday Files Criminal Charges Against Equitrans For 2022 Leak Of 1.1 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas From Its Rager Mountain Gas Storage Field In Cambria County [7.24.25]
-- 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 [7.25.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 19 to 25 - More Criminal Charges; Weeks Long Wastewater Cleanups Continue; 27 More Abandoned Conventional Wells [7.26.25]
-- Coterra Energy Fined $299,000 For Contaminating 13 Private Water Supplies In Lenox Twp., Susquehanna County - Just A Few Miles From Dimock [7.29.25]
-- Pin Oak Energy Partners Signs Consent Order With DEP To Address Its Failure To Restore 16 Shale Gas Well Sites And An Impoundment In Beaver County Since 2023 [7.29.25]
August
-- DEP: Second Spill From Horizontal Drilling At EQM Gathering Pipeline Construction Project In Washington County Contaminates Spring [8.2.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 26 to August 1- Coterra Contaminates 13 More Water Wells; Shale Driller Fails To Restore 16 Well Sites; Dewatering Abandoned Impoundment Halted; Another Pipeline Construction Spill [8.2.25]
-- Range Resources Files Appeal Of The Dismissal Of Its Zoning Hearing Board Challenge To Cecil Township’s Ordinance Requiring A 2,500 Foot Setback For Shale Gas Wells [8.4.25]
-- FracTracker Alliance: Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County Released 17.9 Billion Pounds Of Air Pollution Since It Began Operation, During 80 Malfunctions, 43 Violation Episodes [8.6.25]
-- PA Supreme Court Rules No Republican Senate, House Members Can Intervene In Legal Challenge To Act 96 That Took Away Authority To Increase Conventional Oil & Gas Well Bond Amounts To Cover Taxpayer Costs For Plugging [8.6.25]
-- DEP Awards $7.24 Million In Federal Funds To Plug 329 Marginal Conventional Oil & Gas Wells [Names Of Those Awarded Grants Not Released Yet] [8.7.25]
-- DEP: 25 Days After An Uncontrolled Release Of Wastewater At A Repsol Shale Gas Well Pad, Cleanup Continues In Bradford County [8.8.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 2 to 8 - Shale Gas Wastewater Spill Day 25; Failed To Restore Plugged Well Site In 43 Months; 25 Months - No Action On Spill Cleanup [8.9.25]
-- Courier Times: Energy Transfer/Sunoco Making More Pipeline Repairs In Upper Makefield Twp. Where A Previous Leak Contaminated Water Wells; Township Says It Didn’t Know [PDF of Article] [8.12.25]
-- DEP: Conventional Well Plugging Operation Contaminates Spring In Allegheny County [8.13.25]
-- DEP Issued Violations To Iron Cumberland, LLC For Illegally Disposing Of 66,780 Gallons Of Conventional Well Plugging Wastes At Coal Refuse Disposal Area In Greene County [8.16.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 9 to 15 - Illegal Disposal Of 66,780 Gallons Of Conventional Wastewater; 4 Impoundments Not Restored; 3 Conventional Wells Mined Through [8.16.25]
-- DEP Issues Violations For Failing To Report How Waste Was Disposed Of Safely From 133 Conventional Oil & Gas Wells, Including 50 Owned By CNX Gas Company [8.19.25]
-- DEP: Leatherwood LLC Issued Violations For Illegally Disposing Of 43,176 Gallons Of Conventional Gas Well Plugging Wastes At Coal Refuse Disposal Area In Greene County [8.20.25]
-- DEP: Day 38 Of Cleanup: Borehole Found Under Stormwater Basin During Continuing Cleanup Of Repsol Shale Gas Well Pad After A 34-Hour Uncontrolled Wastewater Release In Bradford County [8.21.25]
-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Pushing 3 More Ways To Legalize Road Dumping Their Wastewater; Not Clear How The Public, Put At Risk By Dumping, Will Be Involved [8.21.25]
-- DEP Now Accepting Bids To Plug 7 Conventional Gas Wells In Washington County [8.22.25]
-- DEP: 3rd & 4th Spills From Horizontal Drilling At EQM Gathering Pipeline Project In Washington County; Overflowing Tanks; Water Supply Complaint Investigated [8.23.25]
-- DEP: Contaminated Wastewater Found Seeping From Saturated Shale Gas Well Pad Fill Slope In Great Bend Twp., Susquehanna County [8.23.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 16 to 22 - Conventional, Shale Gas Wastewater Spilling All Over, Seeping From Hillsides; 4th Pipeline Construction Spill; Where Did You Put That Waste? [8.23.25]
-- DEP: An Estimated 16,000 Gallons Of 'Black Goop' Spills From Closed Eureka Resources Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Plant In Williamsport, Reaching Susquehanna River [8.24.25]
-- DEP Plugs 2 Conventional Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners And Venting Gas In Erie County [8.27.25]
-- DEP: Griffin Summit Oil Co. Violated Order To Plug Or Bring 53 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Into Compliance In Venango County; 420 Abandoned Conventional Well NOVs In 2025 [8.27.25]
-- Freeport Township Declares Disaster Emergency After Residents Impacted By A Gas Related Water Contamination Event Have Been Without Permanent Water Supplies For 3 Years-- We’re Not Blaming Anybody, We Just Want Good, Clean Drinking Water [8.28.25]
-- DEP Closes Violations For Failing To Restore Shale Gas Water Impoundment For 7 Years In Clarion County After Owner Reports Using It To Frack A Well; On July 31 [8.29.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 23 to 29 - Township Declares Disaster Emergency Over Polluted Water Wells; 70 More Abandoned Conventional Well Violations [8.30.25]
September
-- DEP Issues New Order To Eureka Resources To Remove Oil & Gas Wastewater From Its Bradford County Facility In 90 Days; Imposes Penalty $6,100 For Not Complying With January Order; Updates On Other Facilities [9.2.25]
-- Springhill Township Becomes 2nd Township To Declare Disaster Emergency After Residents Were Impacted By A Gas Related Water Contamination Event In Greene County [9.4.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Aug. 30 to Sept. 5 - 2nd Township Declares Disaster Emergency; New Shale Gas Well Casing/Cement Failure; 100 Conventional Well Owners Get Violations For Abandoning Wells [9.6.24]
-- DEP Releases Companies, Individuals Receiving $7.24 Million In Federal Funds To Plug 329 Conventional Gas Wells In 13 Counties [9.10.25]
-- DEP: Blackhill Energy Pipeline Horizontal Drilling Accident Results In 18,000 Gallon Spill In Granville Twp., Bradford County [9.11.25]
-- DEP: Eureka Resources Submits Plan To Cleanup, Close All 3 Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Facilities, Remove 4.6 Million Gallons Of Wastewater Left In Lycoming & Bradford County Facilities [9.13.25]
-- DEP: Cleanup Continues At Repsol Shale Gas Well Pad After A Well Control Incident In July Caused A 34-Hour Uncontrolled Wastewater Release In Bradford County [9.13.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 6 to 12 - Disposing Of 4.6 Million Gallons Of Oil & Gas Wastewater; 18,000 Gallon Drilling Spill; Failure To Restore Pipeline Right-Of-Way - Again [9.13.25]
-- Permits For Controversial CNX Resources Drakulic Shale Gas Wells Expire Potentially Ending Appeals; CNX Can Apply For New Permits Starting The Process All Over Again [9.15.25]
-- Independent Research Study By Pitt, Duquesne Ties Water Well Contamination To Shale Gas Drilling In 2 Greene County Townships That Declared Water Disaster Emergencies [9.17.25]
-- Federal Court Denies Request For Injunction In Lawsuit By New Freeport Residents Against EQT Gas Drilling Company Over Contaminated Water Supplies in Greene County [9.18.25]
-- Marcellus Drilling News: EQT's Mountain Valley Pipeline Urges WV Appeals Court To Revive Civil Lawsuit Against Pipeline Protesters [Pipeline Finished In June 2024] [9.18.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 13 to 19 - Pipeline Rupture At Gas Storage Area; Spill By DEP Plugging Contractor; Failure To Have Shale Gas Emergency, Spill Plans [9.20.25]
-- TribLive: CNX Resources Will Apply For New Shale Gas Well Permits At The Controversial Drakulic Well Pad In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County [9.22.25]
-- Part I - 500 Feet Isn’t Enough: Michelle Stonemark Tells What It’s Really Like Living Next To A Shale Gas Well Pad - Nosebleeds, Headaches, Nausea, Air Pollution, Vibrating House, Sleepless Nights, Anxiety - In Cecil Twp., Washington County [9.26.25]
-- Part II - 500 Feet Isn’t Enough: 42 Scientific Studies, 20+ Years Of Experience With Shale Gas Drilling In PA; A State Grand Jury Report; Criminal Convictions; Public Complaints; Lawsuits; Media Reports All Document The Need To Increase Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells [9.26.25]
-- 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 [9.27.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 20 to 26 - 128 Days Of Cleanup - Not Done Yet; 481 Abandoned Conventional Wells; Conventional Owner Builds 2 Illegal Well Pads [9.27.25]
-- DEP Names Seth Pelepko, P.G. Deputy Secretary For Oil & Gas Management [9.29.25]
-- DEP Moves To Dismiss BCD Properties Appeal Challenging A DEP Letter Advising It Does Not Comply With Waste Regulations Allowing The Disposal Of Its Oil And Gas Wastewater By Road Dumping [9.29.25]
-- KYW: Energy Transfer/Sunoco Starts Pipeline Maintenance Work After Jet Fuel Leak Contaminated Water Wells In Bucks County Beginning In 2023 [9.29.25]
October
-- Inside Climate News - Kyle Bagenstose: Appeal Could Make It Easy For Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners To Dispose Of Their Wastewater By Road Dumping [10.1.25]
-- DEP: Conventional Gas Well Owner Uses Wastewater To Water Freshly Seeded Well Site, Discharging Wastewater Into Ditch, Storm Sewer In Warren County [10.1.25]
-- DEP: Blackhill Energy LLC 2nd ‘Inadvertent Return’ During Horizontal Drilling Of Brad-Tenn Loop Pipeline In Bradford County [10.2.25]
-- DEP Orders Timberline Energy, Inc. To Submit Production, Waste, Well Integrity Reports For 475 Conventional Oil, Gas Wells In 6 Counties; Recent Inspections Show Many Wells Appear Abandoned [10.3.25]
-- DEP Opportunity To Bid On Plugging 15 Abandoned Conventional Oil, Gas Wells At Taxpayer Expense In Butler County [10.4.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 - 940,000 Gallon Shale Gas Wastewater Spill; Order Ceasing Production Of 551 Conventional Wells; Is Conventional Well Owner Abandoning 475 Wells In 6 Counties? [10.5.25]
-- The Allegheny Front: Shale Gas Drilling Waste Again Poses Threat To Monongahela River [Westmoreland Landfill] [10.6.25]
-- Inside Climate News - Kiley Bense: Scientists Find Evidence PA Townships’ Water Contaminated By Shale Gas Frack-Out [Townships Declare Disaster Emergency] [10.7.25]
-- DEP published notice in the October 11 PA Bulletin announcing an opportunity to bid on plugging 44 abandoned conventional oil and gas wells in the Allegheny National Forest in Highland Township, Elk County. Mandatory pre-bid meeting October 22 and 23. Click Here for bid document. [10.14.25]
-- Delaware RiverKeeper Network Files Lawsuit Challenging DRBC Gibbstown LNG Gas Export Facility Dock Permit [10.14.25]
-- DEP Proposes To Deny Eureka Resources Water Quality Permit Renewal For Standing Stone Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Facility In Bradford County [10.14.25]
-- Rep. Vitali Introduces Legislation To Increase Setbacks From Unconventional Shale Gas Wells From 500 Feet To 2,500 Feet From Homes, 5,000 Feet From Schools, Hospitals [10.15.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Oct. 4 to 17: Shale Gas Driller Fails To Restore Impoundment, Well Pad For 2,463 Days; Pipeline Permits Withdrawn For Noncompliance; Massive Pad Project Has Multiple E &S Violations [10.18.25]
-- 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 [10.23.25]
-- DEP: Day 155 - Contaminated Water Still Flowing From Seneca Resources Vandergrift Shale Gas Wells, Well Pad; Cleanup Continues In Charleston Twp., Tioga County [10.25.25]
-- DEP: 14,280 Gallon Shale Gas Wastewater Spill At EQT Production’s Secretariat Well Pad In Gilmore Twp., Greene County [10.25.25]
-- 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 [10.25.25]
-- DEP Solicits Bids On 2 Contracts To Plug 25 Abandoned Conventional Wells In Erie County At Taxpayer Expense; 1 Conventional Well In Clearfield County Expected To Cost $200,000+ To Plug [10.31.25]
-- DEP: Coterra Energy 49-Hour Shale Gas Well Control Incident While Fracking Resulting In Spraying Production Fluids Over Well Pad, Releasing Natural Gas In Susquehanna County [10.31.25]
-- Attorney General Sunday: Criminal Charges Filed Against Seneca Resources For 64 Counts Of Illegal Dumping Of Shale Gas Waste In Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga Counties [10.31.25]
November
-- Capital & Main: Pennsylvania Gas Producer [CNX Resources] Sues Capital & Main Over Its Reporting On Health Risks [Trying To Silence Its Reporting] [11.1.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Oct. 25 to 31 - 100 Criminal Charges Filed; 49-Hour Uncontrolled Shale Gas Well; Failed To Clean Up Conventional Well Spills For 1,364 Days And Counting [11.2.25]
-- House Environmental Committee Puts Spotlight On Proposed Penn America LNG Gas Export Facility In Chester, Delaware County [11.5.25]
-- DEP: More Than 99% Of Conventional Oil & Gas Facility Owners Failed To Comply With VOC/Methane Reduction Regulations Covering 64,660 Wells; Had 193 Days To File [11.6.25]
-- DEP: LPR Energy LLC Fails To Plug Abandoned Shale Gas Well For 1,521 Days And Counting In Fayette County [11.8.25]
-- DEP: EQM Gathering Has 6th ‘Inadvertent’ Release During Pipeline Construction In Nottingham Twp., Washington County [11.8.25]
-- DEP: MarkWest Liberty Midstream Pipeline Construction Results In 20,000 Gallon Spill Into Coal Mine Voids Under Washington County, For The 3rd Time [11.8.25]
-- DEP: Spills, Releases Continue At Seneca Resources Taft Shale Gas Well Pad In Middlebury Twp., Tioga County For 373 Days And Counting [11.8.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 1 to 7 - Failed To Plug Shale Gas Well For 1,521 Days; 20,000 Gallon Spill Into Mine Void; 99% Of Conventional Well Owners Fail To Comply With Methane Rule [11.8.25]
-- Penn State Research: Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners In Allegheny National Forest Leak Arsenic, Methane Into Aquifer [PA To Spend $400 Million In Federal Taxpayer Money To Plug Wells Abandoned By Their Owners] [11.10.25]
-- DEP Issues Violations To Rock Oil Resources LLC For Abandoning, Not Plugging 36 Conventional Oil & Gas Wells For 639 Days And Counting In Venango County [11.11.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 8 to 14 - One Owner Abandons 36 Conventional Wells; Failed To Cleanup Shale Gas Spill For 498 Days [11.15.25]
-- 500 Feet Isn’t Enough - House Hearing I: Shale Gas Industry Says Setbacks Won’t Protect Residents, Public Health, Environment From Shale Gas Operations, Only ‘Rigorous Oversight’ Will; Standards Have Not Changed In 9 Years [11.18.25]
-- 500 Feet Isn't Enough- House Hearing II: As A Township Supervisor We Have An Obligation To Protect The Health, Safety And Welfare Of Our Township Residents From Shale Gas Development [11.18.25]
-- 500 Feet Isn't Enough - House Hearing III: What It’s Really Like Living Next To A Shale Gas Well Pad - Nosebleeds, Headaches, Nausea, Air Pollution, Vibrating House, Sleepless Nights, Anxiety, Truck Traffic [11.18.25]
-- Inquirer: How An Energy Transfer/Sunoco Petroleum Products Pipeline Leak Disrupted A Quiet Bucks County Neighborhood: ‘Never Drink The Water’ [PDF of Article] [11.19.25]
-- DEP Issues Air Permit For Largest Natural Gas Power Plant In US To Feed Proposed 3,200 Acre Homer City A.I. Data Center Campus In Indiana County [11.19.25]
-- DEP Issues Violations To Rocksauce Operating LLC For Abandoning, Not Plugging, Not Submitting Well Integrity Reports For A Total Of 83 Conventional Wells In Allegheny, Washington Counties; Abandoned Well NOVs Top 634 [11.20.25]
-- DEP: Crude Oil Released From Failed Conventional Oil Well Gathering Line Travels Nearly Length Of 2 Football Fields In Hamilton Twp., McKean County [11.22.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 15 to 21: Fails To Restore Shale Gas Well Pad For 1,418 Days; Fails To Clean Up Spills At 2 Conventional Wells For 1,038 Days; Owner Abandons 35 Conventional Wells [11.22.25]
-- DEP Settlement With Energy Transfer/Sunoco, Atlantic Richfield Imposes $3.3 Million Penalty, Including $1 Million Community Improvement Projects For Polluting Allegheny River [11.25.25]
-- DEP Issues Lazy Oil Company Violations For Abandoning 12 Conventional Wells In Venango County; None Of The Wells Could Be Found At Their GPS Coordinates; If You Know More, Call DEP [11.28.25]
-- DEP: MarkWest Liberty Midstream Pipeline Construction Results In 10,000 Gallon Spill Into Coal Mine Void Under Washington County, For The 4th Time [11.29.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 22 to 28: $3.3 Million Penalty; 10,000 Gallon Spill Into Mine Voids, For 4th Time; 21 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Wet Fracking Sand ‘Escapes’ Containment [11.30.25]
December
-- PA Trout Unlimited, Keystone Trails Assn., Responsible Drilling Alliance Request DEP To Hold Hearing On Permit For PA General Energy 3.9 Mile Shale Gas Access Road/Staging Area In Loyalsock State Forest, Lycoming County [12.3.25]
-- DEP Issued 13 Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Violations Covering Up To 988 Wells For Failing To Submit Annual Production, Waste Generation/Disposal Or Well Integrity Reports; A Step To Well Abandonment [12.6.25]
-- DEP: CNX Gas Suffers Shale Gas Well Casing Failure While Zipper Fracking 3 Wells In West Finley Twp., Washington County; CNX Waited Over 10 Hours To Notify DEP [12.6.25]
-- DEP: MarkWest Liberty Midstream Pipeline Construction Results In 36,000 And 29,000 Gallon Spills Into Coal Mine Voids Under Washington County; Total Of 329,900 Gallons Lost So Far On This Project [12.7.25]
-- DEP Issued Violations To Chesapeake Appalachia For Casing/Cementing Failures In 4 Shale Gas Wells At The Linski Well Pad In Bradford County [12.7.25]
-- DEP Issued Violations To Repsol Oil & Gas For Casing/Cementing Failures In 4 Shale Gas Wells After A 34-Hour Uncontrolled Wastewater Release At The Broadleaf Well Pad In Bradford County [12.7.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 29 to Dec. 5 - Eight New Shale Gas Well Casing/Cementing Failures; 329,900 Gallons Of Pipeline Drilling Fluid Lost To Mine Voids; Violations Sent For Not Reporting On 988 Conventional Wells [12.7.25]
-- Environmental Quality Board Votes To Accept Petition To Study An Increase In Setback Safety Zones From Shale Gas Wells; And 3 Petitions From Oil & Gas Industry To Change Other Requirements [12.9.25]
-- YaleEnvironment360: Pennsylvania Faces A New Natural Gas Fracking Boom With Soaring Energy Demands Needed To Feed A.I. Data Centers [12.11.25]
-- Capitol Wire: Natural Gas Fracking Activity In Pennsylvania Surges As Power Demand From A.I. Data Centers Increases
-- DEP Investigating Another 31,000 Gallon Spill Into Mine Voids From MarkWest Liberty Midstream Pipeline Construction In Washington County; 360,000 Gallons Lost So Far [12.13.25]
[12.13.25]
-- Environmental Groups, Our Children’s Trust Appeal Air Quality Permit For Homer City A.I. Data Center 4.5 GW Natural Gas Power Plant In Indiana County [12.18.25]
-- DEP: MarkWest Liberty Midstream Reports 69,000 Gallon Pipeline Construction Fluid Loss Into Mine Voids Under Washington County; 476,600 Gallons Lost So Far [12.20.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 13 to 19 -- Shale Gas Abandoned Well Violations Hit 70; Conventional Well Not Plugged For 2,045 Days; MarkWest Loses Another 69,000 Gallons Of Pipeline Drilling Fluid To Mine Voids [12.20.25]
-- Warren Times: US Forest Service Closes American Refining Group Facilities In Allegheny National Forest Declaring Them Unsafe Due To Hazardous Materials, Structurally Unsound Buildings [12.21.25]
-- Inside Climate News: Fracking’s Forever Problem: 3 Articles On Tracking, Disposing Of Oil & Gas Waste In Pennsylvania - Still A ‘Logistical Mess’ [12.21.25]
-- AP: Explosions At Bucks County Nursing Home Kill At Least 2, Gov. Shapiro Says; Odor Of Natural Gas At The Site [12.23.25]
-- DEP Orders Monroe Energy's MIPC, LLC To Provide Replacement Water To Residents In Delaware County Potentially Impacted By A 378,000 Gallon Gasoline Leak Reported From The Chelsea Pipeline Station And Tank Farm [12.24.25]
-- DEP: MarkWest Liberty Midstream Shale Gas Pipeline Drilling Fluid Losses To Mine Voids Climbs To Over 521,600 Gallons In Washington County [12.25.25]
-- Warren Times: US Forest Service Conducting Federal Superfund Pollution Assessment Of Abandoned American Refining Group Oil & Gas Facilities In Allegheny National Forest [12.26.25]
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 20 to 26 - 378,000 Gallon Gasoline Spill; 521,600 Gallon Spilled Into Mine Voids; Crude Oil Pipeline Rupture [12.28.25]
-- 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 [12.30.25]
-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies DEP Motion To Dismiss BCD Properties Appeal Over Its Illegal Disposal Of Oil And Gas Wastewater By Road Dumping; Case To Proceed On Its Merits [12.30.25]
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.
[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.]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Highlights Of Shale Gas, Conventional Oil & Gas Compliance Actions Taken By DEP During 2025 [PaEN]
-- Major Challenges Faced By DEP’s Oil And Gas Enforcement Program In 2026 [PaEN]
-- DEP: Day 455 And Counting: Seneca Resources Continues To Release Wastewater, Frack New Shale Gas Wells At Taft Well Pad In Middlebury Twp., Tioga County [PaEN]
-- DEP: Owner Of At Least 43 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Issued Violations For 6 More On State Game Lands In Venango County; Efforts To Locate The Owner Have Been Unsuccessful [PaEN]
-- DEP: Eureka Resources Has Until Jan. 31 To Remove All Wastewater From Its 3 Closed Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Plants; About 1.5 Million Gallons Of Wastewater Remains In Bradford County Facility [PaEN]
-- DEP Eliminates Longstanding Permitting Backlog In 2025, Launches New Bureau of Permitting Coordination [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- Williamsport Sun: DEP Conducts Follow-Up Inspection Of Closed Eureka Resources Oil & Gas Wastewater Facility In Williamsport [PDF of Article]
-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: Pennsylvania Can’t Accept Oil And Gas Companies’ Self-Reporting - By Chris DiGiulio, Physicians For Social Responsibility-PA
-- Reuters: New PJM Rules Favor On-Site Natural Gas Power Plants Over Renewables For A.I. Data Centers
-- Reuters Commentary: When The US Freezes, LNG Natural Gas Market Prices Spike Over 70%
-- Reuters: US Energy Sector Reels After Winter Storm Knocks Out 2 Million BPD Of Crude Output
-- Reuters: Oil Prices Rise As Harsh Winter Disrupts US Output
-- The Allegheny Front: Fracking Produces A Lot Of Wastewater, Millions Of Gallons Are Stored Under Eastern Ohio Thru Injection Wells
[Posted: January 28, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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