The roughly 5,024 residents of Mount Pleasant and Robinson Townships, the majority of which rely on private wells for their drinking water, do not know if and when their wells may be contaminated as a result of these drilling activities, the groups said.
Residents in the area are encouraged to report concerns and/or complaints through the official state channel on DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.
Background
MarkWest Liberty notified the Department of Environmental Protection of the drilling fluid losses from horizontal drilling operations as part of the construction of the Chiarelli to Imperial pipeline in both Robinson and Mount Pleasant Townships, PA.
This project supports the larger Rover Pipeline expansion project intended, in part, to increase capacity for the MarkWest Harmon Creek Gas Plant located in Washington County.
The DEP issued a single violation on October 28th, 2025 stating that the company failed to report the incident within the timeframe in accordance with their permit requirements, the groups said.
MarkWest Liberty continued drilling in the same bore path.
As of the date of this release, there have been 18 total reported incidents to the DEP resulting in over 1.2 million gallons of drilling fluid lost under both Mt. Pleasant and Robinson Townships.
According to inspection reports, MarkWest Liberty claims there was no evidence of any “inadvertent returns” on the surface as a result of the incident and continuing to drill was the “practical solution”.
The DEP stated that they are continuing their investigation into the spills, which will include analysis of water and drilling mud samples collected from the spill sites.
The groups said, it remains to be seen whether DEP will require any corrective actions of MarkWest Liberty.
“This is the same area where Shell’s Falcon pipeline also dumped drilling fluid a few years back and received criminal charges. DEP should not have let MarkWest place a pipeline in a problematic area above abandoned mines in Washington County. DEP should cease future activity that is planned to connect this pipeline pathway into North Fayette, Allegheny County and Cecil Township, Washington County as it will still be traversing over abandoned mines," said Cathy L, Robinson Township, Washington County Resident
"DEP should be investigating and reducing risks to water wells for residents of Robinson and Mt. Pleasant Townships following the release and unknown dispersion of over 1.2 million gallons of drilling fluid contamination underground. Reducing risks include stopping drilling to stop potential exacerbation, figuring out where the fluid went and holding the drillers accountable, so residents can understand the state of potential contamination of their water supplies and properties," stated Matthew Mehalik, Executive Director of the Breathe Project.
“While we don’t know the full impacts on the environment and ground water, MarkWest Liberty should be required to stop operations until the issue is resolved and held accountable for cleaning up the major loss of drilling fluids,” Dr. Heather Hulton VanTasel, Executive Director, Three Rivers Waterkeeper.
“MarkWest Liberty has been allowed to expand and pollute our communities without public input. They have violated the Clean Air Act and have not been held accountable. Now they are releasing hundreds of thousands of gallons of drilling fluid underground. How long must this complete disregard for the well-being of the communities living near these operations be allowed to continue?” said Lois B., Washington County Resident, Frackland Tours.
“DEP should halt MarkWest Liberty’s wildly reckless drilling operations until it develops plans that don’t endanger the public,” said Alex Bomstein, Clean Air Council Executive Director. “Pipeline drilling fluid spills in Pennsylvania have damaged and contaminated private drinking water wells, resulted in hospitalizations, and caused massive sinkholes. Fix this now or the public will pay the price.”
(Map: Location of some of the drilling fluid losses long pipeline construction route.)
Resource Link:
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 - 10 More Conventional Abandoned Well Violations; Failure To Notify DEP Of Water Contamination; Casing/Cement Failure [PaEN]
-- Washington County Residents On Water Wells Not Aware A MarkWest Pipeline Drilling Project Lost 1.2 Million Gallons Of Drilling Fluid In Mount Pleasant & Robinson Townships [PaEN]
-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies CNX Gas Company Motion To Throw Out Ullom Family Appeal Over Water Loss In Washington County; Scope Of Rebuttable Presumption Under Review [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - February 7 [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Permit For Homer City Generation 5.8 Mile, 30-Inch Natural Gas Pipeline To Serve Proposed Data Center 4.5 GW Power Plant In Indiana County [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On Columbia Gas Permit For Project To Protect 2 Major Natural Gas Pipelines From Impacts Of Longwall Coal Mining In West Finley Twp., Washington County [PaEN]
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 74 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In December, January; 471 In 2025 [PaEN]
-- Guest Comments: Jacoby & Cove Mountains In Loyalsock State Forest Will Be Degraded For Generations By PA General Energy's 'Saluda' Shale Gas Access Road, Staging Area Project In Lycoming County - By Barbara Jarmoska, Resident [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 56 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In February 7 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
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-- Reactions To Gov. Shapiro's Proposed Budget From Citizen, Environmental, Energy, Industry, Utility Groups [PaEN]
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-- Guest Essay: A.I. Data Centers Pose Big Challenge For PA's Energy Future - Dramatically Increasing Costs For Energy Consumers, And It's Not Getting Any Cheaper - By Tom Gilbert, Pennsylvania Environmental Council [PaEN]
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[Posted: February 2, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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