DEP: Raymond D. Langer Fails To Clean Up Contaminated Water Spills, Address Other Violations, Comply With DEP Order For 1,283 Days

On July 16, 2026, the Department of Environmental Protection conducted a compliance inspection of the Lorish 1 and Choeller 1 conventional oil and gas wells owned by Raymond D. Langer in Robinson Township, Allegheny County and found the owner still has not complied with a DEP order to cleanup wastewater spills and address other violations at the site.

The original violations at these sites were issued on January 11, 2023 and DEP issued a Compliance order on March 24, 2025 requiring steps be taken to clean up the sites.  Read more here.

DEP’s inspection report for the Lorish 1 well said multiple deadlines in the 2025 order were not complied with and a Control and Disposal Plan for remediation of the site was deemed to be “inadequate” and not resubmitted.

The well site is located on a hillside behind a building housing equipment owned by a third party.

DEP said the owner sent an email on June 30, 2026 saying he is waiting for a temporary road to be put in so he can access the well to plug it.

DEP’s inspection report for the Choeller 1 well site said the same thing and added water in a secondary containment area around contaminated water storage tanks was pooling within the earthen dike and needed to be removed.

DEP sent the inspection reports to the well owner.

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: Choeller 1 well contaminated water storage tanks, drain pipe; Lorish 1 leaking conventional well.)

(Photos: Tank broken open - October 2023, December 2023; Row 2- July 2026)

[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:

-- DEP: Equitrans Water SVC LLC [EQT] Suffers Another Contaminated Water Release From Buried Shale Gas Wastewater Pipeline In Aleppo Twp., Greene County  [PaEN]

-- DEP: INR Midstream LLC Failed To Prevent Accelerated Erosion, Sedimentation Along Cooper To Jost Van Dyke Gas & Water Pipelines Construction Right-Of-Way In Young Twp., Indiana County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP: Contaminated Water Storage Tank At Abandoned Conventional Oil Well Site Sat Broken Open For Nearly 3 Years With No Response From Owner In Clover Twp., Jefferson County  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Crude Oil Gathering Pipeline Failure In Conventional Oil Well Field Contaminated 750 Feet Of Chappel Fork Creek In Hamilton Twp., McKean County  [PaEN]  

-- DEP: Raymond D. Langer Fails To Clean Up Contaminated Water Spills, Address Other Violations, Comply With DEP Order For 1,283 Days  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Geography Researchers Want Your Help To Develop Tool To Help Public Better Identify Threats To Health, Environment From Oil & Gas Development Near You  [PaEN]   

[Posted: July 23, 2026]  PA Environment Digest