PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP - Day 29: Cleanup Of 336,000 Gallon Spill Of Fracking Flowback Fluid From An Uncontrolled Shale Gas Well Continues At INR OPR LLC Pad In Young Twp., Indiana County

On September 9 and 15, 2026, the Department of Environmental Protection did follow-up inspections of the areas at the INR OPR LLC Cooper shale gas well pad impacted by the release of 336,000 gallons of fracking flowback fluid from an uncontrolled well in Young Township, Indiana County.

September 9

Removal of contaminated materials on the well pad is mostly complete and contaminated soil is still being removed from the south and west berms of the pad.

Trees were removed from the first tree line downslope from the pad and the INR cleanup contractor has installed a filter sock to control sedimentation from the excavation area along the second tree line.

The consultant was onsite collecting soil samples to determine if any other areas need to be remediated and which area were clean.

INR asked for and received a two week extension to respond to the original violations issued for this incident to September 25.

DEP continued all the violations originally issued and noted the agency has not received an updated Spill Response and Pollution Prevention and Control Plan for the site it had requested on April 15, 2026.

Click Here for the DEP inspection report + photos.

September 15

DEP reported remediation of the well pad is complete, but contaminated soil is still being removed in the fields west of the pad.

Excavation should wrap up shortly and the owner’s consultant was again onsite collecting soil samples.

Click Here for the September 15 DEP inspection report + photos.

Incident

An August 17, 2026 inspection report posted by the Department of Environmental Protection documents how “copious quantities” of fracking water came “gushing” from an uncontrolled shale gas well at the INR OPR LLC Cooper well pad in Young Township, Indiana County contaminating a large area and polluting nearby Whiskey Run. Read more here.

On August 31, 2026 DEP reported an estimated 336,000 gallons of fracking flowback water was released during the incident and an undetermined amount went into Whiskey Run. Read more here.

The incident resulted in a major response from firefighters in Indiana, Armstrong, Allegheny and Westmoreland counties to support a specialized gas well response crew that worked to bring the well under control. Read more here.

What’s In Fracking Water

A fact sheet from the Environmental Health Project, fracking water is a mixture of water, chemicals (such as methanol, ethylene glycol, and biocides), and proppants (fine sand) used in shale gas drilling operations.

Fracking water is forced down the wellbore at high pressure in order to fracture the shale and free the gas.

As pressure is released, some of the HFF returns to the surface along with contaminated water from the gas formations, radioactive materials, gases, and metals.

This combination of materials is called flowback and “produced” (contaminated) water. It is considered highly toxic.

Some of the injected fluids are proprietary, so we don’t even know what they are.

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: Excavation of contaminated soil in fields west of well pad; Staging area for contaminated soil.)

[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 Snapshot - September 12 to 18 [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 29: Cleanup Of 336,000 Gallon Spill Of Fracking Flowback Fluid From An Uncontrolled Shale Gas Well Continues At INR OPR LLC Pad In Young Twp., Indiana County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Routine Inspection Finds Contaminated Water From GASP Investment Conventional Oil & Gas Well Leaking From Tank In Bell Twp., Jefferson County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Wind Tipped Over Conventional Crude Oil Tank, Spill Travels Nearly 1,000 Feet Down Access Road, Seeps Into A Stream On State Game Lands In Knox Twp., Jefferson County [PaEN]

-- DEP: Contaminated Water, Cement Spill, No Secondary Containment Or Sedimentation Controls At Conventional Well Plugging Site In Indiana County [PaEN]

-- DEP Confirms Gas Leak In Gathering Pipeline From Conventional Well Owned By Mid East Oil Co. In Unity Twp., Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- DEP: CNX Gas Co., LLC Fails To Restore Drakulic Shale Gas Well Site To Meet Standards Before Permit Expires In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 5,284: Pressure Testing Confirms Shale Gas Well Casing/Cementing Failure Continues At EXCO Resources PA Well Pad In Sullivan County [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 1,391: Complaint Inspection Finds BKV OPR LLC Shale Gas Well With Known Casing/Cement Failure Venting Gas In Wyoming County [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 14: No Action Taken At K Petroleum Inc. Shale Gas Well Site Where Contaminated Water Found Flowing Down Side Of Storage Tank In Washington County [PaEN]

-- The Allegheny Front: Inadequate Safety And Training Led To 2025 Explosion At Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County, Federal Safety Board Finds