close

Marcellus gas company fined nearly $1 million

By Christine Haines chaines@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined a company operating a Marcellus shale gas well in Greene County nearly a million dollars.

The $999,900 fine was imposed as part of a consent order and agreement signed Dec. 16 between the DEP and Vantage Energy Appalachia, a Colorado company with an office in Washington, Pa., which operates gas wells throughout the region. The company had numerous violations over the past year, starting with a landslide at a gas well on Porter Street in Franklin Township in January that eventually covered two nearby streams. Amanda Witman, a spokeswoman with the DEP, said the company notified the DEP the day after the initial slide occurred, and DEP was on site a day later, then again several times in January and February.

“We were in regular contact and making regular inspections of the site to try to bring about voluntary compliance,” Witman said.

When the DEP threatened to shut down all operations at the site and at the end of March the company agreed to stop drilling and take remedial action to stop the slide. Witman said the company was permitted to complete the cementing and casing of two wells at the site, but eight others were left in their unfinished state.

State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, said she is disappointed it took the company two months to take significant corrective action once the problem was identified.

“That bothers me greatly,” Snyder said. “I know the DEP does the best it can with limited resources.”

According to the DEP, the problem was magnified in July when a contractor, Elite Well Services, dumped two truckloads of waste water at the well pad site where the remediation was taking place. The waste water ended up in the streams previously impacted by the landslide and DEP filed additional charges against the company.

A week later, Vantage submitted notice of its intent to correct the water and soil problems created by the slide and waste water dumping, but at the same time the DEP discovered that the company had constructed a new access road along the impacted streams that was not part of its erosion and sedimentation permit. The DEP cited the company again.

Snyder said she is hoping Vantage will operate in a more conscientious fashion in the future.

“I think by the size of the fines that the DEP imposed they realize the serious nature of the incident. I hope that Vantage has learned something and will not repeat this again,” Snyder said.

Snyder said Vantage is not part of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a group of companies drilling for gas in the region, and did not participate in two summits held by state legislators to help gas drilling companies establish best practices for their operations in Pennsylvania.

“I have no sympathy for a company that doesn’t adhere to the government regulations,” Snyder said.

“Vantage Energy is deeply committed to across the board operational excellence, transparency and environmental compliance. We regret these isolated events, some that were related to legacy development projects that Vantage acquired, and are taking important proactive steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur again. Vantage has voluntarily entered into Consent Order and Agreement (COA) with DEP.

“We appreciate the department’s efforts throughout this ongoing process, and are committed to continuing to work closely with DEP on our ongoing remediation efforts. We have no higher priority than the protection of our environment as well as the safety of our employees, contractors and the communities where we are privileged to operate,” the company said in a statement.

The consent order establishes a timetable of goals for Vantage to meet in order to restore the streams and wetlands that have been impacted by the drilling, permanently stabilize the well pad and correct the soil and groundwater impacted by the illegal discharge of the waste water.

“These violations resulted in significant damage to our natural resources and this action is in direct response to the seriousness of the violations,” John Ryder, Director of District Oil and Gas Operations for DEP said in a prepared release. “To its credit, Vantage has begun to make a genuine effort to better manage and operate their well sites. The company has hired an independent consultant to conduct an environmental audit of all of their well sites in Pennsylvania and the company is now fully cooperating with DEP.”

According to the DEP, Vantage could face additional penalties if project deadlines are not met. As part of the agreement, the company will also provide written “progress reports” detailing the actions taken during each period to comply with the consent order. The company must complete all the work on the site, meeting all DEP regulations, by December 31, 2015.

According to the DEP, while the Vantage fine is significant, it is not the largest to date for Marcellus gas drillers in Pennsylvania. Two other drilling companies, Range Resources and EQT, were each fined more than $4 million each this year for impoundment violations in which contaminated water leaked into surround soil and groundwater.

According to Witman, Vantage Appalachia has 41 approved well permits well sites in Greene County, while its sister company, Vantage Appalachia II, has 86 approved well permits in Greene County, with none in Fayette or Washington counties.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today