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Equitrans Still Needs to Tidy Up at Rager Mountain Gas Leak Site

In November 2022, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania), began to leak. Equitrans is the owner/operator of Rager Mountain. The well leaked roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). It took two weeks for the leak to get fixed after it had leaked an estimated 1.4 billion cubic feet into the air (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). It turned out to be less — around 1.1 Bcf of leaked methane in total.
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Cambria Gas-Fired Power Plant Shows Grace in Tax Refund Due

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Fairview Energy Center is a 1,050-megawatt natural gas and ethane-fueled two-by-one combined-cycle electric generating plant 60 miles east of Pittsburgh (Cambria County) that came online in December 2019 (see CPV Marcellus-Fired Power Plant in Cambria “Ahead of Schedule”). It is the only plant of its kind, using both natural gas and ethane, in the world. Unfortunately, the local taxing authorities got a little too zealous in collecting and spending tax revenue from the plant. The county used a company to perform a tax assessment that was found to be factually wrong, using an incorrect methodology for the appraisal, resulting in CPV paying WAY too much in tax — $5.7 million too much. CPV is showing grace to the local school district in stretching out repayment of the $3.7 million it owes back to the company.
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5-Mile Pipeline in Cambria County, PA to Bring 120 New Jobs

Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE) issues grants covering part of the cost of building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses, typically in rural parts of the state, to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many PIPE grant projects in the past (see our PIPE stories here). Another PIPE grant was announced yesterday by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development (DCED). This latest grant of $1.2 million will help build a pipeline to provide natural gas service to the Jackson Township Business Park in Cambria County and nearby residents.
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PA Game Comm. Does 2 Deals with PGE to Allow Drilling, 16% Royalty

Last week, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners announced it had cut two different deals with Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE). Both deals involve land swaps with the prospect of new shale drilling by PGE on the way in both Lycoming County and Sullivan County. The Game Commission’s remit is “to protect, propagate, manage and preserve the game or wildlife of Pennsylvania.” Money from shale drilling helps the Game Commission accomplish its objectives. Both deals with PGE will provide the Game Commission with a 16% royalty for any natural gas produced.
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PA DEP Still Probing How/If to Regulate Gas Storage Wells Post-Rager

Last November, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak. The well leaked roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). The leak took nearly two weeks to get fixed (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). Both the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) investigated this major leak. The DEP thought (wrongly) that it had regulatory authority. The DEP is still trying to figure out how much (if any) authority it has over Rager and other gas storage facilities in the state. Who’s on first?
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Report: Rager Mountain Gas Storage Well Casing Failed from Corrosion

Last November, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak. The well leaked roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). The leak took nearly two weeks to get fixed (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). Both the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) investigated (see Feds Investigate Equitrans Storage Well Leak in Cambria County, PA). Equitrans hired an independent, third-party company with expertise in reservoir management and well and corrosion engineering to do a “root cause analysis” to determine what happened. The report was just filed with the PHMSA.
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PA DEP Squeezes Another $660,000 from ME2 Pipe for “Violations”

The problem with the pay-for-protection scam is that it never stops. A mobster comes calling on a business, and for a “small” and regular fee, the mobster will guarantee nothing “happens” to the business. “Just think of it as insurance.” It’s a shakedown–a scam. And over the years, the price keeps going up. What if the mobster is a government agency, like the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)? The DEP keeps shaking down Energy Transfer and its Sunoco Pipeline subsidiary over the construction and operation of the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline. Over the years, the DEP has fined ET/Sunoco over $30 MILLION for so-called penalties related to building ME2. [And another $30.6M related to the Revolution Pipeline explosion.] Yesterday, the DEP announced ANOTHER $660,000 in “penalties” related to building ME2. When will it end?
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PA DEP Still Figuring Out How (or If) It Can Regulate Gas Storage

Last November, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak. The well leaked roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). It took two weeks (14 days) for the leak to get fixed, after it had leaked roughly 1.4 billion cubic feet into the air (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). Both the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) investigated (see Feds Investigate Equitrans Storage Well Leak in Cambria County, PA). The PA DEP is still trying to figure out what role it can legally play in that disaster, and what role it can play in the regulation of similar storage fields (some 50 of them) across the state.
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PA DEP Withdraws Order to Fix Equitrans Rager Gas Storage Leak

Last November, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak. The well ended up leaking roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). It took two weeks (14 days) for the leak to get fixed, after it had leaked roughly 1.4 billion cubic feet into the air (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). Both the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) investigated (see Feds Investigate Equitrans Storage Well Leak in Cambria County, PA). The PA DEP ordered Equitrans to plug several of the 12 wells at the Rager area and ordered the company to make certain (expensive) upgrades to the other wells. Equitrans appealed that order, and the DEP has just backed down.
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Disabled Vet Sues ME2 Pipeline for Destroying Home Water & Sewage

A disabled Navy veteran and his wife, who live in a rural, wooded area of Cambria County, PA, say their lives were upended beginning in 2017 when Sunoco (Energy Transfer) began constructing the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline across their property. According to the vet, Sunoco cut down more than 60 large trees on his property, destroyed several small ponds, destroyed his water well, and destroyed (caved in) his septic system. The property is now susceptible to frequent flooding and sewage backups into the house.
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Equitrans & PA DEP Talk About How to Fix Wells in Rager Storage Leak

Rager gas leak from space (click for larger version)

Last November, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak. The well ended up leaking roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). It took two weeks (14 days) for the leak to get fixed, after it had leaked roughly 1.4 billion cubic feet into the air (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). Both the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) investigated (see Feds Investigate Equitrans Storage Well Leak in Cambria County, PA). Little did we know, but the PA DEP ordered Equitrans to plug several of the 12 wells at the Rager area, and it ordered the company to make certain (expensive) upgrades to the other wells. Equitrans appealed that order. According to the DEP, the two sides are nearing a settlement.
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Cambria Landowners Sue ME Pipe for Allegedly Polluting Water Well

Pipeline lawsuit photo of sewage in the home (click for larger version)

Husband and wife Ronald and Jane Shawley, who live in Cambria County, PA, filed a lawsuit against the Mariner East 2 pipeline last week, alleging the pipeline has made their home “nearly uninhabitable.” The Shawleys say work done to install the pipeline fouled their water well and collapsed their septic system causing raw sewage to flow into their kitchen sink. According to the lawsuit, the Shawleys are seeking over $150,000 in damages and are demanding that the case be brought before a jury.
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PA Finds More Leaky Wells in Cambria Storage Field, Stops Injections

Late last week, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) slapped Equitrans with three orders related to the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir in Cambria County, PA. The George L Reade 1 storage well located in the Rager Storage Reservoir vented natural gas uncontrolled into the atmosphere from Sunday, November 6, 2022, until the evening of Saturday, November 19, 2022, when it was plugged. The DEP has been onsite during the entire event (and since). An investigation by the DEP has found all but one of the 12 storage wells at the Rager field are leaking methane to one degree or another. The DEP has closed down all injections into the field, although withdrawals from the field (in order to prevent customers from going without) have continued.
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Feds Investigate Equitrans Storage Well Leak in Cambria County, PA

Three weeks ago, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak and ended up leaking roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). It took two weeks (14 days) for the leak to get fixed, after it had leaked roughly 1.4 billion cubic feet into the air (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). On Friday, we told you the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is conducting a top to bottom review of how it regulates storage facilities following that incident (see PA DEP Doing “Top to Bottom” Review of Gas Storage After Big Leak). The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is joining the investigation.
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PA DEP Doing “Top to Bottom” Review of Gas Storage After Big Leak

Three weeks ago, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak and ended up leaking roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see Equitrans Gas Storage Well in Cambria County, PA is Leaking). It took two weeks (14 days) for the leak to get fixed, after it had leaked roughly 1.4 billion cubic feet into the air (see Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is currently conducting a “top to bottom” review of how it regulates storage facilities following that incident.
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Storage Well Leak Fix in Cambria County Failed, Leaked 1.4 Bcf

On Friday, MDN reported that one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) that was leaking roughly 100 MMcf/d of gas had finally been plugged (see “Massive” Gas Storage Well Leak in Cambria County Finally Plugged). Not so fast. Friday morning, nearby residents once again heard the telltale roaring sound and smell of gas. The well began to leak again. It took a specialist company, Cudd Well Control, until Sunday (another two days) to finally get the leak stopped and concrete poured into the hole to permanently plug the leak.
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