Vantage Energy Fined $1M for Multiple Errors at Greene County Site
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection has just slapped Vantage Energy with a $1 million fine for “more than a dozen violations of environmental regulations stemming from a landslide and illegal waste disposal at their Porter Street well pad in Franklin Township, Greene County, earlier this year.” The landslide at the well pad covered over portions of two nearby creeks. Then, to add insult to injury, about six months later two truckloads of frack wastewater got dumped on the landslide area being repaired. The wastewater ended up in the streams. But wait, there’s more! Vantage constructed a new access road next to the streams adversely affected–but Vantage didn’t have a permit to construct the road. Oy vey! Did they do anything right? According to the DEP, Vantage, “to its credit,” is making improvements in their procedures to prevent a future comedy of errors…
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On Saturday, Triad Hunter, wholly-owned drilling subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, lost control of a Utica Shale well in Monroe County, OH. The well had been drilled and temporarily plugged as the company planned to drill three more wells at the pad. However, “the well began to flow uncontrollably while recommencing production operations” according to a statement released by Magnum Hunter. Well pad personnel along with 28 homes located within a mile and a half were evacuated. Wild Well Control of Houston has been contacted and (presumably) now on site to contain the well. No injuries have been reported…
Nearly two weeks ago there was a fatal accident at a Blue Racer Midstream condensate pumping skid in Noble County, OH in which an electrical contract worker was killed (see 
A mechanical malfunction at a producing American Energy Partners Utica Shale well in Jefferson County, OH caused the evacuation of about 400 area homes from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, according to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). The well, near the Mingo Sportsmen’s Club, was successfully shut down by Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. Although area residents interviewed said they didn’t feel in danger, it’s still disconcerting (and a hardship) when something like this happens. Here’s an ear-witness account…
We’ve got some bad blood happening between EQT–a big Marcellus driller headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA–and the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP has just filed a lawsuit against EQT to force the company to cough up a new record–$4.53 million in fines–for a leaky wastewater impoundment in Tioga County, PA. The fine comes a week after the anti-drilling PA Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, once again abused her office’s powers by filing criminal charges against EQT (see today’s companion story). The DEP says EQT filed for and received permission to build a freshwater impoundment at that location in 2012, but after the impoudment was built, they decided to change and use it for frack wastewater. Problem is, with a wastewater impoundment you need monitoring wells drilled around the impoundment and extra protections that were lacking because it was supposed to be used for freshwater only. EQT then built a second impoundment next to it for wastewater and did install monitoring wells, figuring those monitoring wells would cover both impoundments. The first impoundment leaked and, according to the DEP, EQT just doesn’t get how serious the problems were/are that resulted, and so they’ve slapped them with their biggest single fine ever. EQT is already fighting back both legally and with their own press release…