Dec 22, 2014 4 min read

The state Department of Environmental Protection fined Vantage Energy Appalachia LLC $990,900 for numerous violations stemming from a landslide and illegal wastewater dumping at its Porter Street well pad in Franklin Township.

The fine, among the largest handed out by DEP, is included in a consent order and agreement that requires the company to stabilize the well pad, restore two streams impacted by the landslide and remediate contaminated soil and groundwater at the site by the end of 2015.

“These violations resulted in significant damage to our natural resources and this action is in direct response to the seriousness of the violations,” said John Ryder, DEP’s director of district oil and gas operations. “To its credit, Vantage has begun to make a genuine effort to better manage and operate their well sites,” he said.

The company notified DEP Jan. 16 a slide about 250 feet in length developed at its Porter Street well pad, causing the surface to move about 40 feet downhill into two unnamed tributaries of Grimes Run.

The company continued to drill while the slide continued to move and grow, DEP said. During an inspection March 19, the agency said it found about 200 feet of the streams impacted by the slide. According to the consent agreement, the stream beds and their headwater and drainage areas were covered with slide material.

DEP threatened to order a shutdown of all activity on the well pad. In response, Vantage agreed March 28 to voluntarily stop drilling operations and to take interim steps to prevent further movement of the slide.

“One of our concerns was the pad stability,” said DEP spokesman John Poister. If the company continued to drill at the site and the slide worsened, “they could have a problem; worst-case scenario, it could lead to an explosion,” he said.

On July 14, according to DEP, a Vantage contractor, Elite Well Services, dumped two truckloads, or about 200 barrels, of drilling wastewater down the side of the well pad where the interim stabilization work was under way.

The wastewater, which may have included recycled water, well flowback, production fluids, brine, drilling mud and cuttings, was dumped into the landslide area and ended up in the streams originally impacted by the slide, DEP said.

No fish kills were reported as a result of the incident, Poister said. Vantage, not the contractor, was deemed to be responsible for the wastewater discharge because it occurred at Vantage’s well pad, at which Vantage is required to provide oversight, he said.

The company voluntarily agreed to remediate surface and groundwater at the site and remove contaminated soils to an approved disposal area. In a notice of its intent to remediate the site submitted July 21, the company also agreed to not place into production two wells already drilled at the pad. The pad is permitted for 10 wells.

However, shortly after the company’s efforts to remediate the site began, on Aug. 8, DEP learned Vantage constructed a new access road along the unnamed tributaries of Grimes Run.

The road construction included four temporary stream crossings and was not authorized under the company’s erosion and sediment permit, the agreement said.

Vantage was cited by DEP for violations of environmental regulations following each of the incidents.

Last week, the company and DEP signed the consent order and agreement establishing milestones for Vantage to correct the violations at the well site and requiring full restoration of the streams and remediation of soils, surface water and groundwater.

The company also has hired an independent consultant to conduct environmental audits at each of its well sites in Pennsylvania, Ryder said.

Vantage is committed to “operational excellence, transparency and environmental compliance,” the company said an email statement.

“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,” the statement said.

The company voluntarily entered into consent order and agreement with DEP and is committed to working closely with DEP on the remediation efforts, according to the company’s statement. “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.”