W.Va. company fined $1.7 million for violations at 14 well sites in Greene County
A West Virginia-based company has been fined $1.7 million by the state Department of Environmental Protection for violations at more than a dozen natural gas drilling well sites in Greene County.
The DEP consent order accuses Energy Corporation of America of Charleston, W.Va. of issues at 14 sites in Cumberland, Jefferson and Whiteley townships in Greene County and at three sites in Clearfield County.
The regulatory agency said ECA, whose assets were recently acquired by Greylock Production LLC, failed to contain fluids within onsite pits, discharged industrial waste into groundwater, illegally disposed residual waste, failed to restore pits and well sites after completion and operated waste storage and treatment facilities without permits.
“Laws and regulations on the books and strong permitting are in place to protect the public and our natural resources,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said. “When we uncovered systemic violations of proper handling practices of flowback fluids, our compliance team conducted a thorough investigation to hold the operator accountable,” he said.
A spokesman for the ECA could not be reached for comment.
Greylock Production issued a statement saying the company was pleased the matter has been put to rest. “And we are committed to being a good corporate neighbor, operating safely and conducting responsible resource development in the Commonwealth for many years to come,” the company said.
An investigation into ECA’s handling of development fluids, flowback and reuse fluids began after fluid leaked from holes in the liner of an onsite pit at the company’s Mohr A&B well site in Cumberland Township June 30, 2015, DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley said.
The release killed surrounding vegetation and impacted groundwater and a natural spring used for drinking water at a home on South Branch Muddy Creek Road that was about 300 feet from the pit, DEP said. The property owner was provided with a temporary water supply and permanent water supply restoration is underway, DEP said.
“We then expanded the investigation into the other sites,” Fraley said. In July 2015, DEP subpoenaed the company’s records regarding well sites, fluid storage and the transfer of fluids between pits.
DEP’s investigation from 2015 to 2017 uncovered incidents of leaking pits and wastewater impoundments at several of ECA’s well sites and demonstrated ECA’s “mismanagement” of drilling, flowback and produced fluids, DEP said.
A review of records provided by ECA indicated fluid releases may have occurred at 12 of the company’s well sites, Fraley said. They include the Broadwater, Skib B and Stelco well sites in Jefferson Township and the Sharpnack, Blaker Minor, Fuller B, Gribble, Hoge Noce, Meadows and Pechin well sites in Cumberland Township.
DEP’s investigation also revealed ECA transferred drilling fluids between well sites long after the last well at these sites was completed, making these sites an unlawful waste transfer station. The fluids were stored in onsite pits for more than nine months after the completion of drilling, in violation of site restoration regulations, DEP said.
The agency also determined ECA transferred, stored and treated fluids at these sites even though the fluids were not being used for any well development or drilling activity at the sites.
Fraley said remediation efforts at the sites is ongoing.
Waste fluids have been removed from all well sites. The consent order includes a schedule for the removal of sludge and accumulated materials in onsite pits at the five sites where pits remain, DEP said.
ECA also has submitted a plan that details how it will assess and remediate environmental impacts, DEP said. The consent agreement provides additional penalties if ECA fails to comply with its obligations in a timely manner.
The consent agreement, reached in November, also outlines sites for priority remediation and among other things, orders the company to assess and remediate all sites with open or closed pits, close and properly remediate onsite pits, monitor water supplies within 3,000 feet of the well pads at sites with open pits and document the disposal or treatments of all fluids, waste and soils removed from the sites.