Leaking well plagues North Bethlehem couple
The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation to Onexxx Production and Exploration Corp. of Jeannette for this leaking gas well in Scenery Hill.
Chris Catanzarite of North Bethlehem Township stands by a leaking, abandoned gas well on state game lands near his residence.
SCENERY HILL – Chris Catanzarite uses the state game lands behind his North Bethlehem Township home to hunt. His wife, Nina, takes walks there.
But a leaking, abandoned conventional gas well on the property behind Lindley Road sullied the nature they enjoy.
“They’re harming the environment because these old gas wells are just spewing gas in the air,” Nina Catanzarite said.
The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation to Onexxx Production and Exploration Corp. for venting gas into the atmosphere. The deadline to respond to the notice and to outline a course of remedial action is today.
A representative who answered the phone at the company’s Jeannette office, who declined to give her name, said Onexxx made multiple repairs to the well in question. She said they believe someone was vandalizing the well by removing company tags and damaging an apparatus called a packer, causing it to jar loose and allow gas to leak.
She declined to comment on the notice of violation or plans to remedy the situation.
By the DEP’s estimates, more than 200,000 abandoned and orphan wells exist across Pennsylvania. The environmental agency is still mapping the location of those wells and could not provide specific estimates for Washington and Greene counties, according to John Poister, DEP spokesman for the Pittsburgh region.
A surcharge on oil and gas permits – $200 for a gas well or $100 for an oil well – helps fuel the DEP’s efforts to plug abandoned wells. However, the cost of plugging a conventional gas well is typically between $20,000 and $50,000, and funds are limited, Poister said.
“Even with a steady stream of money, there are still more abandoned wells than we can afford to plug right now,” Poister said, “So we prioritize them on the basis of the threat to public health and safety.”
Poister said Onexxx has two other conventional wells near the Catanzarites’ home. One was plugged last year, and another “is not producing and therefore should be plugged by the company,” he said.
The couple contested the company owns another well near their property that is not on the books. They said all wells have been abandoned since they moved into their home 22 years ago.
Chris Catanzarite said a well on their farm was plugged by Rice Energy, which acquired the lease from Onexxx. He claimed Onexxx left the well in disrepair and left a seven-foot hole next to it for years.
He said the leaking well is a safety hazard that could potentially contaminate his spring water.
Nina Catanzarite said some of the larger, unconventional drilling companies are stepping up and acquiring leases for abandoned wells.
“The good thing is, with the Marcellus (drilling) coming around, they’ve got lots of money – the Ranges and the Rices,” she said. “They’ll buy these old wells and they’ll cap them.”
Doug Dunkerley, land management group supervisor for the state Game Commission, said abandoned wells haven’t been an issue on game land property because in most cases, an unconventional drilling company will acquire the lease and plug the well. He said this was the case on game lands near Burgettstown and Claysville.
“With the advent of the Marcellus gas, it has cleaned up a bunch of them,” he said.