Dec 28, 2017 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – The state Department of Environmental Protection fined CNX Gas Co. more than $400,000 for multiple violations in 2015 and 2016 at four natural gas well sites in western Greene County.

The two consent agreements between DEP and the Southpointe-based driller, reached in September, detail multiple flowback water issues and chemical fluid spills at the four sites in Center and Richhill townships, along with erosion- and sediment-control problems that affected Jacobs Run and its tributaries.

The agreement released Thursday requires CNX to pay a total of $433,500 in civil penalties.

“If incidents occur, it is incumbent on the operator to promptly address the cause, remediate the site and prevent a reoccurrence,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a written statement.

CNX spokesman Brian Aiello said the company made immediate changes to the contractors it was using after learning of the problems. He said CNX self-reported the issues to the DEP and worked with the regulatory agency to rectify the problems.

“Two service companies were replaced as a direct result of actions that contributed to these incidents in late 2015 and early 2016,” Aiello said.

One of the consent agreements details erosion- and sentiment-control issues at CNX’s GH46AHS well in Center Township in June 2015 when “sediment laden water and soil” overflowed from a containment area into Jacobs Run and one of its tributaries, which the DEP designated as “high quality waters.” Several other similar incidents occurred in June, July and December of that year when the water escaped collection ditches and flowed into the streams. The issue was corrected by February 2016, according to the agreement.

However, other problems existed at the site, the DEP said, including flowback fluid discharges in July and December of 2015 and February 2016. About 250 gallons of hydrochloric acid was also released into the ground in November 2015 when a tanker truck spilled the chemical at the site.

The most recent issues addressed in that consent agreement were found at the GH58HHS well near Claylick Road in Center Township, where several barrels of production fluid were released on five separate occasions in May, June and July of 2016. Remediation of the site began in August of that year, and the DEP approved the company’s completion report in March.

The other consent agreement shows problems at CNX’s GH9AHSU well near Lightner Run Road in Center Township dating to June 2015, when 10 barrels of drilling fluid were released from a backup containment area surrounding the well pad when a “kick-back” spilled the fluid through a flowback line. Some of the fluid went into a nearby stormwater collection ditch, according to the report.

DEP inspectors noticed “impaired water” was still leaking out of the containment area on two occasions in August of that year, along with about 40 barrels of oil-based drilling mud that was discharged, according to the consent agreement. Soil and water samples taken at the site in October 2016 showed the affected soil needed to be removed, and that nearby streams were affected by the spills.

In the same consent agreement, DEP inspectors said vegetation was killed in a 4,000-square-foot section around the GH53BHS well near Claylick Road in Richhill Township in May 2016 after an undisclosed amount of re-use fluid was released into the ground and a stormwater drainage channel. The following month, about three barrels of flowback fluid was released into the ground through an “earthen sump” secondary containment area.

“DEP inspectors and investigators work diligently to ensure that safeguards are in place and operators are held accountable if they fail,” McDonnell said.

The two consent agreements required CNX to remediate all issues at the four sites.