CNX pleads no contest to reporting errors at South Franklin ‘pigging’ station
CNX has pleaded no contest to four summary counts of unlawful conduct in violation of the state’s Air Pollution Control Act after not properly keeping records of emissions from a “pigging” station in South Franklin Township.
The plea, which was negotiated with the state Attorney General’s office and filed Thursday in Washington County Court, acknowledged the natural gas drilling company had reported incorrect emission results from its Oak Springs station on Farmers Lane.
A nearby family complained of the emissions coming from the station, and the attorney general began investigating in January 2019. Investigators found the company has underreported and overreported emission figures on annual reports submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection from 2016 to 2019.
CNX spokesman Brian Aiello said they’ve corrected the reporting errors and are now in compliance.
“We take full responsibility for these inadvertent reporting errors, which were the result of handling extremely large data sets in the wake of new regulatory requirements and guidance that the industry and others were still interpreting,” Aiello said.
In exchange for the plea, the Southpointe-based company agreed to pay $30,000 to South Franklin Township to help restore 1,800 feet of an unnamed stream that leads into Chartiers Creek. Unused money will go to fund improvements to an unidentified park in the township. The company also agreed to donate 184 acres of land in Elizabeth Township to Allegheny County.
A natural gas “pigging” station is part of the process used to clear pipelines and prevent erosion.