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No conclusions can be drawn from Greene fines

3 min read
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It is interesting to note the range of fines imposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection during the last year for violations regarding three major incidents at natural gas well drilling sites in Greene County.

Last December, DEP fined Vantage Energy $990,900 for violations involving a landslide and the disposal of wastewater earlier in 2014 at a well pad on North Porter Street in Franklin Township.

According to DEP, Vantage continued to drill while the slide continued to grow, and only stopped when DEP threatened to close down operations. About 200 feet of stream, the stream headwater and drainage area were covered with slide material.

In addition, later in the year, a contractor for Vantage dumped two truckloads of drilling wastewater down the side of the well pad where slide stabilization work was underway.

In June, DEP fined Chevron Appalachia $940,000 for violations related to the explosion and fire at its Lanco well site in Dunkard Township. The explosion Feb. 11, 2014, took the life of one worker and injured another. The fire burned until the wells were capped several days later.

A DEP report criticized Chevron for its lack of contractor supervision at the site and the lack of documentation of work done on the well pad. DEP noted some of the company’s site managers lacked experience in the gas industry and provided only limited oversight of contractors.

DEP also criticized, and cited, Chevron for initially barring DEP personnel from the site and for failing to provide DEP with “meaningful” updates on efforts to control the fire, the report said.

Last month, DEP fined Chesapeake Appalachia LLC $1.4 million for a landslide in September 2011 at a well pad in Aleppo Township that impacted, DEP said, more than a quarter-mile of streams, identified as unnamed tributaries of Harts Run, below the well pad.

The landslide did not result in a spill or release of any fracking fluids, wastewater or hazardous materials.

We don’t believe we can draw any conclusions regarding the incidents and the size of the fines. They are only anecdotal, not based on an analysis of fines levied statewide in regard to well site violations or on the criteria or policies DEP use to determine what a company should pay for a violation.

We also know these fines are a part of negotiated agreements between DEP and the companies that may involve many more issues of which we are not aware.

However, we find it interesting the incident at the Chevron Appalachia site, which involved the loss of life and the company’s apparent disregard of DEP’s authority in the explosion’s aftermath, drew the smallest fine of the three.

On the other hand, the incident that seemed least serious, the impact by a slide on a quarter-mile of stream in Aleppo Township involving no contamination of hazardous materials, resulted in the highest fine.

As we said earlier, we don’t believe any conclusions can be drawn from these three examples. But one can’t help making the comparisons.

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