Advocate: Driller’s fines low
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
April 23, 2011
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Advocate__Driller_rsquo_s_fines_low_04-22-2011.html
Environmental advocate: DEP hasn’t fined Chesapeake enough in past; heavy fine merited if violations caused the blowout.
A state environmental advocate said Friday that Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection has handled natural gas driller Chesapeake with kid gloves in the past and should fine the company heavily for any violations related to a blowout in Bradford County.
A blowout Wednesday at Chesapeake’s Atgas H2 well in LeRoy Township, Bradford County, spilled a reported 30,000 gallons of salt-saturated and chemical-laced produced water from the well pad and into a tributary of Towanda Creek.
Crews successfully plugged the leak Thursday, and Chesapeake has been sent a notice of violation by DEP.
Jan Jarrett, president of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, or PennFuture, a nonprofit environmental and energy advocacy organization, said state fines levied against the company have been too low to provide a deterrent effect and have been significantly lower than fines assessed other gas drillers for similar violations.
In February, Chesapeake allowed vapors to catch fire at a well site in Washington County, creating a danger to the nearby community.
In March, DEP ordered Chesapeake to stop work on a well pad in Galeton, Potter County, because the company failed to implement proper erosion controls, allowing sediment from the pad to pollute a stream that provided drinking water to the local community.
DEP did not fine the driller for either incident, Jarrett said, and she questioned why.
Following a blowout at an EOG Resources well in Clearfield County, which like Wednesday’s blowout spilled flowback water into the surrounding environment, DEP fined the driller $400,000 and temporarily suspended EOG’s operations statewide.
If Chesapeake is found to be at fault for the Bradford County blowout, she said a similar tough penalty is warranted, if not overdue.
“You don’t fine somebody if they are not breaking any laws, but if the investigation finds that they have, then they should be fined and fined heavily,” Jarrett said, adding, “they should not be allowed to operate until they can prove that they can drill safely.”
Chesapeake has voluntarily suspended all hydraulic fracturing operations at its wells in Pennsylvania and West Virginia while it determines what went wrong.
“A full investigation will be conducted to determine the root cause of the failure, evaluate best management practices and make any and all necessary corrections before returning to normal operations,” Chesapeake spokesman Brian Grove said in a statement Wednesday.
With 344 wells drilled, Chesapeake ranks among the most active companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale, rivaled by other giants Range Resources and Atlas Energy. The company has also been issued 1,229 drilling permits, 17 percent of all Marcellus Shale permits issued through April 1.
The company also ranks among the most frequent violators of DEP regulations. DEP inspectors found 364 violations at Chesapeake Marcellus Shale gas wells between January 2008 and March 31, ranking the company second only to Cabot Oil & Gas, now infamous for its alleged contamination of drinking water wells in Dimock, in number of violations.
Jarrett said Chesapeake ranks only eighth in the value of total fines assessed in the last five years, paying $61,000.
Jarrett said that’s too low.
“Fines are meant to motivate; it’s not just punishing a company for any particular incident or for violating environmental law, but fines motivate companies to focus on the future,” she said. “It’s a deterrent.”
DEP spokesman Kevin Sunday responded that “DEP has pursued aggressive enforcement actions in the past, and will continue to pursue aggressive enforcement actions as necessary.”
“The enforcement process is a vital and integral component of the department’s commitment to overseeing this important industry grow in an environmentally and economically conscious manner,” Sunday said.
Chesapeake did not respond to a reporter’s request for a reaction to Jarrett’s statements.