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This
is a listing of some of the bad sites we've seen over the
years. The issues primarily have to do with not having proper
secondary containment for condensate storage tanks, not having
an API number or having a wrong API number, having problems
with sediment control, having problems with sustaining proper
vegetative cover, and having trash on the site. Many of these
sites have more than one problem.
Clicking
on the the image will take you to the page for the site.
47-079-00731
and 47-079-01492
 This
is a complex site consisting of two wells, one drilled in
the 1960s and another completed in 2008. All of the problems
were created during drilling and completion of the recent
well and include: breaching of the existing secondary containment
for 731 (violation of federal regulations), extremely poor
or absent sediment control so that mud was able to leave the
site and enter the Pocatalico River, and construction of a
waste pit on a spring so that after closing the pit, waste
was carried by water flowing from the pit to the River. In
addition, the API number for 731 is incorrect.
47-079-00570
 This
is an older site on the Pocatalico River. The secondary containment
dike for the condensate storage tank is inadequate and is
in violation of federal regulations.
A
complaint was made to the state's Office of Oil and Gas in
January 2009 and another to the EPA in April 2009. Nothing
had been done to correct the problem by February 2010.
47-079-00702
 This
is an older site with a typical cluster of problems. No secondary
containment dike was found when we visited the site in 2008.
The previous storage tank was abandoned on the site. The pad
was mostly without vegetation and the access road leading
to the well site was poorly maintained. The photograph to
the left shows the wellhead sitting in standing water.
47-039-05714
 This
is a Marcellus well completed recently. When we first visited
the site in 2008 we noted the lack of secondary containment
for the condensate storage tank (containment was constructed
in 2009) and poor vegetative cover. Returning to the site
in 2009 we found that the poor vegetative cover was due to
improperly buried pit waste. Laboratory analysis of soil about
5 inches below the surface found high chloride, lead and arsenic
concentrations.
47-039-02026
 This
is a site that was drilled in the 1960s and has a number of
problems. Leaking brine and exposed pit waste all showed elevated
chloride levels in the soil. There was an unusual amount of
trash in the form of pipes and steel barrels around the edges
of the site in the woods. The well has the wrong API number
which was noted by the Oil and Gas Inspector in 2008 and still
has not been corrected.
47-039-05999
 This
is a recently drilled Marcellus well on the top of a ridge.
The well access road is poorly maintained and the well doesn't
have the required API number. We noted exposed pit liner sticking
up from the soil at one spot on the pad where it is surrounded
by an area bare of vegetation. It's possible that pit waste
with high chloride is prohibiting the growth of grass.
47-079-01314
 This
is a recently drilled well on an extremely large cleared site
that is almost bare of vegetation. When we visited in 2008
we found the condensate storage tank was without secondary
containment and the wellhead had no API number.
47-079-01364
 This
is another recently completed well that we visited in 2008.
We found the site bare of vegetation. There was no API number
on the well as is required and no secondary containment for
the condensate storage tank. Having no vegetative cover means
that a lot of sediment was leaving the site.
47-079-00298
 This
is a plugged well drilled in the 1940s. Regulations require
an API number on the monument. One may have been attached
at some time in the past but is no longer present.
Go
to the 2009 Gas Well Study
Go
to the 2008 Gas Well Study
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