EMPORIUM \u2014 A major natural gas driller in Pennsylvania is accused by the state attorney general\u2019s office of multiple violations of environmental laws in its handling of wastewater from the fracking process.<\/p>\n
Seneca Resources was charged Thursday in Emporium with violations in Lycoming, Tioga, Potter, Clearfield, Elk, McKean, Jefferson and Cameron counties.<\/p>\n
The charges are based on the recommendation of two statewide investigating grand juries.<\/p>\n
In one set, Seneca, whose Pennsylvania office is in Brookville, is accused of illegally discharging fluids from well cellars in all eight counties from Dec. 9, 2020, to March 1, 2022.<\/p>\n
The grand jury presentments contain the following information: A well cellar is a lined area dug out during drilling that allows easy access to valves once the well is in production. The cellars have the unintended consequence of holding wastes and rainwater. <\/p>\n
Requirements that would allow the fluids from them to be discharged onto the ground include a certain pH level and no sheen from oil and grease.<\/p>\n
Employees from companies contracted by Seneca testified they discharged the fluids on the ground if, after screening, the pH came back within an acceptable range and there was no sheen. Fluids that did not meet the parameters were trucked off-site. <\/p>\n
Seneca is accused of not having the required permit for the land discharge and continued doing so after being advised, it was illegal.<\/p>\n
The grand jury reviewed records of more than 1,000 instances of fluids being discharged onto the ground.<\/p>\n
Seneca responded that it treated fluids from well cellars like precipitation from other secondary confinement and would continue the ground disposal until the Department of Environmental Protection could cite a rule that specifically prohibited it.<\/p>\n
A second set of charges relates to a July 2022 ruptured above-ground pipe in Cameron County that carried wastewater from the fracking process.<\/p>\n
They detail the devastating impact the wastewater had on the well of an Emporium area home and neighboring properties.<\/p>\n
A remediation attempt, of which the Department of Environmental Protection was unaware, that involved flushing fresh water over the contaminated soil, worsened the situation because a significant amount of the water was not collected.<\/p>\n
The third set of charges deals with the injection of fracking wastewater under pressure at the very end of the horizontal portion of the well bore.<\/p>\n
Seneca is accused of pumping larger-than-normal volumes of wastewater without any sand or propellant into \u201csacrificial wells\u201d as a means to dispose of it. <\/p>\n
The grand jury report cites 10,000 barrels of wastewater being put into three wells on a pad in 2017, compared with the normal 100 to 500 barrels.<\/p>\n
Documentation reviewed by the grand juries showed Seneca produces 4 percent of Pennsylvania\u2019s natural gas and 11 percent of the wastewater in drilling horizontal wells from a single well pad.<\/p>\n
Seneca is charged with 64 counts of violating the Solid Waste Management Act and 36 Clean Streams Law violations. <\/p>\n
Attorney General Dave Sunday alleged that Seneca continued its illegal practices after being told to stop because it did not comply with the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery Pennsylvanian has a constitutional right to pure water, and these cases resulted in violations of those rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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