And It Only Took 8 Years: PA Orders Range Resources To Fix Leaking Gas Well "Once And For All"

The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Range Resources on Monday to fix “once and for all” a Marcellus Shale well in Central Pennsylvania that has been leaking gas into groundwater for eight years.

Regulators and the Texas-based company have disagreed for most of a decade about how to correct the pernicious leak in Moreland Township, Lycoming County, with regulators once threatening — and later dropping — a $9 million fine.

“We have attempted to resolve this in good faith, but after numerous attempts, the operator still has not completely addressed these violations,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said. “Range Resources’ refusal at times to accept responsibility and finally address this problem is unacceptable and that is why DEP is issuing this order.”

Regulators suspected the Harman Lewis 1H well was flawed in 2012 and later determined that the well had caused methane gas to seep into 11 drinking water supplies, nearby streams and a farm field pocked with spots of dead grass. An attempted fix in 2016 went awry, when, at DEP’s direction, Range attempted to re-enter a patched section of the well’s protective casing and ended up drilling along the outside of the well. The new order requires Range to fix the open bore hole along with the original well.

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https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2020/01/13/Range-Resources-DEP-order-methane-gas-leaking-Marcellus-well-Lewis-Lycoming/stories/202001130117