PA Environment Digest Blog: Consol Conventional Well Plugging Incident Contaminates Livestock Water Supply, 2 Springs, Stream In Morris Twp., Greene County

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Consol Conventional Well Plugging Incident Contaminates Livestock Water Supply, 2 Springs, Stream In Morris Twp., Greene County

On April 22, 2025, DEP was notified of a well plugging incident at the Brown 1447 conventional well site in Morris Township, Greene County that resulted in contaminating a livestock water supply, two springs and a small stream.

The well is owned by Consol PA Coal Co. LLC and was being plugged by Coastal Drilling, according to DEP’s inspection reports.

First Inspection

DEP responded to the site on April 23 and found that during drilling operations to plug the well, drilling mud circulation was lost and the mud “resurfaced within a cattle drinker (trough) and entered a nearby stream.”

The drilling mud was made of bentonite.

The trough was fed by a spring and had an overflow pipe that discharged to a stream downslope.

The water in the trough and stream had high conductivity levels and was white/grey in color indicating contamination.

The well owner was pumping contaminated water out of the trough for disposal at the time of the inspection.

DEP tested another spring downslope from the trough which also had elevated conductivity readings in the water and the soil around it. Bentonite was also observed near this spring.

Drilling mud also surfaced at a third point at a tributary to Fonner Run, downslope of a nearby pond. Elevated conductivity readings were observed there by DEP.

The tributary flowed underneath a road and entered Fonner Run. The well owner had dammed the tributary before the culvert under the road and a vacuum truck was removing contaminated water and bentonite.

DEP issued multiple violations related to the incident, including contamination of a water supply, discharge of pollutants into waters of the Commonwealth and failure to control the disposal of drilling wastes.

DEP requested Consol to respond to the violations by May 9. DEP April 23 inspection report - Part I. DEP April 23 inspection report - Part 2.

Follow-Up Inspections

On April 25, 2025, DEP did two follow-up inspections at the Brown 1447 well site and the areas impacted by the April 22 well plugging contamination incidents.

On the well pad, DEP found areas of drilling mud contamination with elevated conductivity readings, leaks from drilling equipment and an area contaminated with an unidentified white powder.

No violations were issued at this time, but DEP “recommended” the “observations” be addressed. DEP April 25 inspection report - well pad.

At the areas impacted by the spills, DEP found a pipe was still discharging contaminated water from the livestock drinking trough and the second spring down slope from the trough remained “visually impacted.” DEP April 25 inspection report - spill impacted areas.

On April 30, DEP did another follow-up inspection and found Consol has finished plugging the well and the livestock watering trough and springs continue to show evidence of contamination. Violations were continued. DEP April 30 inspection report.

Problems With Your Well?

If you live near this well plugging incident and discovered you had problems with your well water starting April 22, contact DEP’s Southwest District Oil and Gas Office in California, PA at 724-769-1100.

Use DEP’s Oil and Gas Mapping Tool to map this well by using the Latitude 39.992686 and Longitude -80.25862600000001 from the inspection report.

Why It Was Being Plugged

Consol applied to plug the well under Section 13(c) of the Coal and Gas Resource Coordination Act (Act 214). Act 214 regulates the drilling and plugging of oil and gas wells where they intersect underground coal mining operations.

Consol submitted its request on January 14, 2025 and received approval on February 24, 2025, according to DEP’s eFACTS database.

Consol applied for and received approval January 29, 2025 to use an alternative method of plugging the well, which they may do under Act 214. No information on what the alternative method was available online.

DEP approved a notice of intent to proceed with plugging the well on April 1, 2025.

DEP had no record of any inspections of the Brown 1447 well in its Oil and Gas Compliance Database for the last 10 years prior to April 23, 2025.

Report Violations

To report oil and gas violations or any environmental emergency or complaint, visit DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.

Text photos and the location of abandoned wells to 717-788-8990.

Check These Resources

Visit DEP’s Compliance Reporting Database and Inspection Reports Viewer webpages to search their compliance records by date and owner.

Sign up for DEP’s eNOTICE service which sends you information on oil and gas and other permits submitted to DEP for review in your community.

Use DEP’s Oil and Gas Mapping Tool to find if there are oil and gas wells near or on your property and to find wells using latitude and longitude on well inspection reports.

(Photos: Row 1-- Contaminated livestock water supply; Spring contamination being pumped; Contamination at another spring; Row 2-- Brown 1447 well site; 2nd spring still contaminated on April 25.)

[Note: If you believe your company was listed in error, contact DEP’s Oil and Gas Program.]

[Note: These may not be all the NOVs issued to oil and gas companies during this time period. Additional inspection reports may be added to DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database.]

Resource Link:

-- Daily Grind Living Next To Oil & Gas Industry: Spills, Polluted Water Supplies, Smells Like Gas, Noise, Air Pollution, Explosions, Truck Traffic, Erosion, Radioactive Waste, Gas Flares, Dust, Lights, Road Dumping Waste, Abandoned Wells [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 26 to May 2: Contaminated Livestock Water Supply; Ruptured Gathering Pipeline; Failure To Comply With Shale Gas Well Plugging Order [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - May 3 [PaEN]

-- DEP Received Air Quality Permit For 4.6 Gigawatt Homer City Generation Natural Gas Power Plant For Data Center In Indiana County [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 77 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In May 3 PA Bulletin [PaEN]