Pennsylvania plugging abandoned oil and gas wells

Some hazardous wells not on plugging list

Some hazardous wells not on plugging list

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Some hazardous wells not on plugging list

Pennsylvania has hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells and officials say many of them pose a health and safety threat.

The state has received millions of dollars to plug hundreds of those wells.

But Action News Investigates has learned there are no plans to seal some of the most hazardous.

A 130-year-old old gas well sits in the front yard of Amber Norrid's home in Hanover Township, Washington County.

It was abandoned decades ago but it still emits enough methane to catch fire.

"Look how close it is to my house. My kids play (next to it) in my front yard. And I mean, you smell gas when you're even standing here," Norrid said.

Even worse, inspection reports showed high levels of methane getting into her well water. And inspectors told her even the water well could catch fire.

"I'm told nothing other than if you put a match in my well, that it will explode. So I don't feel safe and I have to take my children to family members' houses to get showers," Norrid said.

State inspectors told her to vent the top of her water well to prevent an explosion.

The old gas well in her front yard is one of more than 200,000 abandoned gas or oil wells in Pennsylvania. Many of them are emitting toxic methane gas.

A gas detector found methane coming from a well known locally as the zombie torch in a wooded area of Lawrence County popular with young people. The area around the well was littered with beer cans. There appeared to be bullet holes in the well casing.

"If they do light it up, there's a potential for an explosion, getting burned," said community activist Lisa DeSantis.

There's another abandoned well next to a bike trail along the Mahoning River, west of New Castle. The well was covered only by a sheet of plywood. There was a heavy odor of oil near the well.

"You want to avoid these kinds of situations," said John Stolz, a professor and environmental scientist at Duquesne University.

He said the bike trail well, the zombie torch and Norrid's gas well should all be top priorities for the state's well-plugging program.

"Methane is flammable, combustible, and that's the main concern, that you don't want to light your faucet on fire," Stolz said.

But none of those three wells are on the state's list of wells to be plugged. The state Department of Environmental Protection is planning to spend $400 million plugging 4,000 wells in the next few years.

Asked why Norrid's well was not on DEP's plugging list, Acting Deputy Secretary Kurt Klapkowski said, "If there's a responsible party, we want them to do the work before the taxpayer has to pick up that tab. I mean, that's obviously going to be the first approach in every case. But if it is a public safety issue, we will look into that."

Court and state records show the well owner is a Virginia company called Club Zed Investments. A company spokesperson said Club Zed is not responsible because it is not the well operator. Club Zed identified the operator as Prosperity Oil, a West Virginia company that went out of business in 2004.

After Action News Investigates asked DEP about the bike trail well, a spokesperson said it will be added to a future plugging contract.

One of the first abandoned wells to be plugged was next to a house in Ohio Township. That came as a surprise to homeowner Ed Vojtas.

"I don't know how we got on the priority list to be done. Ours was leaking, but to a lesser degree than a lot of them," he said.

Another well on the DEP plugging list is in Forward Township, even though a DEP report said inspectors could not even find the well.

That list also includes a well in Kennedy Township that, according to DEP's own records, is already plugged.

"It is possible that there are some errors in the database, and we certainly own up to that. We're all only human and there will be mistakes that will be made," Klapkowski said.

He said DEP will reinspect all wells on the plugging list before awarding any contracts.Norrid said she still cannot understand why the well in her yard is not on the list.

"I'm totally beat down and disgusted. I've been begging for help of just having peace of mind to have clean and safe water and air for me and my family and it's just a shame that the DEP is just doing anything," she said.

DEP said it is actively investigating the methane contamination at her home.

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