Drilling Permits, Regulation, Waste, Violations

New York

NY DEC Well Permits

• Permits for drilling in NY are reviewed and issued by the DEC.  The full drilling permit applications filed by drilling companies are available for review at the DEC office in Avon.  These are of interest to local residents who want to know details about planned gas wells.  They are about 30 pages long.  They include data about the drilling site including water sources, waste treatment, abandoned wells, etc.  Many of these data elements are missing or declared unknown which is also of interest for challenging a permit application.    Permit applications are not available online.
• Explanation of Permitting Process by DEC:
  • • The Environmental Conservation Law only requires the well operator to
      notify local government and any affected surface owner after a permit
      issued and before operations commence.  Before that, submitted
      applications are listed in the database on our website:
      1.  Go to http://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/GasOil/
      2.  Click “Wells Data”
      3.  Select “Town” in the first drop down box
      4.  Select the town of interest in the third drop down box; note that towns on the menu are grouped by county.
      5.  Click “AND”
      6.  Select “Well Status” in the first drop down box
      7.  Select “App to Drill/Plug/Convert” in the third drop down box
      8.  Click “Submit”
      9.  Within the results, note that there is a “view map” option and that the well name often reflects the property owner’s name where the
      well is located.  Location coordinates are also given, and the results file can be exported in various formats for you to use with your own
      spreadsheet, database or mapping software.
• DEC Database of Existing and Permitted Well locations:  http://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/GasOil/search/wells/index.cfm
• DEC Gas Well Permits Database –Guide by Wes Gillingham
• Damascus  Citizens’ Guide to DEC database
• Otsego Co. NY Map of Leases, Wells and Permits
• DEC Environmental notice Bulletins Weekly notices of actions regarding environmental reviews.
• New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell – gas wells info – http://wri.eas.cornell.edu/gas_wells.html
• CCE Natural Gas Development Resource Center (more of a focus on rural economic development) – http://gasleasing.cce.cornell.edu/
• NYS DEC Site – Oil and Gas Well Search Engine
• NYS DEC site – Notice of Compulsory Integration Hearings
• NYS DEC site – Notices of Intent to Issue Well Permits in Spacing Units Which Conform to Statewide Spacing in New York State
• NYS DEC site – Notices of Intent to Issue Well Permits and Spacing Orders for Spacing Units Which Do Not Conform to Statewide Spacing in New York State with Spacing
• PA DEP Oil & Gas Reporting Website – Statewide Data Downloads By Reporting Period

  Reporting > Statewide Data Downloads https://www.paoilandgasreporting.state.pa.us/publicreports/Modules/DataExports/DataExports.aspx      Includes information on waste shipped to NY, OH, WV, etc.

Pennsylvania

• PA DEP Oil & Gas Reporting Website – Statewide Data Downloads By Reporting Period

  Reporting > Statewide Data Downloads https://www.paoilandgasreporting.state.pa.us/publicreports/Modules/DataExports/DataExports.aspx

  • Production Reports

  • Waste Reports
  • Operator Information
  • Well Details
  • Statewide Data Downloads
  • What’s New
  • FAQs
  • Technical Assistance

• PA DEP gas drilling violations database  http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/gas-drilling/dep-gas-drilling-violations-database-1.856436
• DEP Violations Jan. 2010-June 30, 2010
• PA is now requiring O&G producers to report production every 6 months. Previously the information was secret for 5 years. The public can track a Marcellus operator’s compliance with Act 15 production reporting requirements online athttp://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=13826&typeid=1The site includes a complete list of operators that did not submit production reports by Aug. 15. The list will be updated on a weekly basis as production report submissions are made. The list of the Marcellus operators that submitted production reports on time is also provided.
  The new law, Act 15 of 2010, required gas companies drilling into the Marcellus formation to report production totals from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 by Aug. 15. Subsequent to this deadline, companies will be required to report production every six months, making the next report due Feb. 15.
  Prior to Act 15, DEP was required by law to keep production reporting data confidential for five years.
  For more information or to view the production reports of companies that met the deadline, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us.
  Media contact: Helen Humphreys, 717-787-1323
  Editor’s Note: A list of companies that failed to meet the Aug. 15, reporting deadline follows. Those with asterisks submitted after the deadline:
• “DEP” puts oil and gas operations online: “…HARRISBURG – For the first time, Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry production and compliance information is available online as part of the Commonwealth’s ongoing effort to make the industry’s operations more transparent…Subsequent reports on Marcellus production are due every six months. All other oil and gas production besides Marcellus wells must be reported annually…The violation, inspection, and enforcement information is available for 2008 through 2010 to date, including resolved violations for the three-year span. Information for 2010 is available year-to-date or monthly. To view the violation reports, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us and click on the button that says “Gas Well Violations.”…” ” (The Express) (PA)- http://lockhaven.com/page/content.detail/id/526911/DEP-puts-oil-and-gas-operations-online.html?nav=5009

• Pennsylvania’s Regulatory Program for Hydraulic Fracturing Gets Good Marks.  STRONGER Review. Sept. 2010  Text of STRONGER Report

• MarcellusGas.org  

  Information Related to Pennsylvania Deep Gas Well Activity

  Home How To Use This Site Wells » Well Data Reports Wells » Drilling Maps Wells » Well Packet Information Wells » Frac Fluid Composition Reports Graphs and Statistics   – by State   – by County   – by Township Impact Fee Revenue Calculator Record Setting Wells Record Setting Gas Companies State Maps Gas Company Information Waste Facility Information FREE Guest Membership Full Membership Sign Up Membership Benefits Your Account Information Contact MarcellusGas.Org About MarcellusGas.Org Related Sites & Links Privacy Policy Terms Of Use

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National

• Toxic Spills/Releases: Toxics Targeting compiles data from various government and private sources and produces tailored reports for their clients.  They also make much of their data available free to the public. http://www.toxicstargeting.com

• Regulatory Staffing How Big is the Gas Drilling Regulatory Staff in Your State?
• Producing and Non-producing Wells in Fort Worth TX

• EPA Compliance and Enforcement

• EPA Compliance Press Releases

• WellWatch (http://scrapper.media.mit.edu/wiki/WellWatch) — State agencies track and publish information on well leaks and industry non-compliance with safety and environmental regulations. But that information is often hidden in badly managed websites and poorly designed databases. WellWatch converts those hard-to-navigate state databases containing information about the oil and gas industry to the same platform used by Wikipedia. Impacted communities and individuals can more easily access data about wells and operators in their communities. And more importantly, they can then add to this repository their own considerable knowledge.   If your community is affected by the natural gas industry, try these tools or contact us for more information:extract@media.mit.edu.

News Reports

• Billions of Gallons drilling waste spillled over last 2.5 years. /28/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT denver post 6-30-1

• Fracking Regulations Vary Widely from State to State. August 31, 2010 A look at how states across America are facing deep frack dilemmas.By Steve Kellman and Molly Ramsey. Circle of Blue