EOG Resources Inc. has agreed to pay the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) $93,710 to settle a late 2010 pollution incident in the Marcellus Shale.

Investigations by the PFBC and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found that the Houston-based company allowed substances “deleterious, destructive or poisonous to fish” into Little Laurel Run, a protected waterway in Clearfield County in central Pennsylvania. The substances entered Little Laurel Run on Dec. 13, 2010 and affected the creek through March 22, according to the agencies.

Through the settlement, EOG also agreed to pay an additional $65,000 toward an environmental project in the Laurel Run watershed that the PFBC will choose.

The settlement is the fourth this year between EOG and the PFBC, the state agency responsible for managing aquatic resources, including some development work.

EOG settled three previous cases in April, also all from Clearfield County. The company paid $99,125 for allowing fluid from a pit to enter Alex Branch between Aug. 25 and Oct. 30, 2009; $10,000 for allowing well wash fluid into an Alex Branch tributary on Oct. 10 and 11, 2009; and $99,500 for allowing gas and a mixture of fresh water and flowback water into Little Laurel Run from June 3 to Aug. 16, 2010.

Clearfield County is also the site of a June 2010 blowout of an EOG well that did not cause any injuries or environmental damage but led to suspensions and fines for the company and its contractor, C.C. Forbes LLC (see Daily GPI, July 14, 2010).