Violations

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has sent Chevron Appalachia LLC notice of nine violations stemming from an explosion and fire at a well site in Greene County, PA, that left one worker dead and another injured in February (see Shale Daily, Feb. 11).

In one of the largest fees ever assessed by the federal government for violating the Clean Water Act, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday that Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, a subsidiary of onshore oil and gas giant Chesapeake Energy, would pay a civil penalty of $3.2 million for violations that occurred in West Virginia.

As part of its efforts to increase the level of safety in natural gas delivery systems throughout the state, California regulatory safety staff on Friday finalized its procedures for implementing increased powers to issue citations for violations to the state’s major gas utilities. The action was touted as the basis for “an aggressive program” making safety “central to the utility bottom line.”

Michael Guesman, an employee of Hardrock Excavating LLC, admitted Thursday that he dumped oilfield waste into a storm drain that empties into the Mahoning River near Youngstown, OH, a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) that prompted the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to permanently revoke the operating permits for Hardrock and a second company also alleged to have violated the CWA.

Levying the largest civil penalty ever — $1.5 million — for an oil and natural gas violation, the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) last Wednesday found a small operator, Halek Operating ND LLC, guilty of violating state standards for disposing of salt water, a byproduct of oil production, in an injection well.

The Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) of New York has called on the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) to initiate an investigation into apparent violations of lobbying laws by the group known as “Artists Against Fracking,” which is led by Beatles star John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, and their son, Sean Lennon.

The Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) of New York has called on the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) to initiate an investigation into apparent violations of lobbying laws by the group known as “Artists Against Fracking,” which is led by Beatles star John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, and their son, Sean Lennon.

Nova Scotia said it will extend its review of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) until mid-2014, enacting a moratorium on the practice for at least another two years.

Pipeline safety reauthorization legislation that would levy stiffer penalties for violations on oil and natural gas pipelines and require installation of automatic shutoff valves on new transmission lines was approved by the Senate last week.