DEP: Abandoned Shale Gas Water Impoundment Not Used For 7 Years Cited For Not Being Restored In Clarion County
On April 17, 2025, DEP issued a notice of violation to Laurel Mountain Production based on an April 14 inspection for failure to close and restore the Stacey Road Freshwater Impoundment in Perry Township, Clarion County after the facility was not used for seven years. DEP classified the facility as “abandoned.”
DEP said Laurel Mountain Production also never complied with the basic requirement to register the impoundment with the agency since it was constructed in 2017 as required by state regulations.
Photos from the April 14 inspection show the impoundment contains an unknown quantity of water. The impoundment was certainly built to hold over 1 million gallons gallons of water.
This is the second abandoned shale gas water impoundment DEP has taken action against this month. Read more here.
The Stacey Road Impoundment, located on part of a reclaimed surface coal mine, was issued a GP-2 Erosion and Sedimentation General Permit on April 11, 2017 to construct the facility. It was completed by August 2017, according to DEP eFACTs records.
DEP’s April 14, 2025 inspection report said the impoundment was only used for about 9 months, until May 12, 2018 when it was last used as a source of water for fracking shale gas wells on the Glacial well pad.
Impoundments like this must be restored no later than 9 months after their final use, which in this case would have been by February 12, 2019.
DEP said it denied a request to terminate its erosion and sedimentation permit in 2019 because Laurel Mountain failed to submit deed instruments to alert future buyers of the property of post-construction stormwater management best management practices constructed for the site.
The erosion and sedimentation permit expired on April 11, 2022 without the site being restored.
DEP requested a response to the violations issued in the April 14 inspection report by May 7, 2025 and asked the company to indicate the future plans for this site.
DEP previously inspected the impoundment on--
-- December 23, 2024, no violations, but the inspection report noted the impoundment is required to be restored if it is not going to be used for future frack water. DEP inspection report.
-- February 15, 2019, no violations, but the inspection report said the notice to terminate its erosion and sedimentation permit was denied for failure to submit deed instruments. DEP inspection report.
-- January 19, 2018, no violations. DEP inspection report.
-- June 6, 2017, preoperational inspection, no violations. DEP inspection report.
-- June 20, 2017, preoperational inspection, no violations. DEP inspection report.
-- July 5, 2017, preoperational inspection, no violations. DEP inspection report.
-- August 3, 2017, routine inspection, no violations, construction being completed. DEP inspection report.
Laurel Mountain Production holds 29 permits for shale gas well pads, water withdrawals, and water pipelines, according to eFACTS.
2nd Abandoned Impoundment
This is the second abandoned shale gas water impoundment DEP has taken action against this month.
On April 1, 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection inspected the Winner 6 shale gas well pad and 3 million gallon water impoundment in East Keating Township, Clinton County owned by Frontier Natural Resources and found the pad and impoundment had not been restored.
DEP issued the original permit for the well site and impoundment in October 2011.
DEP issued the original violations for failure to restore the well pad and the water impoundment on July 14, 2017-- eight years ago. Read more here.
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.
[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.]
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - April 19 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 96 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In April 19 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 58 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In March; 142 In 2025 [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- Farm & Dairy: PA Environmental Board Delays Vote On Petition To Increase Shale Gas Well Setbacks
-- PublicSourceNews.org: Setback On Setbacks: PA Environmental Quality Board Tables Consideration Of New Limits On Drilling Near Building, Water Sources
-- Warren Times: Instead Of ‘Drill, Baby, Drill,’ US Rig Counts Falling, Layoffs Increasing
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: EQT Corp. To Acquire Privately Held Olympus Energy Shale Gas Producer
-- Marcellus Drilling News: Austin Master Services-PA Fracking Wastewater Plant Cleanup In Martins Ferry, OH Almost Complete At Taxpayer Expense [PDF of Article]
-- The Economist: America Won’t Be Able To Bully The World Into Buying More US Natural Gas
-- Marcellus Drilling News: EIA Annual Energy Outlook: Oil And Natural Gas Demand Peaks In 2027 and 2032 [PDF of Article]
-- Financial Times: Growth In Oil Demand Expected To Slow Sharply As A Result Of President’s Tariffs
-- Wall Street Journal: Big Oil, Natural Gas Offshoring Its Prized Engineering Jobs To India
-- Financial Times: President’s Tariff Talk Roils US Oil, Gas Industry In Bedrock Republican Territory
-- Financial Times: China Stopped Buying US LNG Gas Feb. 6 Due To Trade War
-- The Guardian: President’s Tariffs Will Mean World Uses Less Oil This Year, IEA Says
-- Observer-Reporter Guest Essay: Shapiro’s Energy Policies Will Cause Us To Pay More - By Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington) [PJM Policies-Data Center Growth Taking Power Away From Public-Natural Gas Prices Are Real Problem - Get The Real Story Here ]
-- Barron’s Guest Essay: Oil And Gas, Once Eager For President’s Return, Is Feeling The Whiplash [PDF of Article]
[Posted: April 23, 2025] PA Environment Digest
