State attorney general Dave Sunday announced charges were filed against an energy company for failing to maintain a well that leaked gas in 2022 in the Cambria County area.
Equitrans LP faces 14 counts of unlawful conduct, prohibition against discharge of industrial waste, and prohibition against other pollutions. An investigation by the A.G.’s office showed that a well owned by the company in the Rager Mountain Storage Field in Cambria County leaked natural gas into the atmosphere for two weeks. Sunday said in a statement that the company’s actions “went well beyond negligence” and that there was a “reckless disregard for neighboring communities who were potentially exposed to unsafe air and water.”
A Grand Jury investigation revealed that the facility had insufficient programs to monitor and mitigate the corrosion of the well sites at the facility, resulting in a rupture and the release of the gas that went across Southern PA, into Maryland and Delaware and even parts of the Atlantic Ocean. Equitrans hired a well control specialist to pump salt water down into the well to counteract the pressure of the gas coming out, but it took several attempts, which heavily contaminated the soil, groundwater, and vegetation around the well.
A spokesperson for EQT, who now owns Equitrans, said they are taking responsibility and are fully committed to addressing the problems with transparency, accountability and urgency. They also said they will continue to fully cooperate with authorities.
Comments