DEP: 35 Water Wells in McKean County
Contaminated by Oil, Gas Prospecting

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has released details of 243 cases where companies prospecting for oil or gas contaminated private drinking water wells – and 35 of those are in McKean County.

DEP posted online links to the documents after the agency conducted what it called a “thorough review” of paper files stored among its regional offices.

Pennsylvania’s auditor general said in a report last month that DEP’s system for handling complaints “was woefully inadequate” and that investigators could not even determine whether all complaints were actually entered into a reporting system. DEP hasn’t issued a statement yet.

While most of the incidents in McKean County were in Bradford Township between 2008 and 2010, they were also reported in Foster, Corydon, Lafayette and Hamilton townships.

The most recent in Foster Township was 366 days ago. The most recent in Lafayette Township was in November.

The problems listed in the documents include methane gas contamination, spills of wastewater and other pollutants, and wells that went dry or were otherwise undrinkable. Some of the problems were temporary, but the names of landowners were redacted, so it wasn’t clear if the problems were resolved to their satisfaction. Other complaints are still being investigated.

List of Complaints PDF

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Anonymous said…
Nice work.
August 29, 2014 at 9:41 PM
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