Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

A contractor who lied to the government about plugging abandoned oil wells in Elk County has been sentenced to six months in prison. 45-year-old Ronald Wright of Pleasantville must also pay more than $236,000 restitution to his former employee, S&T Services and Supply to cover costs of re-plugging 95 wells. ARG Resources had contracted with S&T to plug the abandoned wells so they would be in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act before doing work in the Allegheny National Forest. During his sentencing in federal court in Erie he apologized for filed false certificates that environmental regulators used to approve an injection well in Elk County. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A man has admitted to lying to ARG Resources and the federal government about plugging abandoned wells on the Allegheny National Forest in Elk County. 54-year-old Ronald Wright of Pleasantville said he plugged the wells while he was working for S & T Services and Supply, but not to the depth he claimed in reports filed with the government. ARG Resources wanted to use a combination of injection and production wells designed to increase the amount of oil from wells on the forest. Permits for injection wells require that all abandoned wells within ¼ mile of the new injection wells be plugged. ARG Resources entered into a contract with S &T to plug the wells so ARG would be in compliance with the permitting process under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Fluids associated with oil and natural gas drilling, including brine, are deposited in Class II injection wells. Wright faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on December 22. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... si...

JAMES CITY – State Rep. Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield/Elk) is addressing a story we ran yesterday about a Pleasantville man's indictment on federal charges related to a permit for an underground disposal well in Highland Township, Elk County. According to the indictment filed by a federal grand jury Pleasantville-based S & T Services and Supply Inc. contracted with ARG Resources Inc. to plug abandoned oil wells so that ARG would be in compliance with its injection-well-permitting process under the Safe Drinking Water Act. 44-year-old Ronald Wright was then hired by S & T Services to perform the well plugging, but the indictment says he filed false claims that he had plugged the wells. Gabler issued the following statement: “(This) report is yet another devastating indictment of the EPA’s underground injection well permitting process. Reports show the EPA is investigating a case of fraudulent testimony – testimony which they relied upon to issue the injection well perm...

Harvey Golubock, president of ARG Resources Inc., will speak on Feb. 6 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford as part of its Executive Speaker Series. Golubock will speak from 11 a.m. to noon in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. The event is free and open to the public. A year ago, Golubock retired as president and chief operating officer of American Refining Group in Bradford, but he continues his relationship with the company as president of ARG Resources Inc. and as vice chairman of the board of directors at ARG. American Refining Group Inc. purchased the Bradford refinery in 1997 from Witco Corp. The transition was led by Golubock, who was an executive with Witco before becoming president at ARG. Golubock will speak about how he was able to turn around the company while at the same time convince employees that the new owner could be trusted and lead them to greater days. Golubock was with...