Cabot Oil and Gas to pay $99,000 for air quality violations in Susquehanna County

Scott Blanchard/WITF

Recent Stories

As director of journalism, I work on things like newsroom strategy, culture, ethics, and training; I work with reporters (mainly climate reporter Rachel McDevitt) on stories; and I'm deeply involved with our community engagement efforts and collaborations with other news organizations.

My roots in journalism go back to growing up outside Washington, D.C., reading Woodward and Bernstein in my hometown paper, and being drawn to the ideals of freedom of the press and holding the powerful to account. I also idolized the Post’s sports columnists, and in fact was a sports reporter/editor before I moved to news.

I followed journalism’s call to the University of Missouri, then to jobs in Virginia and Maryland before landing in Pennsylvania, and I’ve lived near Gettysburg for more than two decades. Living in rural Pa. helps inform my work as a journalist and my belief that listening is one of the most important things we can do.

If I’m not doing journalism stuff, I may be traveling, bird-watching, or both.

December 4, 2017 | 4:38 PM

Reports of health problems by people living near gas rigs like this one in Susquehanna County should be compiled in a statewide registry, advocates say.

Susan Phillips / StateImpact

A Cabot Oil and Gas well site in Susquehanna County.” credit=”Susan Phillips / StateImpact

Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. will pay $99,000 as part of an agreement with the state environmental protection department, which found air quality violations at natural gas well sites in Susquehanna County.

The DEP also said that for 20 wells, Cabot didn’t submit reports that are used to figure out whether the wells would be exempt from permitting requirements.

“Cabot has acknowledged these violations and taken necessary corrective measures to come into compliance,” the DEP said in a news release.

A Cabot spokesman did not return a request for comment.

The DEP said that since 2013 at various wells sites, 267 pneumatic controllers — which are automated instruments — emitted too much natural gas. Those violations, plus the failure to report on the 20 wells, led to the penalty.

The money will be paid to the DEP’s Clean Air Fund, which is used to pay for air quality programs.

Cabot has been among the most prolific well-drillers in Pennsylvania. In September, two families in Dimock, Susquehanna County, settled a lawsuit filed against the company over alleged contaminated drinking water.