CNX Gas fined more than $400,000 for drilling violations in Greene County

Amy Sisk

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Amy Sisk reports for StateImpact Pennsylvania and WESA, Pittsburgh's NPR member station. She comes to Pennsylvania from another energy-rich state, North Dakota, where she told stories from coal mines, wind farms and the Bakken oil patch for Inside Energy and Prairie Public Broadcasting. Amy's stories often air on NPR, including those from the eight months she spent following the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. A reporting trip to the Bakken during its boom years sparked her interest in energy. Ever since, she's covered the industry -- from the way it is regulated to its influence on policy to its impact on people and the environment.

December 28, 2017 | 3:00 PM

Amy Sisk / StateImpact Pennsylvania

A natural gas well site operates in southwestern Pennsylvania.

CNX Gas Co. has agreed to pay two fines to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for drilling violations that took place in 2015 and 2016 in Greene County.

The penalties, totaling $433,500, stem from incidents at four well sites that affected waterways and vegetation, according to the DEP.

The company failed to properly control and dispose of flowback and drilling fluids, and it did not take adequate steps to prevent erosion and sedimentation, among other violations, the department said in a news release.

The violations affected Jacobs Run and one of its tributaries, as well as groundwater in a special protection watershed.

“Two service companies were replaced as a direct result of actions that contributed to these incidents in late 2015 and early 2016,” CNX spokesperson Brian Aiello wrote in an email. “Upon discovery, CNX self-reported and worked closely with agency personnel on appropriate remediation steps.”

CNX has finished cleaning up the sites, the DEP said. The Canonsburg-based company operates 319 hydraulically fractured wells in Pennsylvania, half of which are in Greene County, according to DEP records.