![](https://www.witf.io/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_6372-1620x1080.jpg)
A natural gas drilling rig in Greene County, Pa. in 2016.
Reid R. Frazier / StateImpact Pennsylvania
A natural gas drilling rig in Greene County, Pa. in 2016.
Reid R. Frazier / StateImpact Pennsylvania
Reid R. Frazier / StateImpact Pennsylvania
A natural gas drilling rig in Greene County, Pa. in 2016.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating several complaints possibly related to an incident at a fracking site in Greene County in June.
According to the DEP, the incident happened near EQTâs âLumberâ gas well, where the company was actively fracking for natural gas. The agency said in an email that on June 19, a person who lives nearby complained to the company that sediment was getting into their well water and that gas and fluid were coming out of a nearby abandoned well.
The DEP said EQT confirmed the fluid from the active fracking site was âcommunicatingâ with the abandoned well â a condition sometimes called a âfrac-outâ.
Tammy Yoders, of New Freeport, said the water in one of the two wells on her property had changed color, and her two dogs wonât drink water from the other well. She stopped drinking the water after seeing a post from the Freeport Township Supervisors on Facebook about the âfrac-outâ near her house.
She says EQT gave her family water once, but sheâs been buying water to drink for the past few weeks.
âItâs terrible. Itâs something we shouldnât have to do, you know?â she said. âThey possibly could have contaminated our water, and weâre concerned about it. They tested the water, but we havenât got results back.â
EQT says itâs working with the DEP to investigate, and has stopped all fracking activities at the Lumber site. In an email, a spokeswoman said the company âis investigating whether there is any relationship between this incident and EQTâs completions operations at its Lumber pad site, which is more than a mile from the abandoned well.â
DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley said in an email that the agencyâs study of the incident âincludes an investigation of several water supply complaints, and investigation into gas wells in the area of the Lumber well site.â
John Stolz, a professor of environmental microbiology at Duquesne University, said he tested the water at three houses in New Freeport at the request of area residents and found elevated levels in methane in one of them. As a result, he said he recommended the residents he spoke with not to drink the water.
Note: Stolz receives research funding from The Heinz Endowments and Colcom Foundation, which also fund The Allegheny Front.
StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.
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StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.
Climate Solutions, a collaboration of news organizations, educational institutions and a theater company, uses engagement, education and storytelling to help central Pennsylvanians toward climate change literacy, resilience and adaptation. Our work will amplify how people are finding solutions to the challenges presented by a warming world.