Gas Company Fined After West Branch Twp. Inspection

DEP has fined Ultra Resources Inc. of Tioga County $40,000 for operating an illegal transfer station at a well pad in West Branch Township, Potter County. In late February 2011, inspectors found 47 wheelie storage tanks on-site that were holding more than 760,000 gallons of raw flowback fluid that Ultra was using for hydraulic fracturing at other area sites. That activity requires a residual waste transfer station permit from the department.

Because no wells were ever drilled at this site — the permits expired while this activity was taking place – DEP determined that Ultra never intended to use the stored fluid for drilling at that site. Department inspections conducted last March and July documented additional violations of the Oil and Gas Act, including the failure to post well permit numbers at the site. DEP issued a notice of violation in late July 2011, and then discovered additional violations during an inspection in August. Those violations included flowback fluids around the wheelie tanks and on the containment liner; failure to properly stabilize several areas of the well pad and access road; and improper construction of a sediment basin. A DEP inspection in November 2011 confirmed that all violations had been corrected.