Northern Tier Gas Intrusion Settlement Finalized

Settlement agreements are now finalized between Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection and three natural gas companies operating in  Northeastern Pennsylvania for methane contamination in drinking water wells.

The DEP announced this week that Chesapeake, XTO Energy and SWEPI LP will pay a total of $374,481 to settle complaints in Bradford, Lycoming and Tioga Counties in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania.

The penalties were leveled after there were complaints that methane from natural gas wells had migrated off-site into private wells of homes and hunting clubs starting in 2012.

The DEP says all the impacted wells have been permanently replaced, had treatment systems put in, or had returned to normal conditions without remediation.