Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court on Monday upheld a $1.1 million fine against Downtown-based EQT Corp. for reckless violations of state environmental law and “massive” contamination from a wastewater holding pond at a shale gas well site in 2012.
The appeals court said substantial evidence backed up the lower Environmental Hearing Board’s conclusion last year that residual contamination in the soil continued to pollute groundwater around the Tioga County drilling site for more than three months after EQT emptied the leaking pit.
Similarly, the evidence supported the board’s conclusion that EQT acted recklessly when it designed and built the pit, and when it initially “dragged its feet” in responding to the leak, Judge P. Kevin Brobson wrote for the court.
“We have no reason to conclude that the penalty that the board imposed in this matter does not fit the violations,” he wrote.
The leak and its persistent contamination plume have been the subject of multiple legal cases since 2014, when the state Department of Environmental Protection originally sought a $4.5 million fine against the company. In one especially significant decision earlier this year, the state Supreme Court sided with EQT in striking down DEP’s practice of adding up fines each time pollution flows from one water body to another after a spill.
DEP spokesman Neil Shader said Monday that the agency is pleased with the Commonwealth Court decision. “It accurately reflects the facts of the case and provides sound caselaw,” he said.
EQT spokeswoman Linda Robertson said the company is disappointed and “will be reviewing the opinion to determine next steps.”
Laura Legere: llegere@post-gazette.com.
First Published: September 10, 2018, 8:48 p.m.