EQT Corp. was fined $294,000 for sending four million gallons of mine drainage into the Monongahela River last year when a drilling operation pierced an abandoned Allegheny County coal mine.
The Downtown-based firm and the Department of Environmental Protection reached a settlement over an episode that occurred in January as EQT was drilling a tunnel for a pipeline under State Route 136 in Forward Township. The company was boring under the road so it could install a pipeline to carry water from the Mon River to a nearby well pad for fracking operations.
When it hit the old mine, orange water came to the surface through the bore and continued into the river, several tributaries and nearby wetlands.
According to the DEP, EQT knew and told the department that there were likely abandoned mines in the area. It said it didn’t know if the mine pools were flooded and didn’t do a geophysical investigation to find out.
There were signs that abandoned mine drainage — metal-laden water — was present. The DEP noted that “seeps of orange water” were noticed near the horizontal directional drilling operation in January 2017 before EQT started drilling there.
Months later, EQT told regulators that aerial photographs from 2013 showed the presence of mineral stained water in the area.
According to DEP inspection reports, orange water continued to flow into the Monongahela River for months. The DEP said all violations were corrected by August 2017.
Energy Transfer Partners went through something similar with its Mariner East 2 pipeline construction in Westmoreland County. A horizontal drilling operation created a seep of iron-laden mine water into Sewickley Creek in 2017.
The Texas-based firm was criticized by the DEP for not taking enough care to investigate potential geological issues with horizontal drilling in undermined areas, just as regulators in this case felt EQT did not do its due diligence, said DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley.
Nearby water authorities were notified of the discharge, Ms. Fraley. Their regular water treatment equipment is designed to target the kinds of elements typical in mine water, she said, so drinking water quality was not an issue in this case.
EQT promised to take greater care in sniffing out potential issues with coal mines, including doing soil studies and field investigations.
In Forward Township, after the company reestablished the collection system for the mine water that funnels it into a stormwater catch basin, it also agreed, as part of the settlement, to pay $100,000 to establish a fund for the management and replacement of that drainage system.
Anya Litvak: alitvak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1455.
First Published: November 14, 2018, 1:43 p.m.