John Flis

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FNCB employees donate dress down funds to Pittston free health clinic

First Posted: 4/18/2013 1:37:21 PM <hardreturn>Wendy Wiedenbeck acknowledges that Luzerne County residents might be troubled by the fact that EnCana Oil &amp; Gas (USA) Inc. paid $1.5 million in fines over the past four years. But Wiedenbeck, the community and public relations adviser for the natural gas company that will begin drilling in the Back Mountain and Red Rock areas this summer, said the company is &#8220;committed to responsible development&#8221; and today is &#8220;a leader in environmental stewardship.&#8221; According to data Wiedenbeck provided at the request of The Times Leader, EnCana was assessed $542,000 on nine fines in 2006; $663,000 on 19 fines in 2007; $306,000 on 19 fines in 2008; and $3,000 on 10 fines in 2009. The data for 2009 is subject to change, she said. Some Back Mountain residents and elected officials have expressed concern that drilling activities could contaminate water private water wells or the Huntsville and Ceasetown reservoirs. Wiedenbeck said EnCana has never had an instance in which the company&#8217;s hydraulic fracturing process affected a water well. &#8220;In fact, there has never been an instance where the fracking process impacted water wells. We have, however, experienced operational failures, which resulted in regulatory violations and fines. These range from issues with lost circulation during cementing, which resulted in permanent changes to cementing protocols in 2004, to deficiencies with location signage,&#8221; she said. Encana&#8217;s violations have ranged a wide gamut, from a $1,000 fine after a contractor&#8217;s truck broke down on a mountain road during a restricted time period, preventing parents from picking up their children from a bus stop in 2002, to the largest fine issued by the Colorado Oil &amp; Gas Conservation Commission for allowing gas to migrate into a creek. The commission fined EnCana a record $371,000 after one of the company&#8217;s wells leaked into West Divide Creek in Western Colorado in 2004. The seep was found to contain the carcinogenic chemical benzene. Wiedenbeck said that fine is included in the total assessed in 2006, and the seep resulted from a failure in cementing procedures at the well. &#8220;We made a mistake. We moved too fast. But we worked with the commission to modify and improve the cementing procedure in Colorado. Since then, we&#8217;ve drilled hundreds of wells in Colorado without incident. But (the Divide Creek incident) is part of the reason why we&#8217;re taking a very thoughtful and measured approach to our operations in Luzerne County,&#8221; she said. Wiedenbeck also pointed to a vast improvement in EnCana&#8217;s record related to spills. In 2009, EnCana had 75 reportable spills totaling 4,036 barrels of material, a volume reduction of 38 percent from 2008 and 87 less than in 2007, she said. Dave Neslin, executive director of the Colorado Oil &amp; Gas Conservation Commission, said commission staff views EnCana as &#8220;a responsible operator.&#8221; Neslin said EnCana&#8217;s compliance has improved since the Divide Creek seep, and the company implemented an extensive remediation plan. &#8220;Much of the impact has been remediated,&#8221; he said. Neslin said EnCana is one of the largest operators in the state, responsible for nearly 10 percent of the approximately 40,000 active oil and gas wells in the state. He noted that the company was the first to voluntarily establish a wildlife mitigation program encompassing 44,000 acres to ensure wildlife populations will be protected, and that EnCana won a commission award last year for the company&#8217;s Courtesy Matters community outreach program.

Company defends its environmental record