County Well-Plugging Project Moves Forward

Ron Wilshire

Ron Wilshire

Published September 1, 2015 4:50 am
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CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A long abandoned gas well adjacent to the old Clarion County Jail is getting plugged, according to Clarion County Commissioner Butch Campbell.         

Campbell said the drilling rig arrived in Clarion over the weekend, and Monday saw a little movement connected with the project.
          
Campbell offered some background on the abandoned well at an earlier meeting.

“It was discovered in 1993 and reported to DEP, and they did an inspection and investigation of the well and recommended that it be put on the plug-in list,” said Campbell. 

“Today, we can’t find any record of it being put there. In Looking at potential sites for the new 911 OES Center, it was discovered that the well was there, and nothing had been done about it. We brought EADS into look at it, as required, and DEP was there.  We have discovered the well; it was about four feet down in the ground. DEP and EADS representatives said it’s only the second well they have ever seen with a wooden top casing around it.  A considerable amount of it was still intact.”

“Once we located it and dug down to it, you could see down the well shaft about four feet. Once that was accomplished, there was a large pipe put around it, and it was backfilled and a steel plate placed on top of it.”

Campbell said DEP offered several options…

    1. We could leave it alone and just forget about it.
    2. The County could spend the money and plug it.  Campbell said he wasn’t in favor of this option.
    3. The well put on the orphan or abandoned well program, and at a point in time, DEP would come on the property, analyze the situation, and eventually get around to plug-in.
    4. The county is also pursuing is Act 13 funds, money that has been set aside by the state to deal with these type of wells.

Commissioners unanimously approved a new contractual consent of landowner with DEP to enter upon and use the land for purposes of conducting well clean out and plugging activities, effective March 25, 2015, to March 25, 2016.

 

 

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