Schreiner Oil and Gas Co. has responded to and complied with a
Feb. 23 order issued by the state Department of Environmental
Protection, proposing a comprehensive permanent solution to water
issues afflicting two homes as a result of the company’s drilling
activity near Hedgehog Lane.

Early this week, Schreiner submitted a restoration plan to the
DEP which the agency approved, giving the company 30 days to carry
out the actions enumerated in the proposal.

The DEP previously determined the Ohio-based company was liable
for negatively affecting the water supplies of nine Hedgehog Lane
residences and had not rectified the situation in two of those
homes completely.

“They had installed some treatment systems, but it wasn’t
throughout the entire house and those systems did not completely
address the issues. These latest installments have done so,” said
DEP Community Relations Coordinator Freda Tarbell on Tuesday.

Tarbell explained that the newly approved restoration plan
involves the installation of water treatment systems in the two
remaining homes awaiting remediation of their water issues.

“Both of the homes will be getting reverse osmosis systems which
will remove total dissolved solids, chlorides, manganese, iron,
dissolved methane and ethane gas from their water supplies,”
Tarbell said. “There will also be pumps installed, water softeners
and UV light to disinfect the water as part of the project.”

The DEP ruled Schreiner responsible for the contamination in the
homes out of negligence because the company, which has been
actively drilling combination oil and gas wells in the area for two
years, did not establish background water quality in the area prior
to drilling.

It is for this reason that the DEP is requiring Schreiner to
demonstrate that the contaminants in the affected water supplies do
not exceed the maximum contaminant levels established under the
Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act.

“The company should have gone to homes near their drilling
location and taken water samples to discern water quality before
they started drilling,” Tarbell said.

The DEP conducted its own sampling on the water supplies in
those homes after the drilling took place to contain all of those
contaminants that the new reverse osmosis systems will extract in
excess of that safely allowed.

Tarbell said various substances could easily seep into the
groundwater through cracks in underground rockbeds created by the
fracturing process of drilling for oil and gas, leading to the
determination that Schreiner was the responsible party for the
contamination.

As an indication of the severity of the situation for the homes
whose water had been contaminated, water coming out of the faucets
at the Bailey residence prior to the initial partial rectification
was able to be lit on fire due the levels of flammable gas mixed
in.

The Feb. 23 order also directs Schreiner to continue maintaining
the quality of water supplies for the other seven homes and to
improve the cement casing at three of its drilled oil/gas wells to
prevent further groundwater contamination.

Under the order, Schreiner is to apply within 60 days to have
any of its 15 abandoned wells placed in inactive status or to plug
the abandoned wells fully. Until the gas migration issue is
completely resolved, Schreiner is not permitted by the DEP to drill
any new wells.