The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Division of Air Quality has issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to Jay-Bee Oil & Gas Inc. for operating storage tanks on its Lisby Well Pad without the proper permits.
The natural gas drilling site is located in the Big Run area of Tyler County and the Lisby Pad includes four Marcellus wells that are in the initial production phase. Because six storage tanks at the site are used to collect natural gas liquids and can produce vapors, air quality permits are required.
The NOV, issued late Tuesday, requires Jay-Bee to provide dates when the tanks were installed and when each was put into operation; the amount of natural gas liquids produced at the site from commencement of operations until present; the potential emissions from all other sites not permitted by the DAQ; and a detailed explanation of the remedial measures taken to address the causes of non-compliance.
Inspectors from the WVDEP’s Office of Oil and Gas and Division of Air Quality were dispatched to the Lisby Pad early Friday after receiving a complaint of a strong odor late the night before. The inspectors determined the likely cause of the odor was a nighttime inversion created by atmospheric conditions that trapped the gas vapors coming from the tanks. The WVDEP worked with the operator to implement measures to decrease emissions. Also, the operator plans to implement a secondary recovery system on the tanks to capture the gas vapors.
The WVDEP continues to monitor the situation and requested assistance from the agency’s Emergency Response section to monitor air quality at the site. The air monitoring equipment, which indicates the presence of volatile organics, detected no dangerous levels. Air monitoring equipment on site and mobile equipment operated by local emergency officials also detected no explosive levels – even last Thursday night when the odor was at its strongest.
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