Half of the 425 incidents regarding spills that resulted in fines at Marcellus drilling sites in Pennsylvania since 2005 were first seen by someone other than oil and gas companies, according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

As a result of these incidents, more than $4.4 million has been assessed in fines to oil and gas companies that operate in the state.

Oil and gas companies are supposed to report all spills that occur at well sites, regardless of the size of the spills. However, many times state inspectors or landowners are the ones to spot the spills first.

From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

“Some of the spills that were missed by the drillers were relatively small, maybe a couple dozen gallons of spilled brine, drilling mud, hydraulic fracturing flowback fluid or some other contaminant. But others were large, comprising thousands of gallons that killed large swaths of vegetation, state documents show.”

Via: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette > Drillers did not report half of spills that led to fines