Chesapeake Agrees To Pay One-Point-Nine Million-Dollars

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – One of the most active natural gas exploration firms in Pennsylvania is agreeing to pay $1.9 million after it disclosed in 2014 that its construction work had damaged waterways and wetlands. Officials from Chesapeake Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City and federal and state environmental protection agencies signed a consent decree in December before it was filed in federal court in Williamsport on Wednesday. The consent decree must go through a 30-day public comment period and requires court approval to take effect. Chesapeake in 2014 disclosed possible violations in Beaver, Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties, including damming streams and filling in wetlands. Chesapeake is agreeing to clean up the sites, or offset the damage by improving sites elsewhere.