State inspectors say a troubled oil well in Cecil Township is still leaking more than two and a half years after it first landed on regulators’ radar, with no visible cleanup in sight.
When Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection staff returned to the McCown 1 conventional oil well on June 11, 2026, they reported that contaminated groundwater still had not been addressed after roughly 936 days. Their latest visit flagged the same problems as before: corroded production and wastewater tanks and discolored pooled water near the pump jack on a rural Washington County property.
What inspectors saw
During the June 11 inspection, DEP recorded a soil conductivity reading of 12.34 mS at the base of a larger metal production tank and photographed standing wastewater inside a corroded containment area, according to PA Environment Digest, which reviewed the agency’s inspection report.
DEP’s write-up stated that it “Appears a release of production fluids [contaminated groundwater from the well] has migrated into a nearby” pool of water, and the inspection directed the operator to assess the entire well site for leaks and spills. In other words, regulators are telling the owner to stop looking the other way and start looking everywhere.
A long-running problem
The well, listed to the C C Wharton Estate, was first inspected after a citizen complaint on Nov. 17, 2023. Violations were reissued on May 13, 2025, and the site was last formally inspected that same day, according to the record…