Archive for the ‘Pennsylvania Natural Gas Drilling’ Category

State DEP chief warns gas companies to put end to well blowouts and water pollution.

MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — Serious consequences await the state’s rapidly growing natural gas industry if companies are caught cutting corners of safety measures to pump up profits, Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator warned Wednesday.

Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger told a state Senate committee that companies flocking to Pennsylvania to exploit the rich Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve must stop well blowouts, gas migration and water pollution.

He said he has seen examples of negligence and accidents and cited his agency’s actions to withhold new permits, stop a company’s operations or seal wells when safety is compromised.

“We need this industry to get the message from us that we expect that safety is not going to be sacrificed when those decisions have to be made, and there will be serious consequences” if it is, Hanger said.

Hanger spoke on the heels of two high-profile natural gas well accidents, one in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia.

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee hearing was held as a result of a well blowout in Clearfield County earlier this month that spewed natural gas and wastewater into the air for 16 hours before it was brought under control.

It was incredibly lucky that a nearby engine did not ignite the gas and cause an explosion or fire, Hanger said.

Hanger declined to reveal the results so far of the investigation into the June 3 blowout, though he repeated criticism Wednesday of the apparently botched attempted by the company, EOG Resources, to get in contact with his agency’s emergency response hotline.

On another matter, he told senators that his agency found no violations after inspecting several Pennsylvania wells being drilled by Union Drilling, the contractor that was drilling a West Virginia well that caught fire three days after the blowout.

Hanger’s 90 minutes of testimony came a day before a state board is to vote on proposed new standards that he views as crucial to protecting public waterways from briny and chemical-laden drilling wastewater.

Copyright: Times Leader

Group urges commonsense reforms, dialogue aimed at safely expanding natural gas development, jobs in Pa.

Canonsburg, Pa. – The Pennsylvania state House of Representatives is currently considering what would be the nation’s most onerous taxes on the environmentally responsible development of clean-burning, job-creating natural gas from the Commonwealth’s Marcellus Shale formation. Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), issued this statement:

“Pennsylvanians continue to face troubling economic times, with nearly one out of every ten citizens in the Commonwealth out of work today.

“Despite this difficult climate, the environmentally-safe development of the Marcellus Shale’s natural gas resources continues to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs at a time when they’re most needed. This responsible development is not only generating hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for state and local governments, but it’s also delivering clean-burning, homegrown energy supplies to struggling families in the form of affordable natural gas for home and water heaters, as well electricity.

“We will continue to work closely with the General Assembly, the governor and his administration, as well as county and local officials, to craft commonsense solutions – especially modernizing our outdated regulatory framework – that encourage competitiveness, expanded job creation and energy security.

“Unfortunately, this enormous tax hike and misguided call for blanket moratoriums on shale gas production not only put Pennsylvania on a path to become one of the least competitive energy-producing states in the country but also threatens critical capital investments, which are essential for continued job growth. Instituting new taxes and an unnecessary moratorium will only drive away jobs – what a missed opportunity that would be.”

Copyright: Marcelluscoalition.org

By Patrick Sweet (Staff Writer)
Published: June 15, 2010

NOXEN – Chief Oil and Gas may begin construction on a natural gas well just a few miles north of the border between Luzerne and Wyoming counties as soon as the second week of July.

Off Route 29 in Noxen, short stakes mark the future location of the drilling pad on Robert Longmore’s 97-acre farm. The state Department of Environmental Protection is currently reviewing the Texas-based gas company’s permit to place and operate a well it filed May 11.

The farm is near properties that are part of the Noxen Area Gas Group, a body of roughly 150 families with a combined 8,500 acres which is in the midst of negotiating a lease with Houston, Texas-based Carrizo Oil and Gas.

Just down the road from Longmore, Noxen group organizer Joel Field verified that the group is in the final stages of negotiation with Carrizo. Field and co-organizer Harry Traver declined further comment due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

“Until things are settled down, they’d rather not give any statements,” Harry Traver’s wife, Dawn Traver, said Monday.

Longmore, 56, has owned the farm since 1998 and signed a lease with Chief roughly four and a half years ago. The landmen who approached Longmore about the deal, he said, made the three-page lease giving his family $25 per acre with the minimum 12.5 percent royalty sound like a good deal.

“We were kind of taken advantage of four and a half years ago,” Longmore said. “I know people getting $6,000 an acre.”

The lease had almost no provisions protecting Longmore’s farm. At the time, the landmen made it seem unlikely that drilling would ever commence during the terms of his lease, which ends May 15, 2011.

Chief Oil and Gas media contact Ben McCue attempted to reach operations employees for comment Monday afternoon but they were unavailable by press time.

Since Longmore signed, though, he said his experience with the company has been much more positive.

Earlier this year, the Longmores were given the opportunity to amend the lease.

“They proposed some amendments to the lease,” Longmore said, “so we countered with some amendments with some environmental stuff.”

Chief offered to reopen the terms of the lease in order to add protections for the company in anticipation of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that could have invalidated thousands of gas leases where gas companies were deducting production costs from the state minimum royalty.

The opinion on the case was an interpretation of the Pennsylvania’s Minimum Royalty Act which establishes the 12.5 percent royalty requirement for all oil or natural gas recovered from a well but doesn’t stipulate when to calculate the royalty.

The court ultimately decided in favor of the gas companies roughly a week after the Longmores and Chief finalized the revised lease.

The Longmores added amendments that protected ground and surface water, along with the 0.25-mile stretch of Bowmans Creek that runs through the property.

Longmore’s son, Josh Longmore, manages the Luzerne County Conservation District and helped his father amend the lease.

“Unfortunately, they signed a very basic lease that didn’t have some of the protections that the newer leases have,” Josh Longmore said. “Our biggest goal, our biggest hope is that the property maintains its natural beauty, its agricultural purpose.”

The younger Longmore doesn’t have any stake in his parents’ farm, but felt that it was necessary to help. He and his father combed through leases that they found online and pulled out the clauses that fit their needs.

“There was like three or four different categories of amendments,” Longmore said.

Chief accepted 90 percent of their roughly 20 amendments, Longmore said.

The company did draw the line on an amendment that would have prohibited the company from disposing cuttings – the rock equivalent to sawdust – on the pad. The company argued it would be cost-prohibitive to haul it off-site, Longmore said.

“I really got the impression that they weren’t hiding anything from us,” Longmore said. “They were willing to answer every question we had.”

psweet@citizensvoice.com 570-821-2112

Copyright: The Citizens Voice

State county commissioners association is working to broaden taxing authority.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Counties, municipalities and school districts aren’t seeing any significant tax revenue related to Marcellus Shale development under current tax law.

But the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania is working to change that, lobbying for legislation that would give those governmental bodies property taxing authority on natural gas similar to taxes levied on coal extraction.

“We have to have the assessment law changed. The reason (is that) other minerals are assessed. It’s not fair to the other mineral (extraction companies) and it’s not fair to the rest of the taxpayers who have to pick up the burden of their exemption,” association Executive Director Douglas Hill said of natural gas and oil companies.

Hill said the state Supreme Court in 2002 ruled that counties had no statutory authority to tax oil and gas because state assessment law specifically includes coal but makes no mention of oil or gas.

Since that time, oil and gas interests have been escaping local property taxes, which had been paid in oil and gas-producing counties since at least the early 1900s, according to a position paper released by the association.

“Producers of other minerals such as coal and limestone already pay their fair share of the property tax. Counties support reversing the Supreme Court’s 2002 decision to assure that oil and gas companies contribute their share to the local tax base as well,” the paper states.

Hill said House Bill 10 of 2009, sponsored by state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, would restore property tax assessment authority on oil and gas.

The levy proposed in the bill would apply only to proven wells. “If there’s nothing to be extracted or (the gas) can’t be extracted, then there is no value,” Hill said.

Hill said there is, of course, opposition to the bill from the oil and gas industry. But he pointed out that other oil and gas producing states assess oil and gas extraction. Hill also said that large, multinational companies involved in Marcellus Shale exploration already had payment of such a tax built into their business plans and were surprised to learn that Pennsylvania counties can’t assess natural gas extraction.

Another association position paper points out several ways local communities are impacted by Marcellus Shale exploration that justify taxation.

“Some of the most visible impacts have been to township roads, county bridges and other infrastructure as developers bring drilling rigs, construction equipment and truckloads of water to and from drilling sites. &hellip Hotels might be filled with workers associated with Marcellus, impacting both the tourism industry and the county hotel tax,” according to the paper.

“Workers from out of state and their families have utilized social services such as drug and alcohol treatment and children and youth services. County jails, county probation and law enforcement have been affected. Even county recorder of deeds offices are affected, flooded by title searchers confirming ownership of subsurface rights,” the paper states.

House Bill 10 is still in the House Finance Committee for consideration.

“We’ve been working on getting agreement to move on it. We want to have things in place for a vote in the House and prepare for going to the Senate. We’ve also been working on an introduction of a bill in the senate,” Hill said.

Generally, legislators understand the issue, Hill said, but it “gets confusing at times because they are looking at a state severance tax,” and the county and local taxation issue “gets tied up in all the other issues related to the Marcellus,” he said.

Currently, there are at least five Senate bills and at least 17 House bills pertaining to Marcellus Shale exploration as well as one House bill, two senate bills and a budget proposal from Gov. Ed Rendell that address the imposition of a severance tax, according to information provided by state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township.

In the meantime, county assessors are waiting for some legislative determinations.

Luzerne County Assessor’s Office Director Tony Alu feels pretty confident that legislation eventually will be adopted and that the county will see some tax revenue from natural gas extraction.

Alu said assessors from various counties had been discussing among themselves various taxation formulas that would be most appropriate to tax natural gas extracted.

“We’re waiting on the state to make a determination so that we can all be uniform. &hellip We just want to make sure we’re doing the right thing,” Alu said.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

Copyright: Times Leader

Gov. says drilling industry’s top issues will be dealt with separate from taxes.

MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Legislature is a place where victory almost always arrives in the form of a hard-won compromise, and the state’s rapidly growing natural gas industry may be about to discover that.

So far, the industry has been successful in dodging efforts by Gov. Ed Rendell and many Democratic lawmakers to slap an extraction tax on the methane they pump from the rich Marcellus Shale reserve that lies underneath much of the state.

But the drilling companies will need help from those adversaries in addressing a wish list of changes in state laws they are seeking to make it easier for them to pursue the gas.

Paying a tax just might be the price.

“What we’ve said all along is that the conversation begins and ends with the extraction tax,” said Brett Marcy, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township . “We cannot even begin to seriously discuss some of the issues that the natural gas industry wants us to take action on until we get the necessary support for a natural gas extraction tax.”

The Rendell administration says the industry’s top issues — such as a law that could limit municipal zoning authority over where drilling can occur — will be dealt with separate from the pursuit of a tax.

“Those are apples and oranges in some respects,” said Rendell’s chief of staff, Steve Crawford. “We’re not willing to say, ’We will roll local governments in this state if you support a tax.”’

But Dave Spigelmyer, a Chesapeake Energy Corp. executive who is also vice chairman of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said the administration has told the industry group that a discussion of drilling issues will include talking about a tax.

For now, talk is in the early stages and industry-backed legislation that encompasses the wish list has not been introduced.

Two of the top issues could be controversial.

One would essentially outlaw a municipality from using zoning to prevent the collection of gas from below the property of someone who wishes to sell it — a change opposed by the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.

Municipalities “have the ability to properly zone different activities within the jurisdictions. With the industry being able to drill horizontally up to a mile, why do they need to have zoning done away with?” asked Elam Herr, the association’s assistant executive director.

The other would allow a state authority to force a holdout landowner into a pool with neighbors who wish to sell their mineral rights in a block to a drilling company.

The state would decide how the holdout is to be compensated for the gas, based on the agreements between the willing landowners and the company.

Copyright: Times Leader

Copyright: Times Leader

U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak holds a meeting at Misericordia University.

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Published on June 13, 2010

DALLAS TWP. – Property owners concerned about the effects of Marcellus Shale drilling on water reservoirs made their views clearly known Saturday afternoon during a packed town hall meeting at Misericordia University’s library.

They wanted a moratorium enacted immediately on all gas drilling throughout the state until more is known on how to safely drill natural gas wells without using dangerous chemicals in the hydrofracturing process. The process uses between 1 million to 1.5 million of gallons of water per well laced with chemicals and dirt under high pressure to force the ground open to release natural gas, geologist Patrick Considine said.

Considine and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak, whose campaign organized the town hall forum, said that during President George W. Bush’s administration, requirements on oil and gas companies were dramatically lifted. Considine, president of Considine Associates and forum panel member, explained that federal and state officials are not entitled to know what mixtures of chemicals each gas drilling company uses because it is considered a trade secret formula.

He warned that the federal and state governments need more officials to oversee the drilling processes, so the companies are not tempted to cut corners when disposing of the water after the fracking.

“Oil and gas companies need to be held to the same standards as other companies. We don’t need more regulations; we need to find ways to enforce the regulations we have,” Considine said.

People wanting the moratorium drowned out the drilling supporters, including business owner, economist and farmer Joe Grace of Morris in Lycoming County, who sees this industry being one of the biggest Pennsylvania has ever experienced by bringing 88,000 jobs to the state just this year and generating millions in revenue.

Worried about the environment and safety of area water systems, local podiatrist Dr. Thomas Jiunta adamantly disagreed with Grace, pointing to the recent gas well drilling incident in Clearfield County and a gas pipeline accident that killed one worker in Texas.

“This is not a safe activity as we know how to do it right now. We need to stop it first. We are putting the cart before the horse when you are talking about economic boom. You can’t drink gas,” said Jiunta of Dallas, a Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition founding member.

Jiunta added more focus should be put jobs that will support and grow green and renewable energy sources.

Sestak told people he sees gas drilling as an economic boon to the state, yet it needs to be done in a responsible way.

“I think this would be a good way to yes, exploit our resources, but not our communities. Business has to pause. Harrisburg has to stop until we get it right,” Sestak said, adding that he supports enacting a 5 percent severance tax on the drilling companies. He said is in favor of a moratorium

No representatives from the campaign of Sestak’s opponent, former U.S. rep. Pat Toomey, attended the forum.

A statement from the Republican candidate’s campaign staff said Sestak’s plan for taxing the drilling will backfire by pushing those companies to focus on other states.

“Marcellus Shale has the potential to provide Pennsylvania with over 200,000 new jobs and millions of dollars in added revenue, but Joe Sestak’s plan to tax natural gas extraction will chase these jobs out of Pennsylvania. A recent study warned that a tax on Marcellus natural gas output would very likely divert investment to other states like Colorado and Texas. This is further proof that Joe Sestak’s ‘more government, less jobs’ approach is bad for Pennsylvania,” Toomey’s Deputy Communications Director Kristin Anderson said.

State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, did not attend the forum, but issued a statement Friday stating she was working to develop legislation to protect drinking water from gas drilling practices. Knowing that will take time to become law, she is urging Gov. Ed Rendell to issue an executive order implementing four additional rules before permits can be issued.

Her opponent, Richard Shermanski, a Democrat, attended the meeting, telling people he would not support any form of drilling if he knows it will damage water reservoirs.

Many attending the forum reside in Luzerne County, but some people, including Leslie Avakian of Greenfield Township in northern Lackawanna County, drove an hour to voice their views.

She believes the state’s Department of Environmental Protection needs to be spilt up into two separate agencies because DEP currently issues the permits and regulates the gas companies.

Lynn Hesscease of Dallas told her story of how she became deathly sick after three years of oil leaking in her cellar from a rusted pipe.

She explained how she can’t use any type of products made from petroleum – polyester clothing, petroleum jelly or use plastic cups.

“We have to be very careful it is not near our drinking water and we are not exposed to the chemicals or fumes because if we are, people will get sick,” Hesscease said.

Sherry Long, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7159.

Copyright: The Times Leader

U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak holds a meeting at Misericordia University.

By Sherry Longslong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

DALLAS TWP. – Property owners concerned about the effects of Marcellus Shale drilling on water reservoirs made their views clearly known Saturday afternoon during a packed town hall meeting at Misericordia University’s library.

They wanted a moratorium enacted immediately on all gas drilling throughout the state until more is known on how to safely drill natural gas wells without using dangerous chemicals in the hydrofracturing process. The process uses between 1 million to 1.5 million of gallons of water per well laced with chemicals and dirt under high pressure to force the ground open to release natural gas, geologist Patrick Considine said.

Considine and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak, whose campaign organized the town hall forum, said that during President George W. Bush’s administration, requirements on oil and gas companies were dramatically lifted. Considine, president of Considine Associates and forum panel member, explained that federal and state officials are not entitled to know what mixtures of chemicals each gas drilling company uses because it is considered a trade secret formula.

He warned that the federal and state governments need more officials to oversee the drilling processes, so the companies are not tempted to cut corners when disposing of the water after the fracking.

“Oil and gas companies need to be held to the same standards as other companies. We don’t need more regulations; we need to find ways to enforce the regulations we have,” Considine said.

People wanting the moratorium drowned out the drilling supporters, including business owner, economist and farmer Joe Grace of Morris in Lycoming County, who sees this industry being one of the biggest Pennsylvania has ever experienced by bringing 88,000 jobs to the state just this year and generating millions in revenue.

Worried about the environment and safety of area water systems, local podiatrist Dr. Thomas Jiunta adamantly disagreed with Grace, pointing to the recent gas well drilling incident in Clearfield County and a gas pipeline accident that killed one worker in Texas.

“This is not a safe activity as we know how to do it right now. We need to stop it first. We are putting the cart before the horse when you are talking about economic boom. You can’t drink gas,” said Jiunta of Dallas, a Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition founding member.

Jiunta added more focus should be put jobs that will support and grow green and renewable energy sources.

Sestak told people he sees gas drilling as an economic boon to the state, yet it needs to be done in a responsible way.

“I think this would be a good way to yes, exploit our resources, but not our communities. Business has to pause. Harrisburg has to stop until we get it right,” Sestak said, adding that he supports enacting a 5 percent severance tax on the drilling companies. He said is in favor of a moratorium

No representatives from the campaign of Sestak’s opponent, former U.S. rep. Pat Toomey, attended the forum.

A statement from the Republican candidate’s campaign staff said Sestak’s plan for taxing the drilling will backfire by pushing those companies to focus on other states.

“Marcellus Shale has the potential to provide Pennsylvania with over 200,000 new jobs and millions of dollars in added revenue, but Joe Sestak’s plan to tax natural gas extraction will chase these jobs out of Pennsylvania. A recent study warned that a tax on Marcellus natural gas output would very likely divert investment to other states like Colorado and Texas. This is further proof that Joe Sestak’s ‘more government, less jobs’ approach is bad for Pennsylvania,” Toomey’s Deputy Communications Director Kristin Anderson said.

State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, did not attend the forum, but issued a statement Friday stating she was working to develop legislation to protect drinking water from gas drilling practices. Knowing that will take time to become law, she is urging Gov. Ed Rendell to issue an executive order implementing four additional rules before permits can be issued.

Her opponent, Richard Shermanski, a Democrat, attended the meeting, telling people he would not support any form of drilling if he knows it will damage water reservoirs.

Many attending the forum reside in Luzerne County, but some people, including Leslie Avakian of Greenfield Township in northern Lackawanna County, drove an hour to voice their views.

She believes the state’s Department of Environmental Protection needs to be spilt up into two separate agencies because DEP currently issues the permits and regulates the gas companies.

Lynn Hesscease of Dallas told her story of how she became deathly sick after three years of oil leaking in her cellar from a rusted pipe.

She explained how she can’t use any type of products made from petroleum – polyester clothing, petroleum jelly or use plastic cups.

“We have to be very careful it is not near our drinking water and we are not exposed to the chemicals or fumes because if we are, people will get sick,” Hesscease said.

Sherry Long, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7159.

Copyright: Times Leader

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Doug Ayers has never been one to take the easy way out, and his fellow directors on the board of the Lands at Hillside Farms are following his lead.

While much of the land surrounding the Lands at Hillside Farms has been leased for natural gas drilling into the Marcellus Shale a mile below, the board is refusing to lease any part of the nonprofit organization’s 412 acres in Kingston and Jackson townships.

“The easy route would have been to take millions of dollars to fix those greenhouses and the barn roofs and pay off our debt,” Ayers said last week while sitting under some shade trees outside the farm’s dairy store.

“The more honorable route is to work hard and go to the public because the public owns this place, and we expect them to step up to the plate,” he said.

A veterinarian and chairman of the board of the Lands at Hillside Farms, Ayers said the board agreed “to not engage the gas companies for drilling in the foreseeable future because we don’t consider it safe for the land that we’ve been entrusted with, or safe for our neighbors.”

Chet Mozloom, executive director of the farm, said he “got blitzed over a two- or three-week period with calls from people who must have thought we signed (a lease) for some reason – I don’t know why – and they expressed their disappointment.”

“They were terrified of the impact, and this was before the Clearfield well explosion. They were afraid of Huntsville or Ceasetown (reservoirs) getting destroyed because that’s where their water is coming from,” Mozloom said.

Ayers said the potential for catastrophe is too great to agree to sign a lease.

“The proof is in your newspaper – the reporting that you’re doing on the (oil leak in the) Gulf, on the (gas well) explosion in Clearfield County, the spills in Dimock, the contamination of the well water in Dimock (caused by methane gas migration), the woman in Dimock who flushed her toilet and it blew the back of her house off,” Ayers said.

“And we’re trying to give people food here,” Mozloom added, “so it’s a whole different game if this soil gets ruined. I mean, just imagine Clearfield happening right next to the Huntsville Reservoir. If that happens, it’s over.”

Hillside keeps to mission

It was January 2005 when Ayers met with the Conyngham family, who owned the farm since 1891, to pitch the idea of selling it to the public with a mission to promote organic, sustainable agriculture, resource conservation and historical preservation.

An agreement was struck and the new organization raised about $2 million in private donations and public grants, secured a roughly $2 million loan from Luzerne Bank and bought the farm for $4.058 million last fall.

The plan is to use revenue from self-sustaining micro-enterprises, such as the dairy store, a restaurant serving locally grown fare, a bed and breakfast that would double as a rentable site for private functions, a colonial living-history museum and educational facilities pay off the loan and produce enough revenue to keep the farm operating.

Ayers said the property is one contiguous block of 412 acres including farmland, pasture, more than 36 buildings and 200 acres of forest. “We’re desirable (to the gas companies) because we’re (one) large chunk,” he said.

And while the board of the Lands at Hillside Farms wouldn’t even listen to a proposal from a gas company, the board of another local nonprofit that Ayers helped found 17 years ago did.

Ayers said the board of the North Branch Land Trust, of which he is still a member, was most recently offered a $4,000-per-acre bonus payment and a 20-percent royalty for a non-surface disturbance lease.

“That means no well drilling on the property. The Land Trust will not allow well drilling on the property for sure, and we’re not entertaining any leases now because we’re not comfortable,” Ayers said.

More information needed

Ayers believes the boards of both nonprofits would support more stringent legislation for the gas and oil industry, but he doesn’t believe a proposed 2,500-foot buffer zone between well sites and water sources is adequate because “we’re in an experimental phase. &hellip We don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s all new to the geology of this area.”

In fact, Ayers said, he’d like to see a moratorium on drilling in the Marcellus Shale “until it’s proven to be much, much safer than it is right now.”

Some Land Trust board members are more comfortable with the gas industry than others, Ayers said. So it’s possible that in the future, “if the industry proved itself to be very, very safe and didn’t harm the people downstream and the environment, I think the board may go for that,” he said of allowing horizontal drilling far below the land’s surface. “But not now.”

The Land Trust owns about 700 acres, the majority of which is an approximately 667-acre tract north of Tunkhannock in Wyoming County. The remainder lies in seven other counties, including Luzerne, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Bradford, Wayne, Lackawanna and Columbia.

Ayers said the trust has been offered large amounts of money to lease the large tract because it’s near the Trans-Continental pipeline, “which makes it very desirable to the (gas) companies. They call us regularly,” he said.

Ayers said it would be “tempting” for the board to sign a lease because “all nonprofits need to survive, and &hellip it would allow us to perform our mission better.” He said the board recommends that people considering a gas lease should call the trust “because they’re very educated about it, they know all about this and they would guide them.

“They would prefer that people not drill on their property and do only subsurface drilling if anything. And frankly, they would prefer that the people wait to learn more and allow the industry to mature and prove itself. And they’re exemplifying that by their own decisions regarding the land they own themselves. It’s pretty hard to turn down the amount of money they’re talking about – it’s millions and millions of dollars,” Ayers said.

Ayers – man on mission

Ayers stressed that the trust and the Lands at Hillside Farms are two separate and unrelated entities. “The mission of the Land Trust is to conserve open space. It’s more of a land-related, conservation-related mission. The purpose of this facility – the Lands at Hillside farms – is to teach sustainable ways of life, or, in other words, to help people make decisions that are healthy for them, their community and the world.”

If Ayers could say one thing to area land owners, “love thy neighbor I think is what I would say, and consider them in your decisions, because they won’t be able to leave as easily if a catastrophe were to happen.

“The principles upon which this country was created rely upon giving more than taking. I mean, Aristotle, when he and his gang created democracy 2,500 years ago, said democracy is the best form of government, but it can only exist in the face of virtue. I’m not sure how long democracy can last when people are willing to risk their neighbors’ safety and welfare for money,” Ayers said.

Ayers said he thinks many people in the area are disappointed, and not just because of the ongoing corruption scandal in Luzerne County in which 30 people – including three county judges – have been charged by federal agents over the past 18 months.

Seeing neighbors signing gas leases, Ayers said, “is just another example of how people might get discouraged because they see people being selfish, they see people not caring for one another. How could the government possibly have allowed this to have occurred here without better regulation? It makes no sense,” Ayers said.

“But again, everything that goes wrong is the people’s issue. I mean it’s the people who run this place. It’s easy to say it’s the politicians and the oil companies and everybody else, but the reality is that it’s us. We are the ones responsible for all of this going on. And if we stand around and watch it, then maybe we deserve what we get.”

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

Copyright: Times Leader