Posts Tagged ‘EnCana’

Encana Gas and Oil spokeswoman says company would be required by the state to correct problems.

By Jen Marckinijmarckini@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

LEHMAN TWP. – Stefanie Spezzia and her husband, Howard, live just outside of a one-mile radius of an exploratory drilling well site in the Back Mountain.

The Spezzias built their Shady Lane home nearly four years ago, but now they worry about the possibility of water contamination due to drilling into the Marcellus Shale for natural gas. It was one of many concerns talked about at a Tuesday evening meeting for neighbors within the proposed “Salansky” gas well site area, as it is called by the company.

“We don’t have the money to put a new well up,” said Stefanie Spezzia. “If the water is contaminated and they can’t fix it, we have nowhere to go.”

EnCana Oil and Gas Inc., which operates from its headquarters in Denver, Colo., has about 8,700 gas wells across the United States. This is the first time the gas company is drilling into the Marcellus, according to Wendy Wiedenbeck, spokeswoman for the eight-year-old natural gas company.

“How safe are we from you polluting our water on your first endeavor?” asked one of the estimated 130 in attendance.

EnCana is attempting to establish a baseline for water quality and quantity conditions by requesting property owners participate in a water sampling assessment, which will be collected by Rettew Associates, a third-party environmental-testing firm based in Lancaster.

Letters were mailed April 8 to landowners located within a mile radius of the well covering Lake and Lehman townships, and Harveys Lake borough.

Wiedenbeck said the gas company would be required by the state to correct water contamination problems.

“We will take every safeguard to not impact your water,” she said to concerned residents.

Wiedenbeck said the company is committed to responsible development and protecting the water by baseline water testing.

But, residents such as the Spezzias and homeowner Libby Davis, who resides with family at their Meeker Outlet Road property just within the well drilling radius, remain skeptical.

Davis, of Lake Township, said she has not signed an access agreement that would allow the collection of water samples.

Township officials voted unanimously on April 13 to allow the company to drill near Peaceful Valley Road.

Jen Marckini, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7210.

Copyright: Times Leader

Elected official who held hearing in area last week on natural gas drilling says he was responding to pro-energy group attack.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

A state representative says he was unfairly attacked in a press release by a pro-energy group after holding a public hearing in the Back Mountain last week.

State Rep. Camille “Bud” George, majority chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, issued a rebuttal Friday, saying that “money and misinformation are the hallmarks of a gas industry attack titled, ‘Rep. George’s Fact-Free Fact-Finding Mission.’”

Energy In Depth sent the press release to media outlets on Thursday, a day after George convened a committee hearing at 1 p.m. in the Lehman Township Municipal Building to hear testimony on the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling and proposed legislation that would put more environmental safeguards in place.

State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, invited George to have a hearing in her district, where EnCana Gas & Oil USA plans to drill the first natural gas exploratory well in Luzerne County in May or June. The well will be drilled in Lehman Township.

Area residents and lawmakers are concerned for many reasons, including the fact that the drill site would be less than two miles from the Huntsville and Ceaseville reservoirs, which supply drinking water to nearly 100,000 area residents.

Energy In Depth’s press release classified the hearing as a “pep rally staged by anti-energy activists and like-minded public officials in Northeast Pennsylvania.”

“Characterized as a ‘field hearing’ by … George, who held the event as far away as he could from his home in Clearfield County, the forum included representatives from the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action league, as well as testimony from a local podiatrist and someone describing himself as a ‘naturalopathic’ physician. The only thing missing? Anyone in possession of real, genuine facts related to responsible gas exploration in the Commonwealth,” the release stated.

In response, George said the most troubling aspect of “the attack by Energy In Depth, whose members include the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, is its slur of concerned lawmakers and citizens of Northeastern Pennsylvania as anti-energy activists.”

George noted that the committee had a hearing on Feb. 18 in Clearfield County, where the president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition and executives from some of the leading gas companies in Pennsylvania, including Range Resources and Chesapeake Energy, testified. He also participated two weeks ago in a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing in Ebensburg that included testimony from Chief Oil & Gas and Chesapeake. Ebensburg is in the Altoona area.

“The industry has not been an unwanted stranger at hearings,” George said.

Energy In Depth’s press release then listed quotes – pulled from a story in The Times Leader – of people who testified and rebutted them with quotes from gas industry representatives, a state Department of Environmental Protection fact sheet and Gov. Ed Rendell.

Energy In Depth pointed to testimony from Mundy in which she said she supports House Bill 2213 “which would among other things … require full disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.”

The organization then pointed to a DEP fact sheet which states that drilling companies “must disclose the names of all chemicals to be used and stored at a drilling site … that must be submitted to DEP as part of the permit application process. These plans contain copies of material safety data sheets for all chemicals … This information is on file with DEP and available to landowners, local governments and emergency responders.”

But George said that “full disclosure of the chemicals – not just the trade names – and how they are used is not (now) required.”

“The precise chemical identities and concentrations and how and when they are employed can be crucial to emergency responders and remediation efforts after spills, and is at the crux of efforts to remove the infamous ‘Halliburton Loophole’ that exempts the industry from oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency,” George said.

“The gas industry can bloat campaign coffers with money, buy discredited and ridiculed studies and poison the debate by taking statements out of context. However, its ‘best management practices’ should never be taken at face value to be the best for Pennsylvania,” George said.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

County officials had been negotiating with EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc. of Denver.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

An energy company that plans to drill for natural gas in the Back Mountain has advised Luzerne County officials that the company will not pursue a lease for natural gas drilling at Moon Lake Park.

County officials had been negotiating with EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc. of Denver to drill at the park and tap lake water needed to help fracture rock to release gas.

“The county informed us of their interest in entering into a lease for the development of natural gas resources on the Moon Lake property,” EnCana spokeswoman Wendy Weidenbeck said in an e-mail.

Weidenbeck said that as with any business opportunity, companies must evaluate multiple factors to help guide their decisions.

“We carefully considered the potential needs of our business and concerns over the development of natural gas resources on recreational property. After careful consideration, we have decided that we will not pursue a lease to drill for natural gas resources on the Moon Lake property,” she said.

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said she has been out of the office after knee surgery and had not yet been briefed on the issue.

Commissioner Thomas Cooney said he had not talked with EnCana officials and that Gibbons had alerted him to the news on Friday.

Cooney said other energy companies might be interested in exploration at the county-owned park and the development of a request for proposals was not out of the question. However, “there has been no conversation leading that way right now,” he said.

Cooney said he did not know how far along talks about selling water from the lake at Moon Lake Park have come. But if the county were to negotiate the sale of water, there would have to be appraisals and bidding and permits would have to be secured, he said.

The park’s 48-acre, spring-fed lake holds millions of gallons of water and is 13.5 feet in its deepest spot, county officials have said. All park water drainage pipes also feed into the lake.

Cooney said he thinks the reaction of the Sierra Club to drilling at Moon Lake probably influenced EnCana’s decision.

An official with the Sierra Club’s Northeastern Pennsylvania chapter said in February that county commissioners didn’t have legal authority to allow natural gas drilling at the park, which is located in Plymouth Township.

Frank Muraca, who sits on the organization’s executive committee, had said much of the park land was purchased with state and federal funds in the 1960s through a program known as the Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act.

Lands acquired through the act must be used for recreation, conservation and historical purposes unless approval is granted by the General Assembly, the governor and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Muraca had said he also found other legal and zoning stumbling blocks that would have to be met to allow drilling.

Muraca had initially presented the information to Commissioner Stephen A. Urban, who has said he couldn’t comment on Muraca’s assertions until he did his own research. He has said he is supportive of “responsible” drilling on county property to generate needed revenue.

Urban did not return a message seeking comment for this story.

The park officially closed Jan. 28 because commissioners stripped funding for staff and other expenses from the 2010 budget, saying that they could not justify non-essential expenses with a property tax increase.

Petrilla has said she is willing to consider any offer to generate revenue, as long as the park’s recreational atmosphere is not compromised. She also has said she would not support any offers that would drain or pollute the lake.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Coalition explores possible downside of gas exploration.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

DALLAS – A Back Mountain-dominated crowd that packed Dallas United Methodist Church on Wednesday night learned about the down side of natural gas drilling.

In a presentation titled, “A Look into the Future – the Landscape of Northeastern Luzerne County After Drilling Starts,” the Luzerne County-based Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition presented a documentary film with commentary from people living in gas-drilling areas of Colorado and local speakers who have familiarized themselves with health and environmental aspects associated with drilling.

The presentation is relevant locally because EnCana Gas & Oil has leased tens of thousands of acres of land in the northern part of the county and exploratory drilling is expected on one to three sites by June.

Coalition member Leanne Mazurick, of Dallas Township, introduced the film, in which Colorado residents shared experiences with drilling.

“They are just having no consideration for the people who live here. We are expendable,” one woman in the film said.

A man noted that every well drilled means 200 to 300 trucks traveling in and out of a community during the drilling process. “Air pollution, water pollution or the chance of water pollution, social issues, economic issues, the infrastructure is not keeping up.”

Another said the gas business “sucked up our labor pool,” and led to increased violence and drug problems.

One Colorado resident encouraged citizens to educate themselves and to attend meetings such as Wednesday night’s. “The gas and oil industry thrives on your ignorance,” he said.

Vera Scroggins, who lives near Dimock Township, told meeting attendees “whatever you saw in that film, we have it in Susquehanna County. … We have 30 families who can’t drink their water because their wells are contaminated (with benzene),” she said, adding that the gas company drilling nearby denies responsibility, even though the company eventually provided water buffaloes to the families.

Dr. Gere Reisinger, of Kingston, said he owns 200 acres in Wyoming County and compared an energy company that began drilling a mile away to a terrorist because of the noise involved. He fears the 100 artesian wells and trout stream on his land are now in jeopardy

Dr. Tom Jiunta, a founding coalition member, said a major concern is that wells planned in the Back Mountain are less than two miles from the Huntsville and Ceaseville reservoirs, and their pollution would be disastrous.

Several people said the state should impose a moratorium on drilling as New York did until an environmental impact study can be completed.

State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, and state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Dallas, encouraged residents to urge legislators to vote for legislation aimed at protecting communities from drilling accidents and exploitation.

Baker said any severance tax revenue should stay in communities to address safety and infrastructure issues rather than “be in a pipeline to Harrisburg.”

Copyright: Times Leader

Potential for economic plus to area. Williamsport benefits despite no well within 12 miles.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

With most of the nearby Marcellus Shale natural gas production occurring north and west of Luzerne County, the question of whether Greater Wilkes-Barre will benefit with an economic boom or be bypassed remains unanswered.

It depends on a number of factors, including the volume and quality of natural gas that can be harvested in the county.

If prospects are not good here, the proximity of natural gas development in nearby counties could have some impact locally if the infrastructure close to Wilkes-Barre has the most to offer nearby energy companies, drillers and their employees, according to an economic development official in a county that has been reaping the benefits of Marcellus Shale production.

Jason Fink, executive vice president of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, said chamber officials began seeing signs of interest in gas production in Lycoming County about two years ago when the appearance of landmen first became noticeable.

Work had begun on five to seven natural gas wells in northern Lycoming County by the end of 2007, according to records from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

By the end of 2008, 13 more wells had been drilled; another 24 followed last year, and four more have been drilled this year.

And although the closest well is about 12 to 15 miles from Williamsport, the city of about 30,000 is seeing “a number of significant areas of development,” Fink said.

A boom hits Williamsport

The first evidence of business development related to the shale came about a year and a half ago with growth in oil field services. Chief Oil & Gas has been operating for well over a year in the county and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. also has had a presence, Fink said.

Precision Drilling set up shop and Weatherford – a mechanical/technological support company for the oil and gas industry – is in the process of developing a 20-acre site in the county, he said.

Industrial Properties Corp., which is operated by the chamber, sold a 24-acre parcel to Halliburton, which is in the process of developing the property and projects the hiring of 250 employees at the site.

Sooner Pipe, which provides casing pipe for Chesapeake Energy and is one of the largest customers of U.S. Steel, just signed a 10-year lease with the Williamsport Regional Airport for a pipe lay-down yard. That project is expected to employ 50 people when operational, Fink said.

The work force at Allison Crane & Rigging – a third-generation family-owned company in Williamsport – grew by more than 50 employees early on in the well construction phase. And Sooner Pipe intends to use local trucking company Woolever Brothers Transportation to haul all of its pipe when the facility is operational, Fink said.

It’s all about infrastructure

Fink said that Williamsport is benefiting from the gas extraction activity, the heart of which is at least 15 to 20 miles northwest and northeast of the city, because it has more to offer than more rural counties to the north.

“They need to have access to certain infrastructure to conduct their business. We have a highway system, housing, hotels, restaurants – everything they need for their employees. Bradford and Tioga are more rural and have very limited hotel space,” Fink said, adding that rail service through Norfolk Southern and a short line and a nearby interstate highway also helps matters.

Bradford County saw 113 wells drilled last year, while Tioga County had 114.

Because of the influx of workers, the city saw demands for home and apartment rentals grow. Developers responded by renovating space above downtown businesses, creating new rental units.

Fink said local unemployment had been hovering around 10 percent, but he’s seen it drop to 9.1 percent lately.

“We’ve been working with the Pennsylvania College of Technology and the local CareerLink office. Really, once more local people are able to gain the skills this industry requires, I think you’ll be able to see a greater economic impact,” he said.

Would it work in Wilkes-Barre area?

“I would think Wilkes-Barre would have the same opportunities if they find gas in volumes in areas proximate to Wilkes-Barre. And the Wilkes-Barre area understands the positive side as well as the pitfalls of the acquisition of natural resources for energy purposes,” Fink said.

Todd Vonderheid, president of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, agrees.

“There’s certainly an opportunity to be captured for the region. Several things have already happened,” Vonderheid said.

Vonderheid noted that several suppliers and vendors to the gas-and-oil industry already are locating in the region and hiring locally.

“We’re trying to facilitate that and make the process as easy as possible. We’re working with energy company officials to better learn what those supply opportunities might be,” Vonderheid said, adding that representatives of Chesapeake and EnCana energy companies sit on the chamber board of directors.

Vonderheid said a presentation for chamber members on Marcellus Shale opportunities, the gas extraction process, environmental issues and the possible economic impact is in the works.

Copyright: Times Leader

By CAMILLE FIOTI Times Leader Correspondent

LEHMAN TWP. – Several residents worried about the effects of natural gas drilling attended Monday’s board of supervisors meeting hoping to have their concerns addressed.

In January, a hearing was held to vote on a conditional use application to allow EnCana Gas & Oil Co., which is partnering with Whitmar Exploration Co., to drill a vertical well off Peaceful Valley Road.

At that hearing, the zoning board decided to postpone the vote until Monday’s meeting. Board Chairman Dave Sutton told the residents who attended Monday’s meeting that a vote would again be postponed until the state Ethics Commission has made its ruling, and added the board could not address questions regarding the issue.

The Ethics Commission is checking into a potential conflict of interest involving two of the township’s supervisors. The commission ruling is needed to determine whether they can vote.

EnCana gave the board an extension to vote on the matter by May 1.

Once the Ethics Commission makes its ruling, Sutton said, a special meeting would be held in April to vote on the application and to conduct the Board of Supervisors regular meeting. The date and time will be advertised.

In other business, township engineer Ryan Doughton said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in the process of redoing the county’s flood maps and is converting them from paper to digital format. He said properties that were once considered in the flood plain might not be and vice versa once the maps are completed.

The board also voted to approve the request for a temporary permit to the Wyoming Valley Striders for a foot race on March 31. The race will begin at 10 a.m. at Penn State Wilkes-Barre.

Copyright: Times Leader

Municipality’s planning board has recommended approving a plan to drill a test gas well.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

LEHMAN TWP. – After more than a year of rising interest in the Marcellus Shale just outside the county, Lehman Township supervisors will in January set the tone for natural-gas drilling in Luzerne County.

On Monday evening, the township’s planning board recommended approving a plan to drill a test well at a Peaceful Valley Road site. The vote on the conditional use now goes before township supervisors at their Jan. 20 meeting, at which they will also consider local concerns about groundwater contamination and road damage.

“To the planning (board), it appeared that EnCana … answered those questions adequately,” said Raymond Iwanowski, the vice chairman of the board of supervisors, who was at Monday’s meeting. “As supervisors, we’re pretty united on this. We want to do it right.”

The plan was proposed jointly by Calgary, Canada-based EnCana Oil and Gas and Denver-based WhitMar Exploration Co., which are partnering on exploratory drilling in the county.

If indications from three test wells are positive, the companies plan to expand operations. If not, their leases put them under no further obligation.

Along with the Lehman site, they have identified single sites in Fairmount and Lake townships. Neither of those municipalities has planning boards, so consideration and recommendation of those plans transfer to the county’s planning commission, which is expected to address them on Jan. 5.

With environmental damages and health concerns in connection with gas drilling in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, making news throughout the year, Iwanowski said groundwater protection is a “also an eye-opener than we have to be vigilant so that that doesn’t happen here,” though he noted that those issues involve a different gas company.

“There are other safeguards that EnCana and Chesapeake and other companies use to alleviate those problems,” he said. “I feel much better about the drilling process than I did a year ago. I was born in the coal mine era. What I don’t want is another coal-mine rape of the land and leave.”

EnCana isn’t without its environmental controversies. It’s currently the focus of an investigation into contaminated water supplies near gas drilling in Pavillion, Wyo.

To ease concerns locally, the drillers are going beyond state regulations. They’re performing baseline groundwater testing for properties within a mile of drilling sites and promise to remediate contamination caused by drilling.

Regarding roads, the company is willing to bond any road required by the township and make contributions for maintenance, said EnCana spokesman Doug Hock.

Copyright: Times Leader

Community partnership members worry about road deterioration, water supplies.

By Rebecca Briarbria@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

DALLAS TWP. – Lehman Township Supervisor Doug Ide informed members of the Back Mountain Community Partnership Thursday afternoon at Misericordia University about the latest natural gas drilling news in the area.

The BMCP is an inter-municipal group composed of Dallas, Franklin, Jackson, Kingston and Lehman townships and Dallas Borough.

Ide attended a public information session by EnCana Oil and Gas Tuesday at Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School. He and the other Lehman Township supervisors have also met with EnCana representatives.

Ide says he learned WhitMar Exploration Company has leased 24,000 acres of property in the northwestern part of Luzerne County, mainly on the north side of Route 118 in Fairmount, Ross, Lake and Lehman townships.

“The gas drilling is going to be here in the Back Mountain,” said Al Fox, BMCP president. “I thought it was quite alarming to hear the other day that 800 people signed up.”

According to Ide, EnCana, which will do the drilling, hopes to form two exploration wells in the county – one in Fairmount Township and one in Lehman Township – if they receive the required permits. The wells will prove whether there is natural gas in the area.

Ide says EnCana is willing to bond any road the township requests. Road deterioration and traffic from heavy trucks and machinery has been a common concern among the BMCP.

“We’re going to set some conditions on some roads we do not want traveled, specifically Old Route 115, Hillside Road,” Ide said.

BMCP officials decided to invite representatives from EnCana to speak at the group’s January meeting.

In February, the BMCP will invite back Brian Oram, a geologist and Wilkes University professor, to discuss what the municipalities should do to safeguard their drinking water and other issues related to drilling.

Oram spoke at the BMCP’s September meeting and briefly touched on water’s involvement in natural gas drilling.

In other news, the BMCP approved each member municipality to contribute $300 each to the group’s proposed 2010 operating budget. The budget is to cover general government administration costs.

Copyright: Times Leader