Posts Tagged ‘fairmount township’

Copyright: Times Leader

Pa. American Water Co. wants state government to offer water supply protection.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Officials with the water company that owns two Back Mountain reservoirs want to see state action to better protect those drinking water sources from contamination related to natural gas drilling.

They also want the opportunity to have input into the permitting process for natural gas wells located near those reservoirs.

Terry Maenza, spokesman for Pennsylvania American Water Co., said there is no requirement that natural gas companies or any state agency notify water suppliers when well-drilling permit applications for land near water supplies are submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“We would like to see those laws and regulations revised so we can be notified and have a chance to express any comments or concerns while a permit is under review,” Maenza said.

Maenza’s comments follow the revelation on Monday that at least one property on the shore of the Huntsville Reservoir in Lehman Township, and an adjacent property, have been leased to EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., which will begin exploratory drilling operations at a well in Fairmount Township in July and at a second in Lake Township in late summer or early fall.

Paul Siegel, who owns the three acres on the Huntsville shore, said on Monday there is language in his lease that allows him and his wife, Janet, to restrict any surface drilling on his land but would allow EnCana to drill horizontally underneath his property.

The couple’s son and daughter-in-law, Christopher and Maureen, own 10.88 acres bordered by Christopher’s parents’ land on the east and by Huntsville-Idetown Road on the west that is also leased to EnCana.

Maenza said there is a 500-foot buffer between other properties and the high-water point of the Huntsville and Ceasetown reservoirs in most areas, but some parcels of land were “grandfathered in” without buffers when Pennsylvania American bought the water system from PGW in 1996.

As far as allowing a gas company to drill underneath the reservoirs, Maenza said it “would depend on what the driller was proposing and who owns the land. I’m not sure how far (down) our rights extend under the reservoirs,” he said.

Maenza said Pennsylvania American started water sampling and visual creek inspections about two weeks ago “so we can get some baseline data before the drilling begins.”

Huntsville Reservoir provides water for about 30,000 people living in Dallas, Kingston Township., Swoyersville, Wyoming and West Wyoming. Ceasetown Reservoir provides water to about 70,000 people in Ashley, Courtdale, Edwardsville, Larksville, Nanticoke, Plymouth, Pringle, Shickshinny, the townships of Conyngham, Hanover, Hunlock, Newport and Plymouth, and portions of the city of Wilkes-Barre.

Wyoming Mayor Robert Boyer said he’d like to learn more about the drilling process, given that his town receives water from the Huntsville Reservoir.

“There is a potential for environmental concerns. If we drill for oil a mile under the ocean floor and we don’t have a plan in place to deal with a catastrophic event like we had off the Gulf Coast, it makes sense that we want to have environmental protections in place before we start drilling here. Don’t put the cart before the horse,” Boyd said.

Maenza noted that state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, is working on legislation to protect water sources.

In order to protect aquifers and determine any adverse consequences attributable to drilling, one bill would require testing at three times – before drilling, at the completion of drilling and six months afterward – at three different depths.

A second bill would rule out drilling at sites too close to drinking water sources such as reservoirs.

A third bill would require DEP to ensure that the operators of wastewater treatment facilities are properly trained and sufficiently monitored to lessen the chances of human error creating a major problem.

Jennifer Wilson, Baker’s chief of staff, said specifics on the proposed bills, such as minimum distances from aquifers, are still being worked out.

Although EnCana has obtained a drilling permit for a site in Lehman Township about midway between Harveys Lake and Huntsville Reservoir, Wendy Wiedenbeck, public and community relations adviser for EnCana, said the company has not yet put together a full development program for drilling in Luzerne County should production at wells in Fairmount and Lake townships prove successful.

She did say the company is starting to look at additional potential drilling locations in the county.

As for company policies on proximity of drilling to water resources, she said the company naturally abides by the minimum setbacks set by states. But in considering additional setback distances, she said each potential drill location is unique and is assessed individually.

“We would take the same thoughtful, measured approach to any future operations as we have with our first two wells,” Wiedenbeck said.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

 LEHMAN TWP. – Back Mountain residents and local legislators knew parcels of land leased to natural gas companies for exploration were close to two major water sources – the Huntsville and Ceasetown reservoirs, but some had no idea just how close.

There is at least one parcel of leased land on the shoreline of the Huntsville Reservoir, and another parcel just a few hundred feet from the shoreline, The Times Leader learned on Monday.

The discovery was made by title searcher Eric Gustitus, of Exeter, and verified by the newspaper through a Luzerne County property records check.

“I was doing a title search on property next to Penn State Lehman and I came across a gas lease on land close to the reservoir. I was shocked,” Gustitus said, explaining that he heard local activists expressing concerns about potential gas well sites being within a mile or two of water sources.

Gustitus located a 3.72-acre property on the shoreline of the reservoir owned by Paul and Janet Siegel, and an adjacent 10.88-acre property to the west owned by their son, Christopher Siegel, and his wife, Maureen.

“Oh my God, am I concerned,” said state Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, when told of the proximity of the leased land to the reservoir.

“I’m very concerned about the potential for drilling so close to the reservoir. If you’ve been following the news about Clearfield County and how frack water spewed from the well for 16 hours, you can see why potential for contamination of our water supply is of grave concern to me. And I know my constituents are concerned,” Mundy said.

A blowout at a natural-gas well in Penfield shot explosive gas and polluted water as high as 75 feet into the air last week before crews were able to tame it more than half a day later.

EnCana Oil & Gas plans to drill two exploratory wells this summer – one next month in Fairmount Township and another in Lake Township. After drilling an initial vertical well on a site, the company will drill horizontally, using a process called hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to release natural gas from the thick layer of shale about a mile beneath the earth’s surface.

Mundy is a co-sponsor of legislation that would create a 2,500-foot buffer around water sources such as the reservoirs to protect them from possible contamination from gas drilling-related activities.

The Huntsville and Ceasetown reservoirs serve as a water supply for Pennsylvania American Water Co., which serves many of Mundy’s constituents.

Mundy said Pennsylvania American President Kathy Pape had expressed concerns to her about water contamination.

Pape said on Monday she is working with Mundy to prepare testimony for the state Public Utility Commission on Marcellus Shale drilling.

Harveys Lake resident Michelle Boice, a member of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition and a commentator on environmental issues related to gas drilling at local meetings, said allowing any kind of gas drilling operations so close to the reservoir is “beyond any kind of reasoning., and it goes to show there are no rules or protections in place for the people.”

Dr. Tom Jiunta, a founding member of the coalition, said it’s “insane how close they are with these leases” to water sources.

Paul Siegel said he’s just as concerned as his neighbors about the potential for reservoir contamination, and that’s why there’s a protective clause in his lease with EnCana. “We have the right not to let them on our land, and we wouldn’t do that because we want to live here,” he said.

Siegel said he agreed to lease the land because he got the impression that everyone around him was signing gas leases.

“When everyone around you is signing, it gets kind of like a mad rush. So, if they’re going to be drilling next to us, and they’re going to be down there anyway, we said we don’t mind if they go under us,” Siegel said.

Christopher and Maureen Siegel could not be reached for comment. Neither could EnCana spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck.

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Copyright: The Times Leader

EnCana is currently signing standard leases giving Luzerne County landowners $2,500-per-acre bonuses.

STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com

The value of land leases with natural gas drilling companies has been climbing in counties to the north, but whether that happens in Luzerne County will depend on the results of exploratory drilling scheduled to begin this summer.

Natural gas exploration companies are now offering leases in Susquehanna and Bradford counties with up-front per-acre bonuses in the $5,000 to $6,000 range and royalties as high as 20 percent, said Garry Taroli, an attorney with Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald representing area landowners.

Late last month, natural gas producer Williams Companies bought drilling rights to 42,000 net acres in Susquehanna County from Alta Resources for $501 million, placing the lease value on that land at nearly $12,000 per acre.

So people like Edward Buda, who owns land in Fairmount Township on which the first natural gas well in Luzerne County will be drilled in July, might be feeling some lessor’s remorse, given that they agreed to comparatively paltry up-front bonuses for the first two years of the lease term.

When Buda, 75, of Ross Township and his late brother and sister-in-law were in negotiations with WhitMar Exploration Co. early last year, they, like many others, agreed to bonus payments of $12.50 per acre each year for the first two years of the lease. The bonus increases to $2,500 for the third year.

However, if drilling begins on or under a landowner’s property before an anniversary date of the lease, any bonus payments for subsequent years become null and void and the royalty provision of the lease kicks in. So, if the drilling that is to begin next month on Buda’s property is successful, he likely won’t ever see that $2,500-per-acre bonus but will receive much larger royalty payments.

Since Buda’s lease was negotiated, WhitMar sold most of the company’s interest in the leases to EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc.

EnCana is currently signing standard leases giving Luzerne County landowners $2,500-per-acre bonuses – $1,000 the first year of the lease and $1,500 the second year, according to EnCana’s Group Lead for Land (New Ventures) Kit Akers.

Some landowners who signed the same type of deal with WhitMar as Buda believe they’ve been treated fairly.

Michael Giamber, 57, of Fairmount Township, lives about 2 miles from the Buda drill pad. While the Budas negotiated their lease on their own, Giamber joined a consortium of landowners who negotiated a deal with WhitMar in 2008 for bonuses of $12.50 per acre each year for the first two years of the lease, $2,500 per acre for the third year, and a 20-percent royalty on all gas produced.

“It was in the middle of a recession and leasing had pretty much stopped except in Dimock. We essentially partnered with WhitMar,” Giamber said.

In exchange for landowners accepting the initially small incremental bonus payment arrangement, WhitMar promised to do seismic testing of the leased land and partner with a company that would handle the drilling and secure permits for one to three exploratory wells in the county within two years.

“I signed on not because of the bonus, but because of the 20-percent royalty and because if they did not drill one to three wells after two years, we’d be free agents again,” able to renegotiate for better terms, Giamber said. “Because we were in a recession, what did we have to lose?”

“A lot of older people would rather more up-front money, and I can appreciate their position,” Giamber said.

Jeffrey Nepa, an attorney with Nepa & McGraw in Carbondale and Clifford, believes people who signed leases early for smaller bonuses were either “more desperate and needed money or were misinformed about what the extent of (drilling in the Marcellus Shale) was. Some people have had buyer’s remorse, so to speak, regretful that they signed and wanting to get out,” Nepa said.

Nepa said he’s seen bonus money increase, dip back down, “and now it’s creeping back up again. And it appears that landowners “who held out, so to speak, are the ones that are rewarded with the largest contracts. In the Barnett Shale (in Texas), I’ve heard of property owners getting in excess of $20,000 per acre, and they were the ones who held out.”

Gas companies normally drill in 640-acre blocks of land. So people with a larger tract of land are better off holding out for better lease terms, Nepa said.

On the other hand, those who signed leases earlier are now the ones who will see royalty payments kick in much sooner than anyone else, because they will be the first to have wells drilled, said Robert Schneider, 39, of Fleetville, Lackawanna County.

Schneider joined a landowner consortium that negotiated leases with a $2,100 bonus and an 18-percent royalty in 2008 with Exco Resources, and he’s glad he didn’t hold out for more.

“Two years have gone by and I have three years left. … There’s a risk if you wait,” Schneider said, speculating that implementation of more rigorous and costly government permitting requirements, the establishment of a severance tax or finding insufficient or no gas in his area are all reasons that companies might pull out and stop leasing.

EnCana’s Akers backed up what Giamber and Schneider had to say. “People who leased earlier put themselves in a position to most likely have their land drilled earlier,” she said.

And Akers said, if WhitMar had not been able to secure leases at relatively low cost to the company, exploration in Luzerne County might not have begun as soon as it has.

“Because these people leased early to WhitMar, WhitMar was able to build a large position of leases that allowed for horizontal drilling. That’s what got a company like EnCana interested in coming to Luzerne County. If we had not seen a consolidated lease position, it’s unlikely WhitMar would have gotten a company like EnCana to come in … It was possible that the $12.50 offer was the only offer those people would ever get,” she said.

Akers also believes that the reason landowners in Susquehanna and Bradford counties are being offered much higher bonuses is because hundreds of wells have been drilled there and natural gas extraction has proven successful.

“Luzerne County, on the other hand, is really on the frontier. There’s no way to know if shale within a geographic region will produce any gas or enough gas to make drilling profitable without actually drilling wells. There have been no wells drilled in Luzerne County, so that’s the reason why there’s a difference in lease prices between Luzerne County and other counties,” Akers said.

If wells on Buda’s land and a site in Lake Township don’t produce any gas or at least enough of it to make drilling there worthwhile, land lease values in Luzerne County could drop to zero, Akers said.

If the wells do produce significant amounts of gas, however, competition for drilling rights will definitely heat up, Akers said, and with it the price.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

A company drilling for natural gas says it is already working with local officials.

STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com

Although the community at large hasn’t been privy to it, some local emergency management officials have been working closely with an energy company to draft emergency response plans to address any local natural gas drilling-related catastrophe that might occur.

EnCana Oil & Gas USA is slated to begin drilling a well at a site in Fairmount Township in about a month, and many local residents, officials and emergency responders have become anxious, feeling left-in-the-dark about whether local emergency responders have the equipment, knowledge and protocols in place to handle a drilling-related catastrophe.

But Wendy Wiedenbeck, public and community relations advisor for EnCana, said local firefighters would not be responsible for containing or fighting a gas well fire or gas release at a well site.

“In the event of an incident, local emergency responders will be asked to provide support to our operations personnel who are specially trained to deal with incidents at oil and gas locations,” Wiedenbeck said.

“Should a serious well-control incident occur, such as release of gas or fire, EnCana will look to local emergency responders to provide support while EnCana calls upon well-control experts to assist in addressing such an incident,” she said.

The well-control company EnCana has identified in an Emergency Response Plan submitted to the state Department of Environmental Protection is Wild Well Control in Houston, Texas. A second call would be placed to Cudd Well Control, also in Houston.

“Depending on the severity of the well-control issue, they would respond as soon as possible. In the meantime, the area around the well – the exact area again depends on the well-control issue – would be secured and/or evacuated. This is another example of how Encana and local emergency responders will work together,” Wiedenbeck said.

Wiedenbeck said Encana has experienced well-control incidents in the past, and the risks are inherent in the oil and natural gas industry.

“Our training, systems, and protocols are designed to fit the level risk associated with the activity. Our goal is to minimize the risk and to operate in a safe manner. Safety is our number one priority,” she said.

County office works on plan

Steve Bekanich, coordinator of the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency, said last week that he has had several conversations with EnCana officials, but a volunteer with the county EMA “has taken the lead for my office. … We are close to completing an emergency response plan.”

Bekanich said Barney Dobinick, who is also the EMA coordinator for Lake Township, is “handling all direct talks with EnCana for ease of operations. He’s briefing me almost on a daily basis. … I’m very comfortable with what Barney has been doing. He’s been a trusted staff member for 20 years.”

Dobinick said a 230-page set of response guidelines is near completion. After meeting with EnCana representatives in mid-June, the plan will be shared with area municipal officials for their approval and made available to the public. Sometime in the next few, a public meeting also will be scheduled to gather input and answer questions.

Until the plan is complete, Dobinick said it would be counter-productive to release any aspects of it until EnCana has reviewed it and possible changes are made.

“If we determine there’s a better way, we’ll amend it. We’re not hiding anything. We just want to have a complete plan in place (before it’s released),” he said.

Bekanich said adjustments can be made even after the plan is disseminated to municipal officials and input is gathered from the public.

Dobinick did say, however, that local emergency responders would handle some emergencies at well sites, for example, a brush fire, an office trailer or vehicle fire or a hazardous materials spill.

Jack Dodson, emergency management coordinator for Dallas Township and Kunkle fire chief, has said his major concern was having emergency personnel who might have to extract disaster victims from a well-related catastrophe prepared to do so.

Dobinick said there are response guidelines for mass-casualty incidents, getting basic and advanced life support on-scene and implementing a disaster plan for hospitals and medical air transport.

“And depending on the seriousness of an event, it would determine how much, if any, of an area would be evacuated,” Dobinick said.

Off-site also part of concern

Dobinick said he’s more concerned about local responses to off-site incidents, such as the crash of a truck carrying “residual backflow” material, or “frack water” used in the hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale formation.

He said fire departments would handle the initial stabilization of such an incident and work to prevent contamination of any nearby waterway. A state-certified hazardous material clean-up team would come in if needed to remove the material and any contaminated soil.

Dobinick said he feels “very comfortable” with the guidelines and hopes to have the majority of the document complete by the end of the week. He’s still waiting on some information from the county 911 office and the American Red Cross.

Plus, Bekanich noted that Luzerne County is a member of and has access to the resources of the East Central Pennsylvania Regional Task Force – a seven-county all-hazards task force formed in 1998 along with eight other such task forces in the state in response to terrorist threats.

Bekanich said 48 professionals from Luzerne, Wyoming, Schuylkill, Colombia, Northumberland, Montour and Berks counties attended a training event/exercise last week at the county EMA headquarters and worked on a scenario to determine “how we would bring logistics and resources together for an event such as a catastrophic well failure.”

If a catastrophe did occur, Bekanich said, “it’s not like we would be in this on our own. We have resources and technical expertise from seven other counties to rely on for support.”

Dobinick also said EnCana has commissioned a transportation study and will be sitting down with officials from the Lake-Lehman School District to address any concerns about incidents that could affect school bus routes.

Several area residents have voiced concerns about emergency response and traffic at public meetings over the last few months and have been dissatisfied with information supplied by EnCana.

Company schedules meetings

Wiedenbeck said meetings with stakeholders are scheduled for this week.

“Our goal is to understand how these agencies work together, how our operations impact them and how we can work together to make sure we collectively work together so local emergency responders continue to do the great job they’re already doing,” Widenebeck said.

The purpose of sitting down with Dobinick and others is to determine the capabilities of local responders and “if there are gaps, how do we fill them.”

In some instances, Wiedenbeck said, there might be grants available to purchase emergency response equipment that might be needed – for example, a new radio system.

“Our job is to work together with emergency responders, the recreation district, township supervisors and the school district to understand existing protocols and how those protocols might be impacted if there is an incident. We also need to understand existing resources, identify potential gaps and solutions for addressing the gaps, if any,” Wiedenbeck said.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Pa. senator says protection needed to ensure drilling doesn’t contaminate water.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

The state senator representing the Back Mountain is proposing a series of bills to protect drinking water sources from contamination associated with natural gas drilling.

Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, said on Monday that the chances of water contamination grow as drilling into the Marcellus Shale increases in Pennsylvania, and the proposed bills are in response to citizen and community concerns about the safety of water resources.

“Prevention and protection are preferable to crisis management and emergency response,” Baker said.

EnCana Oil & Gas plans to drill two natural gas wells in the Back Mountain – one each in Lehman and Lake townships – and a third in the Red Rock area in Fairmount Township, not far from Ricketts Glen State Park.

The well site in Lehman Township is less than two miles from the Huntsville Reservoir.

Although there are proposed water protection regulations moving through the approval process, Baker said state law has “more force.”

And as drilling proceeds on a larger scale, “area residents want answers that show responsibility being assured, rather than risks being assumed,” Baker said.

“Reasonable environmental protections will not discourage the development of this industry; they will help to make sure that unreasonable costs are not imposed on local communities and homeowners,” she said.

In order to protect aquifers and determine any adverse consequences attributable to drilling, one bill would require testing at three times – before drilling, at the completion of drilling, and six months afterwards – at three different depths.

A second bill would rule out drilling at sites too close to drinking water sources such as reservoirs.

A third bill would require the state Department of Environmental Protection to ensure that operators of wastewater treatment facilities are properly trained and sufficiently monitored to lessen the chances of human error creating a major problem.

Baker said some of the costs would be borne by the gas companies.

Oversight costs could be paid for through a severance tax, which is expected to be debated in the coming weeks.

She reiterated her opposition to any severance tax plan that would devote the revenue generated to filling a hole in the state budget rather than providing for community protection in drilling areas.

“The environmental and economic catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico underscores the crucial nature of taking all reasonable precautions and for being prepared for dealing with extreme situations when things go horribly wrong,” Baker said.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

By Tom Veneskytvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

The talk inside Giles Evans’ sporting goods shop has changed recently.

For years hunters and anglers have come into Brady and Cavany Sporting Goods, in the heart of Tunkhannock, to swap stories about where the fish are biting and the big bucks are roaming. And every day, Evans leans on the counter and takes it all in.

But recently, in addition to hunting and fishing, a new topic has sprung to the forefront: gas drilling.

Evans said he hears more and more hunters and anglers expressing concerns about how the drilling boom will affect the streams they fish and the woods they hunt. It’s a concern that continues to grow as quickly as the well pads dotting the ground in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“This is a big event up here,” Evans said. “A lot of people are making money, but a lot of people are concerned about the land and the water.”

Anglers, Evans said, are worried about the pristine trout streams in the area – Tunkhannock, Meshoppen, Mehoopany and Bowman’s creeks to name a few. They wonder if the streams can withstand the water withdrawals needed for the drilling process or, worse yet, what happens if they become contaminated.

“Anglers consider these places as pristine and they’re really concerned for the creeks,” Evans said. “The gas drillers are putting a lot of pads in around Meshoppen, near Whites Creek. That is a fantastic little trout stream. God forbid something happens there.”

Or anywhere else for that matter, according to Joe Ackourey, an avid fly fisherman and member of the Stanley Cooper Sr. Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Ackourey said the area of Wyoming County and northern Luzerne County that is targeted for drilling is home to numerous high-quality wild trout streams. The majority of those streams, he said, flow through remote mountainous areas and could be easily damaged.

The disturbance created by gas drilling – clear-cutting for pads, erosion, increased water temperatures and water withdrawals – can be fatal to the wild trout and other aquatic life that inhabits the streams.

“I just don’t like the major changes that are going to take place to these ecosystems all for the sake of the mighty dollar,” Ackourey said. “I fear for those streams and the wild trout that inhabit them.”

Lease helps hunting club

Dallas resident Russ Bigus has hunted the mountains and farmlands of Sullivan and Wyoming counties for decades. He enjoys the abundant wildlife in the area and the pristine landscape.

Bigus also supports the gas drilling boom and the economic benefit that comes with it.

If done properly, Bigus feels, gas drilling can actually enhance the region’s natural areas.

The money paid to farmers and landowners who enter into leases with gas companies will make it easier for them to keep their land as open space, Bigus said.

While he admits there is reason to be concerned about environmental degradation, the revenue generated from drilling could prevent open space from becoming something else.

It has happened in other parts of the state, Bigus said.

“In Juniata County it used to be all farms with great habitat for wild pheasants,” he said. “That’s all gone now. Those farms have been sold for development.

“That doesn’t have to happen any more with the income generated from natural gas drilling. Hunting opportunities will remain the same or get better with our open space here remaining open.”

Bigus said his hunting club, the White Ash Landowners Association located in Cherry Township, Sullivan County, currently has a gas lease agreement for its 5,000 acres.

Much of the club’s land has been degraded by strip mining in the past, he said, and the impact from gas drilling is minimal in comparison.

“It’s a very short-lived impact from what I’ve seen,” he said. “And our land is even more financially stable now.”

Still, Bigus cautioned that drilling can be an environmental disaster if not regulated properly.

According to Luzerne County property records, private hunting and fishing clubs that have leased land for drilling include North Mountain Club in Fairmount Township, Mayflower Rod & Gun Club in Ross Township and Rattlesnake Gulch Hunting Club in Ross Township.

“Scary what could happen”

Dr. Tom Jiunta, who resides in Lehman Township, hikes and fishes around the Ricketts Glen area and near his cabin in Laporte, Sullivan County.

Both areas are potential hotspots for gas drilling activity, and Jiunta fears what could happen to the streams and trails, such as the Loyalsock Trail, that he and countless others enjoy.

Aside from the major disruption of clearing land and the potential for pollution, Jiunta said other effects could be devastating, such as noise from drilling, air pollution and the introduction of invasive species as equipment from other states is moved into the remote locations of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“There’s a lot of subtle impacts that may not be noticed until a few years from now,” Jiunta said.

Despite his concerns, Jiunta said he isn’t totally opposed to drilling if it’s done properly “in the right places with the right regulations in place.” Pennsylvania is lacking as far with the latter, he said. “You can’t depend on the industry to police itself and we don’t have enough DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection) staff to keep on top of this.

“It’s really scary what could happen.”

As far as hunters go, some already have been affected by gas drilling. Evans, the sporting goods store owner, said hunters have told him that they lost their traditional hunting spots in Susquehanna County last deer season when the areas were deemed off limits due to gas drilling activity.

Even in areas where gas companies halted operations for the first week of deer season, Evans said, hunters were affected.

“Customers told me that in the Hop Bottom and Springville areas, the gas companies were out before the season with helicopters laying cables for seismic testing,” Evans said. “It was a noisy process and that scared a lot of deer out of the area and changed their patterns.”

Compromise needed

Bigus agreed that some hunting area will be lost while drilling commences, but believes conflicts can be reduced by an open line of communication between landowners and gas companies.

“For example, make sure they agree that there will be no activity for the first week of deer season, and have them do most of the work in the summer,” he said. “It’s important to establish a good relationship.”

And for all the concerns expressed daily by his customers, Evans said there is at least one example of how drilling can be done with little impact.

A well drilled near Nicholson, he said, was located next to a road and didn’t venture into the woods, lessening the impact on hunters and the environment, according to Evans.

But for that one positive, a looming negative experience continues to leave a sour taste with hunters and anglers.

In 2009, the Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. was fined $120,000 by DEP after methane gas infiltrated into private water wells in Dimock Township. In addition, between 6,000 and 8,000 gallons of fracking fluid leaked from a pipe at a drill site in the area and contaminated a nearby wetland.

This year Cabot was fined an additional $240,000 and ordered to shut down three wells because of methane contamination of water wells.

While DEP has prohibited Cabot from drilling in the area for one year, the damage was already done when it came to the views of hunters and anglers.

“That business in Dimock really has hunters and anglers concerned,” Evans said. “Everybody’s worried about it because there’s so much unknown, and the Cabot incident didn’t help.

“A lot of people that talk about it in the store just hope that they get done, get out and nothing gets harmed. In the meantime, they’re scared to death about what could happen.”

Copyright: Times Leader

People are wondering just what EnCana will bring to Marcellus Shale drilling.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Edward Buda had been dealing with representatives of Whitmar Exploration Co. for about two years since he, his late brother and sister-in-law negotiated a lease with the company for natural gas drilling on their Fairmount Township property.

Now, there’s a new player in the mix, since Whitmar announced a partnership with EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. in November for a joint venture in drilling and development of the Marcellus Shale in Luzerne and Columbia counties.

Like others in the Back Mountain, Sweet Valley and Red Rock areas, Buda is a bit wary of the Denver-based energy company.

“We did business with Whitmar. How (Encana is) going to be, I don’t know. How they honor the contract, that’s to be seen. I still don’t know much about them,” said Buda, 75, who lives in Ross Township.

Buda’s brother Walter and Walter’s wife Eleanor signed a fairly simple three-page lease with Whitmar in February 2009, a month before Walter died. Eleanor passed away in November, Edward said, and he became the new lease holder just as EnCana came into the picture.

Now, EnCana wants to lease Edward’s property in Ross Township, but he isn’t too impressed with the $1,000-per-acre offer. And the 16-page lease proposal that has undergone many revisions is written in legalese, he said.

“They wanted to put a drill pad on my property (in Ross Township). I said I want to wait and see what happens in Red Rock (section of Fairmount Township). Everybody’s waiting to see whether it’s going to be a gusher or a fiasco in Red Rock,” Edward said.

Wendy Wiedenbeck, a public and community relations adviser for EnCana, said the well on Buda’s property and a second well planned for a Lake Township property owned by township Supervisor Amy Salansky and her husband, Paul, are exploratory ventures.

If those wells produce an acceptable amount of natural gas, EnCana will develop a plan for expanded drilling operations in the area, Wiedenbeck said. Drilling is expected to begin in July on Buda’s property and gas production should start by October. Clearing of an access road to the site began last week.

Company has won honors

For the past few months, Wiedenbeck has been the face of EnCana locally, arranging and attending meetings with people who live or own property within a mile of the planned drilling sites as well as attending meetings with local groups concerned about drilling activity in their communities.

A self-described “Army wife” with two sons – one in first grade, the other a senior in college, Wiedenbeck has lived in Colorado since 1989 and has been working in community/public relations since the early 1990s. She’s been with EnCana for five years.

“They’re a cultural fit for me. I believe they truly believe in responsible development,” Wiedenbeck said of her employer.

To prove her point, Wiedenbeck provided a long list of awards EnCana has received over the past few years. Just a few include:

• The 2008 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Natural Gas STAR award, recognizing outstanding efforts to measure, report and reduce methane emissions;

• Interstate Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Chairman’s Stewardship Awards, recognizing exemplary efforts in environmental stewardship by the oil and natural gas industry;

• The 2009 Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Award for Courtesy Matters program in the Denver-Julesburg Basin surrounding Erie, Colo.

“Courtesy Matters” is EnCana’s community engagement program that brings EnCana staff and third-party contractors together with the community to discuss the nuisance issues associated with company operations,” Wiedenbeck said.

“Courtesy Matters creates a working environment where open and ongoing dialog are paramount. Discussions generally include concerns with traffic, noise and dust associated with our operations,” she said.

Community investment vital

Marty Ostholthoff, community development director for Erie, Colo., said in a teleconference that EnCana is one of four major energy companies drilling in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, the others being Noble Energy Inc., Kerr-McGee Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Fred Diehl, assistant town administrator in Erie, said he would be remiss if he didn’t point out “how far ahead of the other operators EnCana is” when it comes to community investment.

Diehl said he mentioned to Wiedenbeck that officials wanted to install solar panels on a new community center being built, and EnCana donated $250,000 to make that happen. A month ago, the company donated $175,000 for eco-friendly lighting at community ball fields.

“It’s not a requirement that they make notifications to our residents (about drilling activities or problems), but they do. It’s not a requirement that they make financial investments into our community, but they do,” Ostholthoff said.

Of course, there’s a downside to the presence of the drilling companies in the suburban area, which lies in one of the largest natural gas fields in the country, Diehl said.

“These things are still loud,” he said of the drilling rigs. “People come into our offices complaining, ‘We can’t sleep.’ But we worked with the operators to put up hay bales and cargo trailers to minimize the noise. The only good thing is, (the drilling is) temporary.”

As far as addressing concerns of residents, Diehl said all of the companies seem willing and responsive. “If they’re not, one of them can give the whole industry a black eye,” Diehl said.

Wiedenbeck said EnCana will have a toll-free number posted at its drilling sites that people can call to report concerns. Callers who choose the Pennsylvania prompt will be automatically directed to her office or cell phone. An operations phone number also will be established, she said.

And while EnCana will hire someone locally to help with community relations efforts, Wiedenbeck said she will continue to be “that face” for the community. She has spent about half her time in Pennsylvania since EnCana partnered with Whitmar, sometimes bringing her youngest son, Sammy, on trips here.

“He loves Pennsylvania,” she said.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Partnership of two energy companies lines up area covering over 25,000 acres in the Back Mountain for gas exploration.

By Jerry Lynottjlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer

Just a few sites have been approved for natural gas drilling in Luzerne County, but a partnership of two energy companies has signed leases for more than 25,000 acres, primarily in the Back Mountain, to explore the Marcellus Shale formation that runs underneath.

Since September, Whitmar Exploration Co., of Denver, Colo., has been signing leases with property owners in nine townships and Harveys Lake borough. The company has been working with EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc. in a joint venture to develop the properties. EnCana holds a 75 percent interest in the leases and is responsible for drilling.

Whitmar wanted to partner with an experienced operator, said Wendy Wiedenbeck, a public and community relations adviser for EnCana.

“This is what we do,” said Wiedenbeck. “We have a team working on this project that possesses deep experience gained from working on similar projects across North America.”

EnCana received approval Tuesday from the Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board to sink a well in Lake Township and set up a natural gas metering station in Fairmount Township. In April, Lehman Township officials approved drilling for another well.

Wiedenbeck on Wednesday confirmed a map provided to The Times Leader was one EnCana prepared for the Back Mountain Community Partnership to show the extent of the leaseholds.

She cautioned that “the map is quite dated,” having been created in February. Whitmar has signed additional leases into April, according to a search of the county property database.

Wiedenbeck said EnCana’s presence will grow in the region. “As we move forward, EnCana is acquiring new leases.”

When pieced together, the leases cover large swatches of land in the largely rural northern and western sections of the county. The leaseholds range in size from under 1 acre to over 100 acres.

Fairmount Township had the most coverage with approximately 7,500 acres leased, according to the map. Lehman and Ross townships each had nearly 4,300 acres leased; Lake Township, close to 2,600 acres; Jackson Township, 2,400 acres; Huntington Township, 1,400 acres; Dallas Township, 1,300 acres; Hunlock Township, 700 acres; Union Township, 400 acres; Plymouth Township, 200 acres; and Harveys Lake, 50 acres.

The region has also attracted the attention of another major player in the natural gas industry.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has signed 93 leases since August 2007. More than two-thirds of them were filed this year, according to county property records.

Copyright: Times Leader