Posts Tagged ‘Franklin’

By Laura Legere (Staff Writer)
Published: August 13, 2010

There are no unleased acres left in Pennsylvania’s state forests where Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling sites, pipelines and access roads could be built without damaging environmentally sensitive areas, according to a new analysis by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Nearly 139,000 acres of state forest have been leased for gas drilling since 2008 and money from those lucrative leases – a total of $354 million – has been used to help balance the last two state budgets.

But DCNR Secretary John Quigley said the era of leasing large parcels of state forests for gas drilling is over.

“We may do some little stuff here and there,” he said, “but in terms of large-scale leasing, we’re done.”

The department’s findings, demonstrated in a series of overlain maps on DCNR’s website, show the forests in northcentral Pennsylvania above the gas-rich Marcellus Shale crowded by leased land, parcels where the state does not own the mineral rights and places where development must be restricted.

Of the 1.5 million acres of state forest underlain by the shale, 700,000 acres have already been leased or the mineral rights under them are controlled by an owner other than the state.

An additional 702,500 acres are in ecologically sensitive areas – places with protected species, forested buffers, old growth or steep slopes. Another 27,500 acres are designated as primitive and remote lands, 49,600 acres were identified through a forest conservation analysis as priority conservation lands, and the last 20,400 acres are so entwined with the other sensitive areas that they cannot be developed without damaging them.

The department began to study the limits of the state forest land that can safely be leased to gas drillers as it developed a series of Marcellus gas leases in 2008 and January and May 2010.

Gas drilling has taken place on state forest land for over six decades, and mineral extraction is one of the forest’s designated uses, along with sustainable timber harvesting, recreation and conservation. But, Mr. Quigley said, “There are limits to how much you can develop the resource and maintain balance. And I think we’re there.”

There are currently about 10 producing Marcellus Shale gas wells in the state forest. The department expects there will be about 6,000 wells on 1,000 separate drilling pads when the resource is fully developed in 15 or 20 years.

The secretary said the prime consideration for any future leasing, “if we do any at all,” will be that drilling or associated activities not disturb the forest’s surface – a possibility with horizontal drilling technology that enables drillers to access the mile-deep shale from adjacent properties.

The impact of the DCNR’s findings is unclear.

Gov. Ed Rendell said earlier this year that no additional forest land will be offered for lease during his tenure, which ends in January, but the department’s findings have no legal bearing on the next administration’s ability to change its forest policy.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House passed a three-year moratorium on new leasing of state forest land for gas drilling in May, but the measure has not been taken up by the Republican-led Senate.

Patrick Henderson, a spokesman for Sen. Mary Jo White, R-21, Franklin, chairwoman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said he does not sense “at all” an upswell of support among the members of the Senate to pass it.

Mr. Henderson said the department’s findings “carry some weight,” but he said the claim that there is no forest land left for surface gas development is subjective.

“I think different people can conclude if there may be some tracts of land out of 1.5 million that lie within the fairway to lease,” he said.

A $120 million lease deal DCNR reached with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in May that is expected to have minimal impact on the state forest’s surface could not have been possible if the House’s moratorium bill had been law, he said.

“There’s something to be said for having a fresh set of eyes under the new administration take a look at it and draw their own conclusions.”

Mr. Quigley was optimistic that if future decisions about forest leasing are left to DCNR, his department’s findings will stand.

“The science tells us that we’ve reached the limit,” he said. “The question becomes whether we will face another occasion when economics looms larger.”

ONLINE http://bit.ly/DCNRmaps

Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Scranton Times

A lawyer offers sample laws to Back Mountain towns concerned about drilling.

By Rebecca Briarbria@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

DALLAS TWP. – The Back Mountain Community Partnership was advised Thursday afternoon to separately pass ordinances that may help protect against gas drilling issues.

The partnership is an intermunicipal group composed of Dallas, Franklin, Jackson, Kingston and Lehman townships and Dallas borough.

Attorney Jeffrey Malak, who is solicitor of the group, explained it would be better for each municipality to enact its own ordinances rather than to pass joint partnership ordinances because each municipality has its own unique needs.

Malak provided an example of an ordinance, created by the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors and the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Solicitors, which addresses height regulations of equipment, setbacks, access roads, wells, tanks and storage.

He also furnished sample dust, noise and light pollution ordinances and a sample road bond agreement. In addition, he provided a copy of Dallas’ zoning ordinance, which restricts drilling to certain areas of the borough and deals with screening and buffering and outdoor lighting issues.

Malak said such ordinances would take in all types of businesses but cannot be specific to natural gas drilling because the Oil and Gas Act of 1984 specifies the state oversees drilling. He stressed a lot of ordinances can be incorporated to help and that the municipalities are not limited to revising their zoning laws.

“We don’t know what’s allowed, what’s not, until we try some different things&hellip.” Malak said. “It’s a very, very complicated issue and like I said, it’s not a one size fits all.”

In other news, Tom Yoniski, a representative for state Sen. Lisa Baker, announced the senator’s office has arranged a meeting regarding gas drilling to be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on May 13 at Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School.

Yoniski said Penn State University officials will give a presentation on gas drilling. He said that officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission will also attend.

Also, Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition members Karen Belli and Leeanne Mazurick, both of Dallas Township, gave a brief presentation on gas drilling and its impacts on the environment and the community.

Coalition member Audrey Simpson, of Kingston Township, showed a video she created of Dimock Township residents who were negatively affected by gas drilling.

Copyright: Times Leader

The organization represents six communities in the Back Mountain area.

By Rebecca Briarbria@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

DALLAS TWP. – Members of the Back Mountain Community Partnership hope to pass an ordinance that addresses natural gas drilling issues.

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

The group voted Thursday afternoon at Misericordia University to have their solicitor, Jeffrey Malak, perform research as to what can be done to control the drilling process.

Partnership President Al Fox said he did not want to comment as to what the ordinance may contain because he is not sure legally what can be in it.

“Whatever we can do we need to do as quickly as we can,” Fox said.

Malak said the Oil and Gas Act pre-empts local interference in gas drilling.

“I can give you some options of what some other municipalities are doing,” Malak said. “There’s not a one size fits all.”

In a related matter, the partnership shared responses from EnCana Oil and Gas Inc. on questions the public asked company officials during the January meeting.

Fox said the company answered only six of the many questions that were asked during the meeting. The responses briefly addressed issues such as the chemicals used and the prevention of cross contamination.

Tom Yoniski, a representative for state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, said he can set up a public forum with Penn State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to inform the public of the state’s plans to protect water quality.

In other news, the partnership approved proceeding to jointly apply for Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency funding to purchase Tasers for each municipality’s police department. Franklin Township does not have a department and uses state police coverage, but voted to proceed with the application for the group.

Up to $10,000 is available for each municipality, said Joe Chacke, of NEPA Alliance, a nonprofit organization that provides administrative and professional services to the BMCP at no cost.

Also, Richard Heffron and Veronica Ciaruffoli, of the Luzerne County Government Study Commission, gave an overview on the status of the commission.

Rebecca Bria, a staff writer, may be reached at 970-7436.

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

Gas-drilling leases negotiated in Wyoming County, not coming as quickly here.

TUNKHANNOCK – While Wyoming County landowners are heavily involved in the regional natural-gas boom, almost all Luzerne County landowners are out of luck, at least for now.

“It’s not always fun. There’s going to be some angst, there’s going to be some anxiety,” said Jack Sordoni, who heads Wilkes-Barre-based Homeland Energy Ventures LLC.

Energy companies and geologists have estimated for decades that billions of dollars of natural gas is locked in a layer of rock called Marcellus Shale that runs about a mile underground from upstate New York down to Virginia, including the northern tier of Pennsylvania. Only recently have technological advances and higher energy prices made extracting the gas financially feasible.

Speaking during a meeting Wednesday evening at the Tunkhannock Area High School, the Harveys Lake native said oil companies aren’t yet interested in crossing the county border. He said his family’s land in Wyoming County has been leased, but companies have refused to consider contiguous land across the county line.

However, Chris Robinson, who is brokering leases in Wyoming County for nearly $3,000 per acre and 17 percent royalties, said he’s already leased the western edge of Fairmount Township in northwestern Luzerne County.

Sordoni added that Dallas, Lake and Franklin townships are areas “Chris and I are hearing (about) repeatedly” and are “still very much prospective and in play.”

Luzerne County landowners anxiously awaiting a lease offer probably won’t have to wait long for an answer. Robinson, who’s from Allegheny County, said he planned to continue negotiating leases in the area until the gas companies are no longer interested.

“I don’t think it’s going to take that long. It’s measured in months at most,” he said.

The wait might, however, offer local landowners examples to consider. Unlike other land groups, the Wyoming landowners rolled all their concerns into the lease instead of adding addendums.

“The difference is this is our lease. This is about us,” said Chip Lions, a member of the group who’s now doing lease work.

The meeting was sponsored by Stone House Wealth Management LLC, a Montrose-based financial planning firm that’s advising landowners and selling them investment portfolios. The company, which started the www.nepagas.com Web site, got involved a while ago “because we saw where this was going to go,” said John Burke, an investment adviser with the company.

The good news, Robinson said, is that he can get leases for any property within the companies’ interested regions, no matter the size.

“I can’t tell you how many I’ve signed for 1 acre or less,” he said.

Additionally, he said that while some gas companies might honestly stop leasing, other companies new to the area desperately want in on the drilling rights. And, he said, they can check for clear land titles within five days, contrary to the three months they tell most land groups.

For landowners concerned about environmental problems, he said state agencies are good at watching drillers, noting his own enforcement experiences.

He warned, however, to not go it alone.

“The mass of ground gets people the best deal, period,” he said. “People who break away, you may be penalized and you may be penalizing your neighbors.”

Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

Copyright: Times Leader

Real-estate pros say chance of lucrative deals causing less land to be available for sale.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Listings for land are virtually nonexistent in northern Luzerne and Wyoming counties, thanks to landowners hoping to cash in on natural-gas leasing rights.

“If people want to come up to buy land, there’s really not much to show them, if anything. And that’s a factor of the gas situation,” said Donna LaBar, who owns Century 21 Sherlock Homes Inc. offices in Clarks Summit and Tunkhannock.

It’s an unfavorable situation for anyone hoping to join in on the profits from gas exploration in the area. Companies are banking that a vast, but deep, layer of rock called Marcellus Shale contains natural gas deposits.

Landowners in Wyoming County and other northern counties have been offered $2,500 per acre to sign away the gas rights. Those offers have skyrocketed with recent drilling success.

In January, some landowners signed for just hundreds of dollars per acre.

Early estimates hold that the amount of gas that potentially could be extracted from the entire layer, which stretches from upstate New York to Virginia, including parts of Luzerne County, could fulfill the country’s natural gas consumption for two years.

The deposits have been known for decades, but technology only recently has improved enough to make extraction economically feasible.

LaBar, a real-estate broker since 1984, said prices in the residential market are holding steady and properties are available.

“The normal market, which would just be the residential sales market, is still pretty much normal. Average market for this time of year,” she said.

However, the number of available tracts larger than 5 acres drops off significantly, she said. “People just aren’t really selling their land right now because they’re looking forward to royalties for the gas leases,” LaBar said.

The effect is more pronounced at her Tunkhannock office, she said. “It’s mostly the northern tier,” she said.

Several Luzerne County real-estate agents said land is still available in northern townships, such as Franklin and Lake, where shale deposits are predicted.

The industry is in its infancy, and few landowners who’ve signed up have actually seen royalty checks. However, if the deposit is anything like the Barnett Shale in Texas that it’s being compared to, drilling could become lucrative. Barnett has proven results, and The Dallas Morning News recently reported that leases are being signed near Fort Worth for $25,000 per acre.

LaBar said local landowners are now viewing their land differently. Before, it was simply an investment that had a tax liability.

Now, she said, “it could be actually an income asset for them, and it’s all yet to be seen.”

Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

Copyright: Times Leader