Posts Tagged ‘Harveys Lake’

By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: July 26, 2010

HARVEYS LAKE – The natural gas company planning two exploratory natural gas wells in Noxen is steering clear of nearby Harveys Lake.

“Carrizo has no intention of drilling under Harveys Lake or anywhere near Harveys Lake,” Carrizo Marcellus LLC spokesman Phillip Corey said. “Our first well, the closest point to the lake as the crow flies, is almost 3 miles away.”

The company leased more than 3,000 acres of Sterling Farms, property belonging to the Sordoni family. While most of the property is in Noxen Township, some is in Harveys Lake Borough, he said. However, the company does not have rights to drill under Harveys Lake and doesn’t want to, anyway, Corey said.

“You can’t just go out there to drop a hole wherever you please,” he said.

Harveys Lake resident Guy Giordano, who is vocal about keeping contaminants out of the lake, said it’s good news that Carrizo is not drilling in the borough – but it’s still a little too close for him.

“That still doesn’t give me a lot of comfort. Thirty miles, yeah, but 3 miles, I’m not so sure,” he said.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called “fracking,” involves blasting millions of gallons of chemical-treated water thousands of feet underground to break up the shale and release the natural gas.

The fact that some of these chemicals are not disclosed bothers Giordano.

“Why can’t they use something non-toxic?” he asked. “I can’t believe the government would let anyone put anything in the ground that’s secret.”

State law allows natural gas companies to drill up to 100 feet away from a water source. State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, wants to expand the buffer to 2,500 feet away from drinking water sources, as well as lakes and other bodies of water that are governed by boroughs or second-class townships. She also wants to prohibit drilling beneath them.

Boback has also signed on as a co-sponsor to state Rep. Phyllis Mundy’s bill calling for a one-year moratorium on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania.

Corey said Carrizo will test the drinking water of residents around the drilling site, as required in the lease, which also calls for staying at least 500 feet away from any structure or water source.

He said Carrizo has not decided which direction, if at all, to drill horizontally. The company might just stick with a vertical well to see what’s there, he said.

“We’re going to play this very conservatively,” Corey said.

Giordano stressed that he does not oppose natural gas drilling.

“I’m glad these people got the money for these drilling leases, God bless ‘em. They deserve it,” he said. “But I wish they didn’t have to drill. If it’s rural, it’s OK, the risk is not that great. But when you’re talking about a densely populated area, it’s not worth it. I don’t see how they can take the risk.”

Ceasetown connection

Giordano pulled his minivan to the side of the road to get a better look at the Ceasetown Dam, slightly misty in the summer rain and surrounded by lush green foliage.

This is one of the main reasons he worries about Harveys Lake becoming contaminated.

“A few years ago I had a sample of lake water tested at the Kirby Health Center,” Giordano confessed. “It passed as drinking water.”

Harveys Lake is the source of Harveys Creek. Pennsylvania American Water Co. spokesman Terry Maenza said the company uses Harveys Creek as a backup water supply for the Ceasetown Reservoir. It isn’t used often but it’s there for emergencies, he said.

The Ceasetown Reservoir in Lehman Township serves about 70,000 people in all or parts of Ashley, Courtdale, Conyngham Township, Edwardsville, Hanover Township, Hunlock Township, Larksville, Nanticoke, Newport Township, Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Pringle, Salem Township, Shickshinny, Wilkes-Barre and Wilkes-Barre Township.

“We have done some sampling from Harveys Creek to get some baseline data, so we have that information on file if and when any drilling does take place in the future,” Maenza said.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which regulates large water withdrawals from sources within the river basin, has not issued permits for any natural gas companies to take water from anywhere in Luzerne County, including the Ceasetown or Huntsville reservoirs.

Besides permits from the commission, “There are other permits they would have to get through us before they could start taking our water,” Maenza said.

Last week, there were water tankers at the Huntsville Reservoir, but they were removing sludge, Maenza said. When the filters at the water treatment centers are backwashed, the sludge goes into a lagoon, he explained. About 95 percent of it is recycled, including for agricultural use, he said.

When it comes to natural gas drilling, Maenza said Pennsylvania American Water officials are being vigilant, talking to the state Department of Environmental Protection about permits, keeping in constant touch with legislators including Boback, Mundy, and state Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township.

Maenza said the company has also been in contact with Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc., which started site preparations for a second exploratory natural gas well on Zosh Road in Lake Township on Wednesday, the same day Encana began drilling its first well in Fairmount Township.

“Nobody’s more concerned than us,” Maenza said. “This is our business. Water quality is what we rely on. We don’t want anything to put our water supply in jeopardy.”

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com , 570-821-2072

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Copyright:  The Citizens Voice

By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: July 21, 2010

HARVEYS LAKE – If the state Department of Environmental Protection can make borough officials do something about sewage pollution in the lake, why can’t it step in to prevent potential contamination from natural gas drilling?

That was the argument state Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, approached council with Tuesday. She asked borough officials to meet with DEP and the state fish commission to discuss a one-year moratorium on drilling near the lake.

Her suggestion was greeted with applause from the approximately 80 people who filled council chambers. Council members were open to the idea of contacting the state agencies.

“As far as I’m concerned, the precedent is set,” Boback said. “In my letter to (DEP Secretary John) Hanger, I put it was due to the infiltration problems during storm events. Our concern is the potential contamination with fracking fluids, and if that’s not a legitimate argument, I don’t know what is.”

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” involves blasting millions of gallons of chemical-treated water thousands of feet underground to break up the shale rock and release the natural gas.

Because of problems with raw sewage flowing into the lake during heavy rains, DEP cited the borough and ordered its officials to come up with a corrective action plan. As a result, the General Municipal Authority of Harveys Lake put a DEP-approved voluntary moratorium on new sewer connections in July 2003 until inflow and infiltration into the system was cut back. DEP allowed the authority to relax the moratorium in 2006.

“If they’re talking about infiltration, what about fracking water spewing all over the place?” Boback said, referring to a recent well blowout in Clearfield County.

Boback said she is writing legislation similar to what she introduced to protect drinking water sources, such as the Huntsville and Ceasetown reservoirs. DEP allows natural gas drilling up to 100 feet away from bodies of water. Boback wants that changed to 2,500 feet.

She also wants to prohibit drilling beneath drinking water sources and lakes, such as Harveys Lake, that are governed by a borough or second-class township.

Resident Michelle Boice urged council to take a “strong, proactive stance” with DEP on the issue.

“My concern is that we should be working closely with DEP as a government, and ask the tough questions as to why, when they have been a strong presence in this borough for more than 40 years, they are not doing something about controlling where these drilling permits are being issued,” she said. “Right over the hill, a half mile at Alderson, a drilling permit has been issued.”

Boice was referring to the Sordoni family’s Sterling Farms, where Carrizo Marcellus LLC plans to drill one of two exploratory wells in the Noxen area. She also noted so far 300 acres in Harveys Lake Borough have been leased to gas companies.

Councilman Ryan Doughton said gas companies can lease anywhere. However, zoning restricts where they can drill.

The only place where mineral extraction is allowed in the borough is in the small manufacturing zone on the northern side of the Old Lake Road, Doughton said. Natural gas companies seeking to drill in other parts of the borough would need a zoning hearing for a conditional use permit, he said.

According to resident Guy Giordano, the underground-spring-fed Harveys Lake is a source of the Ceasetown Reservoir, where thousands of people in the Wyoming Valley get their drinking water.

“Council needs to take a stronger position on this and ask the state for help, because this not only affects our wells around Harveys Lake, it affects the drinking water for the entire Wyoming Valley,” he said.

Councilman Rich Williams III said he has been studying the state Oil & Gas Act, trying to find out what council as a local government can do – state law supersedes local government.

“Please don’t think what you say is falling on deaf ears, because I practically use this thing for a pillow,” he told residents.

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com , 570-821-2072

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Copyright:  The Citizen’s Voice

By Patrick Sweet (Staff Writer)
Published: July 18, 2010

Harry Traver and Doug Brody glanced at each other, stood up and followed their neighbor’s lead.

“We didn’t drive all the way out here to make changes,” neighbor Joel Field responded when Carrizo Oil & Gas proposed amendments to the multimillion-dollar deal the three came to finalize.

Before the men made it very far, the company reeled them back to the bargaining table at its Pittsburgh office and hammered out a natural gas deal that includes the mineral rights to roughly 8,500 acres.

Willing to walk away from a deal worth more than $4 million – with the potential to become much more than $40 million – the three men exemplify the roughly 135 families they represent.

“Ninety-five percent of the people that signed live here,” Mr. Brody said. “I mean, this is our home … It’s been our group’s home for years and generations in some cases. We took our time and I think we did it right.”

Noxen is a community that came together and protested the closing of its post office on a bitter December morning. They embrace the camaraderie of a community that answered the call when its historic train station was threatened with demolition and raised money to protect it.

So, when gas company land agents approached residents in rural Noxen Twp., they demonstrated perhaps their greatest skill: their ability to unite.

Strength in numbers

Residents gathered under the pavilion behind Noxen United Methodist Church to formulate their plan of action. Across the street from his Whistle Pig Pumpkin Patch, Mr. Field found himself responsible for preserving the hopes of his family, friends and neighbors for a lucrative gas lease. The Noxen Area Gas Group was born.

“I kind of stood up and said, ‘Well, we ought to try this and we ought to try that,’ and everybody said, ‘OK. Great. Go do that,’” the 47-year-old farmer said.

“The responsibility was awesome.”

Over a 2½-year span, those responsibilities included innumerable hours of courthouse research, days studying the natural gas industry and negotiating deals that never succeeded. He even traveled to Houston to market the land that their farms, orchards and businesses have rested on for generations.

“We didn’t sign in the end, but for quite a long time we were dancing with Chief,” Mr. Field said. “The only reason we danced with Chief Oil and Gas was because we did courthouse research that revealed they had a couple thousand acres right contiguous to our block.”

Mr. Field didn’t realize exactly what he was getting himself into that day. He never thought he would have to hunt down the estranged brother of a neighboring family to gain his signature on their lease.

“It actually took a couple months to find the brother in California,” Mr. Field said. “They actually tracked him down through his union.”

Just as much, Mr. Traver and Mr. Brody – whom Mr. Field called upon to help organize the group – didn’t think they would be studying geology or helping to cover a several thousand dollar attorney bill.

Two days after the group signed the lease on July 10, Mr. Field, Mr. Traver and Mr. Brody sat down with Times Shamrock Newspapers for an exclusive interview about the experience. It was a complete about-face for the tight-lipped trio who refused to jeopardize any part of the deal before it was done.

Sitting at the wooden picnic table behind Mr. Field’s house, not far from the barn where the group held some of its meetings, the three men smiled as they shared stories.

“Getting up to speed on (natural gas) and keeping the people together was always, I guess, our biggest concern,” said Mr. Field.

“But the people stayed together and that’s what made it happen,” Mr. Traver added.

“Some of our principles in the very beginning, when we first started out, was to stick together as a family, as a community,” Mr. Field continued.

A boomtown again?

It’s not difficult to imagine why the community would unite so well. The tiny farming community has struggled to strengthen its economy ever since Mosser Tanning Co. left town in 1961.

The tannery employed enough people to force the construction of a second hotel and a row of houses nearby. It brought unprecedented life to Noxen’s economy that was once based on just more than a dozen farms and a handful of small businesses.

“When the tannery left, everything left with it,” Noxen resident Pearl Race said. “This was a booming town at one time.”

So, when a gas company comes and injects millions of dollars into a community that has seen half a century pass by since its industrial backbone collapsed, residents are more than excited.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” Ms. Race said. “It’s got to help financially; much more taxes, much more money.

“We’re going to finish paying our mortgage off.”

Carrizo paid each lessor $500 per acre up front with an additional $4,500 and 20 percent royalty if the company finds a decent supply of gas.

On the day of the signing, Mr. Traver said, an elderly woman who was having trouble getting by stepped up to the table, leased her roughly 1-acre property and took her check. Mr. Traver’s wife, Dawn, offered to take her to the bank.

The woman, Mr. Traver said, declined the offer.

“I want to keep it for a couple days just to look at it,” she said.

The possibility of a check more than 10 times the amount they just received, it seems, has most folks embracing the words of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin: “Drill, baby, drill.”

“We want production,” Mr. Field said. “We’re not just out there to get the bonus money. The value in this arrangement is in the royalty.”

Is the gas there?

The problem is companies aren’t quite sure the gas is there. Carrizo bought 2-D seismic data, senior landman Phillip Corey said, to get an idea of what they’d find.

“Based on what we see, it looks OK,” Mr. Corey said. “You’re trying to extrapolate a picture with three data points, though, when what you really need is a hundred.”

The uncertainty is why Carrizo didn’t pay the full $5,000 per acre up front. The company will drill two exploratory wells to test the area’s potential before cutting any more checks.

The Noxen group is split into southern and northern areas. Carrizo will drill one well in each area. If gas production is strong in the north but not the south, Carrizo will only have to pay northern landowners and vice versa.

Wooden stakes with neon flags tied to the tops mark the location of the northern well in Mr. Field’s pumpkin patch. The Sordoni family’s huge Sterling Farms property will host to the southern well.

The Sordoni property is one of a few properties directly abutting Harveys Lake. A provision in the lease prevents Carrizo from drilling within 500 feet of any structure or water source.

Still, some folks are concerned with what might unfold.

Noxen resident Viola Robbins, 72, has family in Dimock Twp., the poster-child community for environmental disasters caused by natural gas drilling. Thousands of gallons of potentially carcinogenic drilling fluid spilled just outside the town.

“They can’t do nothing,” Ms. Robbins said. “(The gas company) brought them water for drinking and cooking.”

Toxic water forced Ms. Robbins’ great-niece Andrea Ely and her family to move back in with her parents.

“I’m against it,” Ms. Robbins said. “Maybe it’s me. It might be a different story if I had lots of land for them to drill on.”

Still, many others have faith that Carrizo won’t make the same mistakes as Cabot Oil and Gas did in Dimock Twp.

“We all own farms down through here,” Mr. Traver said. “When these people say that they are worried about the water, they aren’t as worried as these guys, because that’s how they make their living.”

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Copyright: The Scranton Times

EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent

HARVEYS LAKE – Resident Michelle Boice on Tuesday night asked that borough council take an active role in slowing down natural gas drilling activity.

She cited the incident near Clearfield, Pa., as an example of what could happen. In that western Pennsylvania incident, a gas well in an uninhabited area blew out, spewing drilling mud and natural gas for hours before it was brought under control.

She detailed the long road the borough and residents have traveled to maintain and keep Harveys Lake clean, and cited how the state Department of Environmental Protection refuses to give out any more sewer permits and will not allow a resident to build a dock because of a “certain type of micro organism is living there.”

“But they approved three gas drilling permits in Lake Township, Lehman Township and Noxen,” Boice said. “All within two miles of Harveys Lake.”

Council Vice President Larry Radel told Boice he has been in contact with state Rep. Karen Boback and state Sen. Lisa Baker regarding the gas drilling.

“I have been gathering information,” Radel said. “I am trying to push for state help.”

In other matters, an update of the borough’s comprehensive plan and storm water basin inspections were approved and two new part-time police officers were hired.

With $60,000 from a Community Development grant in their pockets, council approved Wilkes-Barre engineering firm Michael J. Pasonick Jr. and Associates to help conduct studies to update the municipality’s comprehensive plan.

The current plan is dated 1974 through 1990. Council President Fred Kopko said it covers subjects such as traffic studies, projection of population, vacant land, housing, economic and transportation goals.

It serves as a guide to what is currently in the borough and how it might continue to grow, he said.

Council member Rich Williams III announced that during the next few weeks, storm water basins will be inspected and repairs made as needed by the borough’s road crew. The crew has a map and a schedule to visit each basin, but if residents know of one that is severely damaged they can contact Williams through the borough office.

Two part-time officers, Gina Kotowski and Jared Kittle, were hired, at $13.75 per hour, to cover shifts during other officers’ summer vacations.

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

PA American Water Co. to sample water from Huntsville Creek near natural gas well.

By Jerry Lynottjlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer

A water company has begun inspecting a creek flowing from the Huntsville Reservoir as a result of a permit issued for a natural gas well in Lehman Township.

PA American Water Co. also will soon begin sampling water from Huntsville Creek, company spokesman Terry Maenza said Thursday.

The testing is to check whether drilling has affected the 1.9-billion- gallon reservoir that supplies drinking water to the utility’s customers. The reservoir is in the Back Mountain area of Luzerne County where more than 25,000 acres have been leased by companies planning to tap into the natural gas rich Marcellus Shale formation underground.

Technicians will go out once a week to take water samples, said Maenza, “so we have baseline data.”

Last month township officials approved a drilling permit for EnCana Gas & Oil USA Inc. It has partnered with Whitmar Exploration Co. to locate possible drilling sites within nine townships and Harveys Lake in the Back Mountain.

PA American has two reservoirs bordered by lease holdings. The 2.9 billion gallon Ceasetown Reservoir also is located in Lehman Township. In conjunction with Huntsville, Ceasetown supplies water to 100,000 people in the Wyoming Valley, Maenza said.

The reservoirs have 500-foot buffer zones around them where drilling is not permitted, he explained.

Maenza added that the water company relies on regulators and inspectors to enforce laws related to drilling and disposal and treatment of waste water used in the hydraulic fracturing or fracking, the high pressure injection of a mixture of water, chemicals and other materials to break up the rock containing the natural gas.

The utility frequently is in contact with the state Department of Environmental Protection on a number of issues, including permits issued for drilling. “They’re letting us know about it,” Maenza said.

Two other water companies that serve customers in the Back Mountain are leaving oversight up to DEP, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the state Fish and Boat Commission.

Donna Alston, a spokeswoman for Aqua Pennsylvania, said existing DEP regulations provide protection for the company that draws its water from wells. The company provides service to customers in Luzerne County through its White Haven Division. Statewide it serves 1.4 million people in 30 counties.

Still, Aqua is stepping up its own efforts.

The utility “will be monitoring water quality more frequently and extensively than required by regulation whenever drilling activity is occurring anywhere near one of its well supplies to detect and respond to any water quality changes that might occur,” Alston said.

What steps United Water takes depends upon how close a natural gas well is drilled to one of its water wells, said spokesman Bob Manbeck.

“If a permit for extraction was under consideration within a one mile radius of a United Water-owned well, we would intervene in the permitting process and attempt to ensure that the extraction points are an appropriate distance from our wells,” said Manbeck.

United Water has six wells in Dallas, two each in Dallas Township and Harveys Lake and one in Noxen Township in Wyoming County. It serves 10,000 customers in the Back Mountain.

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

EnCana also allowed to put in gas metering station in Fairmount Township.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE – The Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for a natural gas drilling operation on 6 acres of land in Lake Township and a natural gas metering station on 5 acres in Fairmount Township – under certain conditions.

EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc. sought a 12-month temporary use permit to drill a gas well, have a water tank storage facility and park five personnel trailers on a part of a 49-acre site located at 133 Soltis Road and owned by township Supervisor Amy Salansky and her husband, Paul.

The company also sought a special exception to install a permanent wellhead on the site.

In a separate application, EnCana sought a use variance to operate a natural gas meter station within a 112-acre parcel near the intersection of Mossville and Hartman roads on property owned by Thomas and Caroline Raskiewicz, in Fairmount Township, as well as a height variance to erect an associated 150-foot radio tower on the site.

Following a presentation by EnCana regulatory adviser Brenda Listner and listening to testimony from seven members of the public who opposed the plan in a packed hearing room at the county courthouse, the board adjourned for an approximately 10-minute executive session to, according to Chairman Lawrence Newman, “discuss the conditions that would be placed on the special exception request.”

The board then voted unanimously to approve all of Encana’s requests subject to the company providing evidence of:

• Approved permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and any other mandated agency.

• Road bonding based on acceptable rates as designated by supervisors of the townships of Lake and Lehman.

• Appropriate sound controls as necessary to minimize noise.

• Light diffusion as required to divert light away from neighboring structures.

• A dust-control plan including evidence that no contaminated water or water used in the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process would be used for dust control.

• A pollution preparedness contingency plan, an emergency response plan and other plans set forth in EnCana’s “best management practices” outlined in a memo from EnCana.

Prior to the vote, local activist Dr. Thomas Jiunta, led off a round of questions from the public. He had asked EnCana representatives if many of the plans addressed in EnCana’s best management practices were available for review.

Listner said they were still in the works or under discussion with township officials.

Jiunta wanted to know how emergency response times in the area would be addressed, given that some sections of road are 17 feet wide and the average width of fire trucks and trucks associated with drilling operations are an average of 9 feet wide. There is no room for a truck to pull off a road and yield to an emergency vehicle, he said.

Michelle Boice of Harveys Lake said she doesn’t think “there’s any emergency preparedness,” noting that there are no police or fire departments in Lake Township, and the community relies on state police and volunteers from other communities for coverage.

Copyright: Times Leader

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