Posts Tagged ‘Irem Temple Country Club’

By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: July 11, 2010

DALLAS TWP. – Mary Alice Frederick became nervous in March when she discovered her neighbor, the Irem Temple Country Club and the Masonic Village development, had leased mineral rights to a natural gas company.

“I can’t put a chicken coop in my backyard but people can put heavy industry all around the township. I don’t understand that,” the retired Dallas school teacher said. “It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem fair.”

A proposal on the table that would allow natural gas companies to take gas from beneath people’s properties regardless of whether or not they have leased their mineral rights, Frederick now fears losing the peace and quiet of her beloved neighborhood.

In exchange for a tax on natural gas extraction, gas companies are seeking what they call “fair pooling,” legislation that would require property owners without leases to allow drilling beneath their land in exchange for a share of royalties to be determined. However, the gas companies could not put a drilling rig on unwilling owners’ properties. Landowners call “forced pooling.”

“Gas companies are just bullying their way in and telling the legislators what they want. It should be the reverse,” Lehman Township resident Joseph Rutchauskas said. “It’s a democracy, not a corporate dictatorship.”

Rutchauskas lives near two sites permitted for natural gas wells. In August, Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. intends to start preparing one in nearby Lake Township for drilling, and has all the requirements for a well in Lehman Township. Encana recently notified Lehman Township supervisors they do not plan to drill the third well in Lehman Township.

“I do not support that one bit because I feel it’s a violation of my rights,” Rutchauskas said about forced pooling. “I don’t think anyone should have the right to tell me they can drill under my land without my consent.”

He said his development, which has 10 properties, is protected by covenants that do not allow drilling of any kind, including beneath the property.

“We would have to change the covenants to allow it, and nobody in the development wants to do that,” Rutchauskas said.

He said the question of whether the covenants would hold up under a forced pooling law would have to be answered legally.

“I would take it to court to whatever level necessary,” Rutchauskas vowed.

Irem Temple Ancient Arabic Order Nobles Of The Mystic Shrine have leased 355.91 acres to Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC. The land completely surrounds Frederick’s half-acre property.

The concept of forced pooling scares Frederick, who was already concerned about the potential to turn her quiet suburban street into an “industrial zone.” She opposes natural gas drilling because of potential harmful effects on the environment. She also doesn’t like the idea that foreign investors from countries such as United Arab Emirates and China have interests in natural gas companies.

“I don’t want to be part of this,” Frederick said. “I do have a conscience.”

Irem Recorder Harry Wood said the organization has not heard anything from Chesapeake about plans for the site.

“I don’t blame them,” he said in response to residents’ concerns about forced pooling.

However, Wood said gas drilling would be done far enough away from homes that they shouldn’t be affected, even in the case of horizontal drilling.

“Everybody has the wrong idea about that. It would never be allowed on any of these properties. If any drilling would be done it would be on the top of the hill, or away from the residences,” he said.

Developing the Irem Golf Course is also not an option, he said.

“I’m not going to take a $7 million golf course and put a drilling rig in the middle of it,” Wood said.

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072

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Copyright:  The Citizens Voice

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