Posts Tagged ‘Lake Township’

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

View article here.

Copyright:  The Citizens Voice

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

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.

To view this article, click here.

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

CAMILLE FIOTI Times Leader Correspondent

LEHMAN TWP. – Supervisor Dave Sutton fielded questions from a resident Monday regarding expected truck traffic, especially on Route 118, from gas-drilling sites in the area.

Sutton said the township doesn’t have jurisdiction over Route 118 because it is a state road.

EnCana Oil & Gas USA, which plans to drill a vertical well in the Marcellus Shale off Peaceful Valley Road, as well as one in Lake Township, is working with emergency officials from both townships, as well as Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School, to work out a traffic plan, Sutton said.

In another matter, Supervisor Doug Ide said he is putting together a list of roads that need paving. He added that patch work is being done throughout the township.

Through an intermunicipal partnership, the township and Dallas Borough were able to purchase a paver and roller, with a state community development grant, and share paving projects.

“Neither of us could do it alone,” said Sutton. “But working together, we’ve been able to stretch our dollars further.”

The township saves 35 percent of paving costs by using township employees, he added.

The supervisors voted to approve the following temporary permits: Wilkes-Barre Triathlon to start and finish at Penn State, Lehman Campus on Aug. 22, pending receipt of insurance; Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church for a picnic to be held July 16-28; Royal TZ Car and Truck Show at Luzerne County Fairgrounds on May 29.

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