Posts Tagged ‘Lake Township’

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

Parcels in Lake, Fairmount townships require county zoning approval.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

An energy company is seeking zoning approval to temporarily locate five personnel trailers and up to 192 water storage tanks capable of holding more than 4 million gallons on a 6-acre site in Lake Township.

IF YOU GO

The Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board will hear testimony on applications from EnCana Oil & Gas for special land uses in Lake and Fairmount townships at 7 p.m. Tuesday, in the Commissioners Meeting Room at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.

EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc. also wants to temporarily place a sewage holding tank and a potable water tank for each trailer at the site, all to be used during the drilling of a well to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface.

The Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday will hear a presentation from EnCana in connection with the company’s application for a “temporary use” and a special exception to construct a permanent gas well head facility on the 49-acre property located at 133 Soltis Road and owned by township Supervisor Amy Salansky and her husband, Paul.

EnCana also is seeking a use variance to operate a natural gas meter station on 5 acres within a 112-acre parcel in Fairmount Township, as well as a height variance to erect an associated 150-foot radio tower on the site.

The meter station site, located at the intersection of Mossville and Hartman roads on property owned by Thomas and Caroline Raskiewicz, would be used to treat and compress natural gas from another well drilling site in Fairmount Township for which EnCana has already received county zoning approval. That drilling site, located off state Route 118 between Tripp and Mossville roads, is owned by Edward Buda.

The Salansky site in Lake Township is the third in the county on which EnCana plans to begin drilling for gas this summer. Earlier this month, the company received approval from Lehman Township supervisors to drill near Peaceful Valley Road on property owned by Russell and Larry Lansberry.

The Salansky and Buda sites required county zoning board approval because neither Lake Township nor Fairmount Township has zoning regulations.

Wendy Wiedenbeck, public and community relations advisor for EnCana, said the Buda site will be the first to be drilled. The target date for drilling to begin, known in the industry as the spud date, is July 1. Crews were to begin clearing an access road on Thursday.

Wiedenbeck said the spud date for the Salansky site is expected to be about a month after drilling begins at the Buda site. It takes about a month to drill a well, and the drilling equipment will be moved from one site to the next.

Plans for the Lansberry site are still under discussion, she said.

21,000-gallon tanks

According to a narrative that EnCana included in the zoning application for the Salansky site, the company will need about 6 million gallons of water for each well completion. Completing a well requires hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which is the process of injecting a mixture of water, sand and a small amount of chemical fluid additives into the wellbore under very high pressure to fracture the shale formation and release the natural gas.

EnCana estimates about 1.2 million gallons of flowback water will return to the surface.

Fresh water for the well completions will be stored in some of the 21,000-gallon “frac water” tanks, which are about 8 feet wide, 50 feet long and 13 feet tall. Some of the steel tanks also could be used to collect flowback water, which either will be treated and reused during a future well completion or hauled away and disposed of at a permitted wastewater facility.

EnCana plans to drill one well at each site using a truck-mounted drill rig. It would be drilled vertically about 7,000 to 8,000 feet deep and then horizontally about 5,000 to 7,000 feet.

During drilling operations, sites would have a drill rig, stockpiles of drill pipe and casing, a 60-by-160-foot reserve pit with an impermeable liner for collecting cuttings and fluid, mud shakers to separate the cuttings from the fluid, generators to provide power to the drill rig and office trailers that would be equipped with personnel sleeping quarters.

Drilling activities would occur around the clock for about four weeks and require on-site supervision 24 hours a day.

Main access roads to the Salansky site include Lehman Outlet, Hoover, Sholtis, Zosh, Ides, Meeker and Slocum roads and state Route 118. EnCana will work with supervisors of Lake and Lehman townships to complete a road assessment and provide appropriate bonding for the roads.

Meter site structures

Major structures at the Raskiewicz meter site in Fairmount Township, in addition to the radio tower, include two 40-by-40-foot buildings, about 20 feet tall, that would house compressor engines, and a 15-by-35-foot meter building about 12 feet high.

Also planned is a smaller air purification building.

Two 20-foot-tall storage tanks for condensate – liquids that fall out of the gas and settle at low points in the pipeline – also will be placed there, along with various other types of storage tanks, most about 10 feet tall. There also will be a dehydration unit, mainly composed of a vertical tank about 34 feet tall.

The facility will require a 1/2 acre where a 6-inch EnCana gas line will feed into the 24-inch transcontinental pipeline that already passes through the site underground, and another 1.5 acres for placement of EnCana treating and compression equipment. The additional 3 acres is for future expansion.

Main access roads to the site are state Route 118, Mossville Road and Hartman Road.

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

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

Before Marcellus Shale work, queries made over well water tests, roads and procedures.

EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent

LAKE TWP. — A gas company coming into the township in July caused residents to question procedures, well-water testing and road maintenance during Wednesday night’s supervisors meeting.

In July, Lake Township will begin a Marcellus Shale gas drilling operation by EnCana Oil and Gas USA of Denver, Colo. The site is owned by Supervisor Amy Salansky.

Salansky said the farm was previously owned by an older neighbor, who willed the gas and mineral rights to a nephew and gave Salansky and her husband the “first right to buy” the land.

“The agreement was already made when we purchased the farm,” Salansky said.

Residents within a mile radius of the site have recently received letters from EnCana stating a voluntary assessment of well water will be scheduled immediately. Salansky said the letter states a third-party environmental firm, Rettew, of Lancaster, will collect water samples.

Samples will then be sent to a state certified lab, at no cost to residents.

The letter stated that if residents wanted to use a lab of their choosing to test water, the sample will be split by Rettew and sent to a second lab. This would be at the residents’ cost.

With 75 percent of the township’s roads dirt, residents questioned supervisors on routes EnCana may use and who would be responsible for maintenance and repairing damages.

Chairman Lonnie Piatt said the township roads are not bonded yet, but the township does have an agreement with EnCana. He said it is a possibility that EnCana will hire a contractor for road maintenance. What routes will be used is still undecided.

Salansky said that officials have not sat down with EnCana to determine which routes will be used.

Barney Dobinick, the township’s emergency management coordinator, said it is possible that the gas driller’s trucks will run on a different schedule than school buses, so the two are not navigating roads at the same time.

Dobinick said EnCana has provided him with a list of chemicals to be used on site and a list of the firm’s safety guidelines. He also has the state Department of Environmental Protection’s regulations for gas drilling.

In other business, the annual spring cleanup will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 8, at the municipal building.

Residents must have proof of residency and pay $15 per pickup-truck load, $20 for large pickups and $6 per car load. An additional $6 fee will be applied for the following items: washers, dryers, carpets, overstuffed chairs, couches, dressers, TV sets, hot water heaters, boilers, furnaces, stoves and large appliances.

The following items will not be accepted: tires, hazardous wastes, chemicals, brush, tree stumps, cinder blocks, animal waste, shingles, sheet rock or other building materials, garbage, freezers, refrigerators containing Freon, and air conditioners.

For questions, call 629-2828.

Copyright: Times Leader

April 5, 2010

EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent

Well-water testing in advance of natural gas drilling operations in parts of Luzerne County could give homeowners with wells knowledge, a baseline for future testing and a legal leg to stand on if their water becomes tainted, some experts say.

Marcellus Shale gas drilling is coming into Luzerne County this summer. EnCana Oil and Gas USA Inc., based in Denver, Colo., will be starting a site in Lake Township off Zosh Road in June or July.

Drilling could also be coming to other mostly Back Mountain area communities. Some area groups have voiced strong opposition to the drilling, and some landowners in counties where drilling is already taking place have said their water wells have been inversely affected by gas drilling activities.

EnCana Community Relations Adviser Wendy Wiedenbeck said her company has drilled 8,700 gas wells and has not had “any instance of well water becoming contaminated.” She said EnCana takes great pains not to damage water wells.

“It is in our best interests not to impact water supplies,” she said. Wiedenbeck said that besides using the standard cement casing at the gas-drilling site to protect underground water sources, a second cement casing will be used for added protection.

She said the casings are inspected regularly throughout the life of the well.

Encana’s zero tolerance of spills means its employees are specially trained for operating valves at drilling operations or transporting liquids, she said.

All spills are reportable, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency has a toll-free line to report them at (877) 919-4372.

“We are very proud of our environmental record,” she said.

To be prepared, residents within a mile radius of the drilling sites are advised to have their well water tested, Wiedenbeck said.

The trick is knowing what kind of testing is needed and the proper way to take a sample.

Aqua-Tech Laboratory Director Joseph F. Calabro, Mountain Top, said well water owners should have a state Department of Environmental Protection-certified lab do the testing. Someone who is certified with the lab should draw the water and a chain of custody for the water sample should be followed, he said.

A chain of custody for the sample is a log that is signed and dated by the person taking the water sample and given to the lab, where it is signed and dated upon receipt. Calabro said this log will stand up in court.

A listing of state-certified labs, by county, can be found at http://water.cas.psu.edu. Click on “information” on water issues related to Marcellus drilling. Then, on the right side of the screen, click on “find a lab.”

Calabro said homeowners should know what is normally in their well water. He said small amounts of minerals such as barium, sodium, manganese and iron, are already in well water, along with many other minerals.

He said that once this baseline for what’s in the water is established, then testing for industry-specific indicators can be performed.

He advised that if homeowners notice a change in taste, clarity or smell of their water, they should have it tested right away.

Concerned that nervous residents could be charged for more testing that what is really needed, he said he is willing to attend municipal meetings to discuss minerals and industry-specific indicators to watch for.

Wilkes University geologist Brain Ora said he is hoping homeowners will be willing to share their testing results to compile a database, by zip code, to show water quality history. He said that over time the database will track changes of water quality.

Copyright: The Times Leader

EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent

Well-water testing in advance of natural gas drilling operations in parts of Luzerne County could give homeowners with wells knowledge, a baseline for future testing and a legal leg to stand on if their water becomes tainted, some experts say.

Marcellus Shale gas drilling is coming into Luzerne County this summer. EnCana Oil and Gas USA Inc., based in Denver, Colo., will be starting a site in Lake Township off Zosh Road in June or July.

Drilling could also be coming to other mostly Back Mountain area communities. Some area groups have voiced strong opposition to the drilling, and some landowners in counties where drilling is already taking place have said their water wells have been inversely affected by gas drilling activities.

EnCana Community Relations Adviser Wendy Wiedenbeck said her company has drilled 8,700 gas wells and has not had “any instance of well water becoming contaminated.” She said EnCana takes great pains not to damage water wells.

“It is in our best interests not to impact water supplies,” she said. Wiedenbeck said that besides using the standard cement casing at the gas-drilling site to protect underground water sources, a second cement casing will be used for added protection.

She said the casings are inspected regularly throughout the life of the well.

Encana’s zero tolerance of spills means its employees are specially trained for operating valves at drilling operations or transporting liquids, she said.

All spills are reportable, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency has a toll-free line to report them at (877) 919-4372.

“We are very proud of our environmental record,” she said.

To be prepared, residents within a mile radius of the drilling sites are advised to have their well water tested, Wiedenbeck said.

The trick is knowing what kind of testing is needed and the proper way to take a sample.

Aqua-Tech Laboratory Director Joseph F. Calabro, Mountain Top, said well water owners should have a state Department of Environmental Protection-certified lab do the testing. Someone who is certified with the lab should draw the water and a chain of custody for the water sample should be followed, he said.

A chain of custody for the sample is a log that is signed and dated by the person taking the water sample and given to the lab, where it is signed and dated upon receipt. Calabro said this log will stand up in court.

A listing of state-certified labs, by county, can be found at http://water.cas.psu.edu. Click on “information” on water issues related to Marcellus drilling. Then, on the right side of the screen, click on “find a lab.”

Calabro said homeowners should know what is normally in their well water. He said small amounts of minerals such as barium, sodium, manganese and iron, are already in well water, along with many other minerals.

He said that once this baseline for what’s in the water is established, then testing for industry-specific indicators can be performed.

He advised that if homeowners notice a change in taste, clarity or smell of their water, they should have it tested right away.

Concerned that nervous residents could be charged for more testing that what is really needed, he said he is willing to attend municipal meetings to discuss minerals and industry-specific indicators to watch for.

Wilkes University geologist Brain Ora said he is hoping homeowners will be willing to share their testing results to compile a database, by zip code, to show water quality history. He said that over time the database will track changes of water quality.

Copyright: Times Leader

A panel offers an update on legislation, which turns out to center on money.

By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

BENTON – With interest increasing in drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, there’s a whole swirl of legislation related to it being considered in Harrisburg, but much of it comes down to money.

“A lot of what goes on in Harrisburg is who’s gonna pay to make the pie and who’s going to get a piece,” said state Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming. “The fight is how we’re going to divide up the pie. … We want to see the Commonwealth get its fair share, but we also don’t want to … go New York on them and drive them away.”

Everett was among two other representatives – Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, and David Millard, R-Columbia – who spoke on Thursday evening at a meeting of the Columbia County Landowners Coalition.

A state Department of Environmental Protection official and a Penn State University educator were also on the panel.

Everett described the intention and status of nearly 20 bills throughout the legislature, noting that they fit into four categories: taxation and where the money goes, water protection, access to information and surface-owner rights.

While some likely won’t ever see a vote, Everett said a few will probably pass this session, including a bill that would require companies to release well production information within six months instead of the current five years.

He said a tax on the gas extraction also seems likely “at some point.”

For the most part, the industry received a pass at the meeting, with most comments favorable. One woman suggested companies might underreport the amount of gas they take out and questioned what’s being done to help landowners keep them honest.

Dave Messersmith of Penn State suggested that an addendum to each lease should be the opportunity for an annual audit of the company’s logs.

Robert Yowell, the director of the DEP’s north-central regional office, said the rush to drill in the shale happened so quickly that DEP is still trying to catch up with regulations. Likewise, he said, companies are still becoming acquainted with differences here from where they’re used to drilling.

“When they first came to town, I don’t think they realized how widely our streams fluctuated,” he said.

He added some public perceptions need to be changed – such as the belief that people aren’t naturally exposed to radiation all the time – and that he felt confident that “this can be done safely.”

In response to contamination issues in Dimock Township in Susquehanna County, DEP is upgrading and standardizing its requirements for well casings, Everett said. He added that it’s being suggested the contamination in might have been caused by “odd geology.”

“Every time humans do anything, there’s an impact on the land,” he said. “We just need to balance this right so that we end up with something we’re happy with when we’re done.”

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

View the original article here

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale that underlies much of Northeastern Pennsylvania is expected to create hundreds to thousands of jobs, depending on who’s doing the projections, and have other widespread economic effects.

Some of those new work opportunities will be with the drilling and gas companies, but others are expected to be with subcontracted services, from land surveying and engineering to hauling and construction. Legal and banking services also will be needed.

Chesapeake Energy has invested significantly in not only leasing land in Pennsylvania, but in doing business with private companies.

With 94 wells drilled in the state in 2009 and more than 200 additional wells planned for this year, the company has paid subcontractors and vendors in Pennsylvania $269 million since January 2009, company spokesman Rory Sweeney said in an e-mail.

Among the first employers to see the effects of natural gas exploration are law, surveying and engineering firms.

“We are seeing an increase in our business volume,” said Mark Van Loon, a partner with Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald, a law firm with offices in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton.

“We’ve represented quite a few people in relation to the Marcellus Shale and land leases in Luzerne County, north to the New York border, and east and west from there in Susquehanna, Bradford, Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. There have been some in Wayne County, but not as much,” Van Loon said.

Lease holders also will also need to protect their financial assets, and that’s where banks come into the picture.

David Raven, president and chief executive officer of Pennstar Bank, said the financial institution is seeing a significant increase in business related to Marcellus Shale at branches in Susquehanna County.

“It’s specific to folks who receive lease (bonus) payments and eventually will receive royalties on the gas that’s produced,” Raven said.

In addition to landowners who want to protect their rights while negotiating the most lucrative deals, firms and individuals that enter into large contracts with the gas and drilling companies – engineers, construction firms, suppliers and haulers, for example – will want to have those contracts vetted before signing, according to Van Loon.

“If somebody has a contract that’s large enough, they’re likely to have it reviewed by their legal counsel because it involves too much risk for them not to. And there could be contractual disputes in relation to the delivery or performance of services,” he said.

Van Loon said his firm has five attorneys actively working on oil and gas lease issues, but at this point the partners have not seen the need to hire additional staff.

That’s not the case with Borton Lawson, an engineering firm based in Plains Township that also has offices in Bethlehem, State College and, as of two months ago because of the business generated by the Marcellus shale, in Wexford – a town in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs.

Chris Borton, company president, has referred to the Pittsburgh area as “the heart of the gas and oil industry” in the region.

Last year, Borton Lawson laid off some of its survey crew workers as companies hurt by the recession cut back on land development. But over the last six months, the firm has hired six to eight people – including several surveyors – for jobs directly related to the Marcellus Shale.

And the company is looking for 13 more employees right now to fill positions such as environmental engineers and scientists, an electrical engineer, an automation engineer and a mechanical engineer.

Salaries for those jobs range from $40,000 to $80,000 depending on the type of job and experience of the employee, Borton said.

Borton said his firm is working with five natural gas companies in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The company will open a satellite office in the borough of Towanda, the county seat of Bradford County, on April 15 because of the extensive natural gas exploration and drilling in that area.

County drilling near

One of the gas companies – Encana Oil and Gas Inc. – has leased 25,000 acres of property in Luzerne County. The land is mainly on the north side of Route 118 in Fairmount, Ross, Lake and Lehman townships.

Encana so far has obtained permits for drilling one well in Lake Township and another in Fairmount Township and is seeking a permit for one in Lehman Township, said company spokesman Doug Hock. Hydrogeological studies are now under way, and officials hope to begin constructing wells by May.

“For every well drilled, that creates about 120 jobs, either directly or indirectly. … The bulk of these jobs as we begin operations are done by subcontractors,” Hock said.

Subcontracted work includes water haulers, truck drivers, construction crews for well pad grading and construction and rig hands after the wells are built. Local average wages could see a boost, given that salaries even for less skilled positions range from $60,000 and $70,000, he said.

Hock said Encana prefers to hire local contractors, “but it’s not always possible because of the skills available in the labor market.”

He couldn’t predict how many new jobs will be generated by Encana operations because officials won’t know how many additional wells – if any – might be drilled until they see the results of natural gas production from the first two or three.

“By the end of 2010, we’ll have an idea if we have a good program, something that’s economically viable that we can continue to develop,” Hock said.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Eileen Godin Times Leader Correspondent

LAKE TWP – Concerns over gas drilling and a nuisance property brought two different groups to Wednesday’s supervisors meeting.

Ron Kirkutis and others expressed concerns over possible air and water pollution caused by Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

Kirkutis said information he read revealed about 280 chemicals are used in the fluid the gas drilling companies use.

“Some chemicals are carcinogenic,” he said. “I have a newborn and a 3-year-old. What if that seeps into my well water?”

“I do not want to see a gas drilling operation going on next door,” he said.

Luzerne Conversation District member and Township Supervisor Amy Salansky said residents who lease their property should make sure the gas company is required to test the well water.

She also assured residents that no gas drilling permits have been issued in Lake Township.

Township Attorney Mark McNealis said the supervisors will not have much control over gas drilling.

“The supervisors do not oversee the zoning within the township. That falls under the Luzerne County zoning office, but talk to DEP (the state Department of Environmental Protection), talk to your agencies,” he said.

Also concerned with pollution, resident Leonard Ruotolo complained about a nuisance property.

Ruotolo along with residents Lewis and Edna Higgins, told the supervisors that William Harrison did not comply with the state DEP’s 45-day timeframe to clean up his property, and the situation is getting worst.

DEP issued a citation in August ordering Harrison to clean up three trash piles on his Tulip Road property.

The matter is now awaiting action by DEP’s compliance and legal teams.

McNealis said this is coming down to an enforcement matter. He said residents should contact the district attorney’s office and state Rep. Karen Boback, the county zoning office and the state police.

Copyright: Times Leader