Posts Tagged ‘Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board’

By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: August 4, 2010

WILKES-BARRE – The Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday night approved new natural gas wells and a facility for processing the gas, but added safety conditions.

Zoning hearing board members William Harris, Anthony Palischak and Chairman Lawrence Newman unanimously granted Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. conditional use to drill five natural gas wells in an agricultural zone on the 4-P Realty property on Loyalville Road in Lake Township, as well as a natural gas processing facility that would include a compressor station and a radio tower.

Among the conditions the board imposed, Encana will have to determine whether the county’s emergency responders will be able to handle problems at the site, and to draw up a contingency plan to share with all concerned.

Encana will have to mitigate noise, light and dust at the site, as well as provide a traffic control plan, bond all county and municipal roads, and consider safety measures for school buses, such as having flagmen at bus stops.

The board also granted conditional approval on Encana’s request to drill three wells on the Kent North site at 208 State Route 118 in Fairmount Township, and two wells on the Kent South site at 27 State Route 487 in Fairmount Township.

The commissioners’ meeting room at the courthouse was jammed with people, many of whom expressed opposition to natural gas drilling.

Zoning hearing board Solicitor Stephen A. Menn repeatedly stressed that the state Oil and Gas Act does not allow local officials to regulate most aspects of natural gas well drilling, including how it is done and water use and protection.

“In what ways has the Oil and Gas Act tied your hands?” Factoryville resident Patrick Walker asked.

“Health, safety and welfare issues,” Menn said.

Like with methadone clinics and adult entertainment, zoning cannot exclude natural gas drilling, according to Menn.

“Drilling is a legal use. You have to put it somewhere,” Menn said.

The place people should seek change is Harrisburg, in laws passed by the General Assembly.

“I think it is an absolute horror, I think this is a version of fascism, that this power has been taken away from you,” Walker said.

Several residents questioned safety issues, such as the 6,800 additional trucks on the road throughout the well drilling process.

Lake-Lehman Transportation Coordinator Sandy Dobrowolski, speaking on her own behalf, expressed concern about the school buses being on the roads at the same time as the heavy traffic at the site.

Paul Ungvarsky, who lives on Loyalville Road about a mile from the 4-P property, asked if something could be done to ensure trucks don’t speed on the road. Encana Community Relations Adviser Wendy Wiedenbeck said it seemed like a reasonable request.

Ungvarsky also wanted to know what would happen if a property isn’t leased. He said his isn’t.

“If it’s unleased, we cannot drill under it,” Encana Operations Engineer Joel Fox said.

Linster added that Encana has “quite a bit of room to work with” on the 4-P site.

Mike Patrician of Clarks Summit, one of the 4-P property owners, spoke on Encana’s behalf, saying he had talked to five different companies at length about leasing.

“People are not all the same, gas companies are not all the same,” he said. “Encana has a stellar reputation in the industry.”

Gary Ide, who has leased his Lehman Township property, also defended Encana, stating that leaseholders were “extraordinarily impressed” with the company.

But Gene Stilp of Dauphin County, in referencing Patrician’s comment, said: “People are different, companies are different – frack water is pretty much the same.”

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com , 570-821-2072

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Copyright:  The Citizens Voice 

Those against Encana Oil & Gas plans ponder appeals for permits already granted.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

As Encana Oil & Gas officials await a hearing next month on zoning permits for 10 new natural gas wells in Luzerne County, gas-drilling opponents are contemplating a second appeal for permits that already have been issued to the company.

Encana recently filed applications with the Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board seeking temporary-use permits and special exceptions for drilling five natural gas wells and height variances for building a gas processing facility at a site nestled between Loyalville, Hickory Tree and Meeker roads in Lake Township.

The company also applied for the same types of permits for drilling wells on two properties in Fairmount Township – two wells on a site northeast of the intersection of state routes 487 and 118, and three wells on adjoining land to the northeast.

The zoning hearing board has scheduled a hearing for 7 p.m. Aug. 3 to hear testimony on those applications.

The Lake Township site, owned by 4P Realty of Blakely, is about 600 acres. The two Fairmount Township sites consist of 13 parcels – some owned by William Kent of Benton and others owned by Jeffrey Hynich of Lake Township – spanning nearly 480 acres. They are referred to as the Red Rock/Benton Gas Consortium Lands in a lease with Encana.

Encana would move forward with drilling wells on those properties if two exploratory wells in Lake and Fairmount townships prove successful.

Drilling on the Fairmount Township property of Edward Buda is expected to begin within five to 10 days, Encana spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck said.

Encana won zoning approval for drilling on a Lehman Township property owned by Russell W. Lansberry and Larry Lansberry in April but withdrew the application last week – less than a month after township residents Dr. Tom Jiunta, Brian and Jennifer Doran and Joseph Rutchauskas filed an appeal of the zoning approval in county court.

Rutchauskas said on Tuesday that attorneys for the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition are checking into the possibility of appealing the issuance of zoning permits about two weeks ago for Lake Township property owned by Amy and Paul Salansky on which Encana plans to begin drilling later this summer.

The county zoning hearing board approved the permit applications for the Salansky property in May.

Rutchauskas said he was told by a zoning official that it was too late to file an appeal on the Salansky permits because one must be filed within 30 days of the zoning hearing board’s decision.

“We’re having lawyers check into the timeframe of when the permits were approved and when they were issued. Our stance is that the 30-day timeframe is from the day the permits were issued, not from the day they were approved,” Rutchauskas said.

He said the permits could not be issued until the board received several response plans from Encana, such as a traffic management plan and an emergency response plan.

Eight permits for the Salansky property were issued on June 25 – the same day Encana submitted the plans – and two more were issued on June 28, according to zoning office records.

Rutchauskas said there’s no way zoning officials could have reviewed all the plans the same day, and the permits should not have been issued until the plans were thoroughly reviewed.

“How can you issue a permit without reading the required plans? You can put a Superman comic book in there and they wouldn’t know the difference. Do it slow, take your time, at least open them. I’ve been going through those books almost eight hours,” Rutchauskas said.

Luzerne County Planner Pat Dooley said officials are checking into how an appeal can be filed on the issuance of a zoning permit.

Dooley said he’s not aware of anyone ever appealing the issuance of a zoning permit, only the approval of a permit.

Copyright: Times Leader

Those against Encana Oil & Gas plans ponder appeals for permits already granted.

By Steve Mocarsky
Staff Writer

As Encana Oil & Gas officials await a hearing next month on zoning permits for 10 new natural gas wells in Luzerne County, gas-drilling opponents are contemplating a second appeal for permits that already have been issued to the company.

Encana recently filed applications with the Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board seeking temporary-use permits and special exceptions for drilling five natural gas wells and height variances for building a gas processing facility at a site nestled between Loyalville, Hickory Tree and Meeker roads in Lake Township.

The company also applied for the same types of permits for drilling wells on two properties in Fairmount Township – two wells on a site northeast of the intersection of state routes 487 and 118, and three wells on adjoining land to the northeast.

The zoning hearing board has scheduled a hearing for 7 p.m. Aug. 3 to hear testimony on those applications.

The Lake Township site, owned by 4P Realty of Blakely, is about 600 acres. The two Fairmount Township sites consist of 13 parcels – some owned by William Kent of Benton and others owned by Jeffrey Hynich of Lake Township – spanning nearly 480 acres. They are referred to as the Red Rock/Benton Gas Consortium Lands in a lease with Encana.

Encana would move forward with drilling wells on those properties if two exploratory wells in Lake and Fairmount townships prove successful.

Drilling on the Fairmount Township property of Edward Buda is expected to begin within five to 10 days, Encana spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck said.

Encana won zoning approval for drilling on a Lehman Township property owned by Russell W. Lansberry and Larry Lansberry in April but withdrew the application last week – less than a month after township residents Dr. Tom Jiunta, Brian and Jennifer Doran and Joseph Rutchauskas filed an appeal of the zoning approval in county court.

Rutchauskas said on Tuesday that attorneys for the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition are checking into the possibility of appealing the issuance of zoning permits about two weeks ago for Lake Township property owned by Amy and Paul Salansky on which Encana plans to begin drilling later this summer.

The county zoning hearing board approved the permit applications for the Salansky property in May.

Rutchauskas said he was told by a zoning official that it was too late to file an appeal on the Salansky permits because one must be filed within 30 days of the zoning hearing board’s decision.

“We’re having lawyers check into the timeframe of when the permits were approved and when they were issued. Our stance is that the 30-day timeframe is from the day the permits were issued, not from the day they were approved,” Rutchauskas said.

He said the permits could not be issued until the board received several response plans from Encana, such as a traffic management plan and an emergency response plan.

Eight permits for the Salansky property were issued on June 25 – the same day Encana submitted the plans – and two more were issued on June 28, according to zoning office records.

Rutchauskas said there’s no way zoning officials could have reviewed all the plans the same day, and the permits should not have been issued until the plans were thoroughly reviewed.

“How can you issue a permit without reading the required plans? You can put a Superman comic book in there and they wouldn’t know the difference. Do it slow, take your time, at least open them. I’ve been going through those books almost eight hours,” Rutchauskas said.

Luzerne County Planner Pat Dooley said officials are checking into how an appeal can be filed on the issuance of a zoning permit.

Dooley said he’s not aware of anyone ever appealing the issuance of a zoning permit, only the approval of a permit.

Contact the writer smocarsky@timesleader.com

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Copyright:  The Times Leader

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

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

At issue is tapping into Marcellus Shale in Fairmount and Lake townships.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE – After more than two hours of testimony on Tuesday night that mostly didn’t address the issues before the board, the Luzerne County Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved temporary permits and special exception uses to develop natural-gas drilling sites in Fairmount and Lake townships, among the first in the county.

The board, however, placed several caveats on the approvals, including bonding for all roads used, sound and light control measures, and a prohibition on controlling dust on roads with water contaminated from the drilling process.

The two sites are located in municipalities that don’t have zoning boards, which is why the county board was involved.

In Lake, the site is on two properties on Zosh Road owned by Edward Farrell and Daniel Chorba. In Fairmount, the property just off state Route 118 east of Mossville Road and behind the Ricketts Glen Hotel is owned by Edward Buda.

The 12-month temporary permits will allow the well drilling and the storage of water used therein. The special exceptions allow the permanent existence of the well pad at the sites.

At least 50 people attended the hearing, speaking fervently both for and against the expansion of Marcellus Shale gas drilling into Luzerne County. However, board solicitor Stephen Menn warned throughout that most of those issues weren’t before the board.

“This board has very limited rights about what it can do with regards to gas and oil drilling,” he prefaced. “Your concerns are misdirected to us. They should be directed to your legislators.”

Board member Tony Palischak, who is involved with conservation groups, voiced concerns about drilling. “We’re a little skeptical because of all the hair-raising things,” he said, that have been reported in other drilling areas, including Dimock Township in Susquehanna County. A driller there has been fined and cited repeatedly for environmental abuses.

However, he approved the uses. “We have no alternative,” he said afterward. “It’s up to (the state Department of Environmental Protection) and (the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) to take it from here.”

Still, objectors from as far as Bethlehem noted water and air pollution concerns, along with damage to roads and congestion.

Others welcomed the economic opportunities, and at least one, Charles Kohl, was swayed when the Denver-based companies, WhitMar Exploration Co. and EnCana Oil and Gas (USA) Inc., announced their interest in leasing all properties in those townships.

The companies are also proposing a site in Lehman Township, which has its own zoning board.

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

Copyright: Times Leader