Posts Tagged ‘Marcellus Shale’

Landowners want to void drill leases

Property owners claim in lawsuit agent offered lower royalty than allowed by law.

MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — Scores of people who own land above a potentially lucrative natural gas reservoir are seeking to void the drilling leases they signed and accused a land agent of guaranteeing a lower royalty than the amount allowed by state law.

The property owners filed a lawsuit in federal court in Williamsport last week against The Keeton Group LLC, of Lexington, Ky.

The lawsuit stems from a rush of activity by exploration companies to capitalize on the largely untapped Marcellus Shale gas reservoir while natural gas prices are high. Property owners from West Virginia to New York have complained of aggressive “landmen” pushing them to sign leases that allow an exploration company to drill down to the Marcellus Shale, a layer of thick black rock that holds a vast reservoir of gas.

The law cited by the plaintiffs guarantees a property owner at least one-eighth of the royalties from the recovery of oil and gas on their land. However, the suit said the leases violate state law because they give the exploration company the right to subtract taxes, assessments and adjustments on production from the 12.5 percent royalty.

The suit, filed Thursday, said the approximately 130 plaintiffs own more than 18,000 acres in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in northern Pennsylvania. The contracts were signed with Keeton between April 2005 and March 2006, the suit said.

A telephone message left Tuesday with The Keeton Group was not immediately returned. On an outdated version of its Web site, Keeton touts its record as an early arrival on the Marcellus Shale.

“Our group was among the first to acquire lease rights for the current Marcellus Shale drilling activities — not only in Pennsylvania but also in 7 other states under which this vast geological formation lies,” the Keeton site said.

The gas reservoir beneath the Marcellus Shale was long known to exist, but only recently has drilling technology improved enough to cost-effectively tap into it. According to state officials, drilling activity on the formation is taking place at about 275 well sites, and less than 20 sites are producing gas.

To date, exploration companies have spent about $2 billion on leasing land, performing seismic studies and other activities in pursuit of Marcellus Shale gas in Pennsylvania, according to Stephen Rhoads, the president of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association.

Companies as large as ExxonMobil Corp. have shown interest in Pennsylvania, which is one of four states that sit atop 54,000 square miles that analysts say hold the best exploration prospects.

Copyright: Times Leader

Pa. said to be ill-equipped for gas-drilling rush

By MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ A top state environmental official says Pennsylvania is ill-equipped to handle the huge influx of interest in drilling for a potentially lucrative natural gas formation.

John Hanger, the acting secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, made the comments during a hearing in Harrisburg before the state House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Hanger told lawmakers that he needs dozens more employees to review drilling permit applications and inspect drilling sites over the Marcellus Shale gas formation.

He also said he is concerned the state will run out of capacity to treat the contaminated water left over from the drilling process, but that state laws are largely adequate for protecting the environment.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press
Posted at: Times Leader

Fueling up with natural gas

By JOSEPH B. WHITE The Wall Street Journal

First it was ethanol made from corn. Then ethanol made from twigs and stems and trash. Then, the future was going to belong to hydrogen. Now, the alternative fuel flavor of the month in Washington is natural gas.

You may know this already, thanks to vigorous public-relations campaigns mounted to promote natural gas as a vehicle fuel by energy billionaire T. Boone Pickens and allies such as Chesapeake Energy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon. Mr. Pickens touts natural gas as a fuel for cars as part of his broad “Pickens Plan” to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Mr. Pickens, in a television ad, summarizes his case for using natural gas as a vehicle fuel in nine words: “It’s cleaner. It’s cheaper. It’s abundant. And it’s ours.”

Nothing is ever that simple in the energy business. A lot of natural gas isn’t “ours.” It belongs to the same companies that currently supply us with oil, or to big gas utilities such as Ch esapeake. But Mr. Pickens is correct when he says that natural gas is abundant in the U.S. Recent advances in drilling technology have made it possible to exploit gas reserves that weren’t economical to tap before, such as the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian region of the Northeastern U.S.

The macro problem that Mr. Pickens and gas industry executives need to solve is what to do with all that new gas – assuming it becomes available as forecast. Already, natural-gas prices have slumped about 40 percent since May. Grabbing some of petroleum’s more than 90 percent share of the U.S. vehicle fuels market is a smart strategy for the gas industry.

The question for consumers who don’t own shares in natural-gas companies is whether a compressed-gas fueled vehicle is a better deal than some other green technology, or the status quo.

The only natural gas car on the U.S. market right now is a Honda Civic GX. Honda Motor Co. let me borrow one for a few days to road t est the NGV (natural-gas vehicle) lifestyle.

Driving the Civic GX isn’t different than driving a standard, petrol-fueled car. My white test car had an automatic transmission and the usual bells and whistles. The adventure of driving a natural-gas fueled Civic only starts when the fuel gauge gets close to empty – and that happens fairly quickly because the car’s range is only 200 to 220 miles between fill-ups.

At this point, you’ll need an Internet connection to help you find a public natural-gas vehicle refueling station in your metro area. If you are fortunate will you find one in your ZIP code, because there are only about 1,100 natural-gas refueling stations in the U.S. The closest one to my house was about 18 miles away at a depot owned by the City of Ann Arbor.

The unmanned refueling station had an imposing looking pump with two hoses that dispensed compressed gas at different pressures. The Civic’s manual explained that I should use the one marked 360 0 pounds per square inch. Behind the Civic GX’s fuel door is a nozzle fitting. After a couple of tries, I got the fitting from the high-pressure hose properly locked on, and threw a lever on the pump to “On” to start the flow.

I realize it was irrational and techno-phobic to worry that I would somehow overfill the compressed gas tank on board the car and turn my Civic into an explosive device. Let’s say that I was nervous enough that I had done something wrong that when the pump shut off automatically, I was relieved, even though the system had only refilled the tank to the half-full mark. Mr. Pickens could add another element to his plan: It will create jobs for filling station attendants who can help nervous natural-gas newbies.

On the positive side, my natural gas was about half the price of the equivalent quantity of gasoline – $1.94 a gallon.

The Honda Civic GX illustrates almost perfectly the chicken-and-egg problems besetting efforts to wean personal transportation in the U.S. away from petroleum fuels.

Because there aren’t many natural-gas refueling stations, Honda only builds a couple of thousand natural-gas Civics a year, and other car makers are reluctant to push the technology to consumers. Because there are so few natural-gas vehicles, outside of commercial or government fleets, fuel retailers don’t have much incentive to sink $500,000 to $750,000 into a natural-gas refilling station capable of handling cars as rapidly as a conventional gas station can, says Richard Kolodziej, president of NGV America, a Washington advocacy group that represents about 100 natural-gas companies and other enterprises with a stake in promoting natural gas as a motor fuel.

Because there is little demand for natural-gas vehicles, the ones that are available come with a hefty price premium, in part because their fuel tanks aren’t molded plastic, but are instead heavily engineered, high-pressure tanks. A Civic GX lists for ab out $24,590, compared to about $17,760 for the mid-range Civic LX on which it is based. Tax credits can offset as much as $4,000 of that price. And in some states, natural-gas cars can use high-occupancy vehicle express lanes – a major perk for time-pressed commuters.

The Civic GX achieves about 24 miles to the gallon in the city and 36 on the highway, when its consumption is converted to gasoline equivalent miles per gallon, Honda says. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the GX’s annual fuel costs at $884 a year, compared to $1,987 a year for a petroleum-fueled Civic. That indicates a payback, after the tax credit, of about 2½ years on the premium over the standard car.

One problem with the natural-gas Civic, Mr. Kolodziej concedes, is that it doesn’t look any different than a normal car. It doesn’t advertise the owner’s green cred the way a Prius does. “Where’s the sex in that?” He asks. “The sex comes in when you fill up for $10.”

Mr. Kolodzie j says he refuels his Civic GX using a Phill home-fueling system. This costs about $5,000 and allows a natural-gas vehicle owner to refuel overnight with gas from the lines running into the house. (A $1,000 tax credit is available for the Phill system.) But the hardware in Mr. Kolodziej’s garage isn’t all that’s different. He also says he doesn’t care that the vehicle has a limited range and takes hours to refill using the home refueling device.

“I go to work. I go to the store,” he says. “That’s what 99 percent of people do. Americans want to be able to drive to California tomorrow. They won’t.”

Mr. Kolodziej would say that. But he’s right. A switch to natural-gas cars would require a change of attitudes and expectations both by consumers and car makers. More of us would need to accept owning a car that can do one job – commuting and running errands in fewer than 200 miles a day. It’s the same fundamental proposition behind plug-in hybrids such as the Chevrolet Volt or plug-in Prius.

The big hurdle for natural-gas vehicles is that somebody will need to invest substantial sums in a consumer refueling infrastructure. The gas industry was hoping that somebody would be Uncle Sam. Unfortunately, Congress just found out last week it may have to spend $700 billion salvaging the global financial system. That could put big federal subsidies for natural-gas cars – and a lot of other worthy ideas – on the back burner.

___

Send comments about Eyes on the Road to joseph.white@wsj.com.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Posted At: Times Leader

No gas well permits issued for Luzerne County

But experts say that doesn’t mean drillers won’t eventually explore here.

None of the 73 permits the state Department of Environmental Protection issued Wednesday for natural gas wells in the Marcellus Shale was in Luzerne County.

That doesn’t necessarily mean drillers aren’t interested in looking for gas here, experts say. But a combination of factors may slow activity compared to other parts of the state.

“I’m sure it’s still in the mix,” said Stephen Rhoads, president of the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association. “The work in trying to explore and analyze for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale in the region … is only beginning in the northeast” region of Pennsylvania.

Energy companies and geologists have estimated for decades that billions of dollars worth of natural gas is locked in a layer of rock called Marcellus Shale that runs about a mile underground from upstate New York down to Virginia, including through the northern tier of Pennsylvania. Only recently have technological advances and higher energy prices made extracting the gas financially feasible.

Western Pennsylvania has much more drilling infrastructure, such as wastewater treatment facilities, than this region, Rhoads said, which explains why the majority of the permits issued on Wednesday were for western counties.

He also attributed the companies’ deliberate pace to budgetary constraints, a lack of drilling rigs and an incomplete grasp of the geology.

“It takes a lot of time and money to understand what lies more than a mile underground,” he said. “These companies are investing a lot … to make sure they get it right.”

While some properties have been leased in the northwestern section of Luzerne County, Mark Carmon, regional DEP spokesman, said there are no drilling permits in the county. He was unaware of any awaiting approval, either, but cautioned that doesn’t mean county landowners have missed the windfall.

All the assurances don’t make the waiting any more palatable for landowners.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” said Jack Zucosky, whose Luzerne County Landowners group is looking to get its more than 6,000 acres leased. “We’ve been close a few times with a few companies, but nothing definite yet.”

He’s confident Luzerne County property will get leased, but not until next year at the earliest.

“I really think what’s going on here is natural gas (prices) dropped a lot, and these companies are having cash flow problems,” he said. “It’s a waiting game right now.”

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

Copyright: Times Leader

5 companies share high bids for Pa. gas drilling

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ Five out-of-state companies are the high bidders for the right to drill for natural gas on more than 74,000 acres in Pennsylvania’s state forests.

The high bidders were among 17 companies that competed for the drilling rights over a potentially lucrative natural-gas formation known the Marcellus Shale. The 18 tracts that were put out to bid by the state forestry agency are located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in north-central Pennsylvania.

All together, the high bids total about $190 million.

Three of the companies are from Texas and two are from New York.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Posted at: Times Leader

Gas leases have fiscal implications

Property owners hear about some of the financial complications involved with gas drilling agreements.

Although planning for what to do with gas-lease profits is a problem most people wouldn’t mind having, landowners likely aren’t eager to add paperwork to the already document-laden gas-leasing process.

Experts, however, say protecting the wealth is the same as accumulating it in the first place.

“I’ve seen some horror stories, and if it means going to an attorney and paying a few dollars, it’s worth it,” said Ronald Honeywell, a trust officer with Luzerne Bank who spoke at a seminar on the financial implications of gas leases on Monday evening at Lake-Lehman Junior-Senior High School.

Past seminars on leasing have packed the school’s auditorium, but Monday’s seminar on taxes and investing attracted perhaps 50 people. Presenters admitted that financial topics aren’t often looked forward to but are important nonetheless.

Of particular interest were leasing’s tax implications, such as drilling’s effect on county Clean and Green tax abatement programs. Michelle O’Brien, an attorney with Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald in Wilkes-Barre, said drilling would roll back seven years of abatements.

“It’s only fair that the oil company pays that price because they’re the ones kicking you out of Clean and Green,” she said.

However, she pointed out that the company’s payment would likely be a reimbursement, meaning the landowner should be prepared to pay the penalty.

“It sounds like a simple concept, but the money could be a lot of money,” she said, perhaps up to $100,000.

O’Brien also pointed out leases allow landowners to retain control over the location of pipelines and other infrastructure because the property’s marketability could drop depending on where such things are placed.

Even with legal exemption clauses, landowners should retain liability insurance, she said, to cover situations not directly caused by the drilling processes, such as all-terrain vehicles crashes or youths getting hurt on the equipment.

Robert Lawrence, a certified public accountant, explained that the royalties and sign-on bonuses are passive income, similar to rental income, which means they can push landowners into higher tax brackets and impact Social Security or Medicare payments. He suggested that people receiving royalties discuss paying installments on the estimated taxes.

Passing the wealth along creates its own pitfalls, noted Lee Piatt, also with Rosenn, Jenkins & Greenwald. Financial planning and distribution of the proceeds through family corporations or other outlets can avoid some of that, he said.

While it can cause headaches, the increased tax burden can also make some investments more enticing, said Arthur Daube, an investment adviser with Park Avenue Securities. Though their return is low, municipal bonds are tax-free by law, he said, so they can act as havens for profits.

O’Brien also pointed out leases allow landowners to retain control over the location of pipelines and other infrastructure.

Copyright: Times Leader

Luzerne County landowners waiting in natural gas boom

Gas-drilling leases negotiated in Wyoming County, not coming as quickly here.

TUNKHANNOCK – While Wyoming County landowners are heavily involved in the regional natural-gas boom, almost all Luzerne County landowners are out of luck, at least for now.

“It’s not always fun. There’s going to be some angst, there’s going to be some anxiety,” said Jack Sordoni, who heads Wilkes-Barre-based Homeland Energy Ventures LLC.

Energy companies and geologists have estimated for decades that billions of dollars of natural gas is locked in a layer of rock called Marcellus Shale that runs about a mile underground from upstate New York down to Virginia, including the northern tier of Pennsylvania. Only recently have technological advances and higher energy prices made extracting the gas financially feasible.

Speaking during a meeting Wednesday evening at the Tunkhannock Area High School, the Harveys Lake native said oil companies aren’t yet interested in crossing the county border. He said his family’s land in Wyoming County has been leased, but companies have refused to consider contiguous land across the county line.

However, Chris Robinson, who is brokering leases in Wyoming County for nearly $3,000 per acre and 17 percent royalties, said he’s already leased the western edge of Fairmount Township in northwestern Luzerne County.

Sordoni added that Dallas, Lake and Franklin townships are areas “Chris and I are hearing (about) repeatedly” and are “still very much prospective and in play.”

Luzerne County landowners anxiously awaiting a lease offer probably won’t have to wait long for an answer. Robinson, who’s from Allegheny County, said he planned to continue negotiating leases in the area until the gas companies are no longer interested.

“I don’t think it’s going to take that long. It’s measured in months at most,” he said.

The wait might, however, offer local landowners examples to consider. Unlike other land groups, the Wyoming landowners rolled all their concerns into the lease instead of adding addendums.

“The difference is this is our lease. This is about us,” said Chip Lions, a member of the group who’s now doing lease work.

The meeting was sponsored by Stone House Wealth Management LLC, a Montrose-based financial planning firm that’s advising landowners and selling them investment portfolios. The company, which started the www.nepagas.com Web site, got involved a while ago “because we saw where this was going to go,” said John Burke, an investment adviser with the company.

The good news, Robinson said, is that he can get leases for any property within the companies’ interested regions, no matter the size.

“I can’t tell you how many I’ve signed for 1 acre or less,” he said.

Additionally, he said that while some gas companies might honestly stop leasing, other companies new to the area desperately want in on the drilling rights. And, he said, they can check for clear land titles within five days, contrary to the three months they tell most land groups.

For landowners concerned about environmental problems, he said state agencies are good at watching drillers, noting his own enforcement experiences.

He warned, however, to not go it alone.

“The mass of ground gets people the best deal, period,” he said. “People who break away, you may be penalized and you may be penalizing your neighbors.”

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Groups eye hauling well wastewater

In addition to anticipated jobs and profits from natural-gas drilling, water usage should increase as regional operations get under way.

That could mean more income for water haulers and sanitary authorities.

Drilling companies have been ramping up activities because an underground rock layer known as Marcellus Shale is expected to contain billions of dollars in natural gas deposits.

Each well-drilling operation could require up to 1 million gallons of water. While the water can be reused, it eventually must be disposed of at a treatment facility.

The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority hasn’t accepted any well-drilling wastewater, but it is interested.

“If it’s not hazardous to our plant, and if DEP approves us as a disposal site, we would consider it,” executive director Fred DeSanto said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection recently sent a letter to sanitary authorities advising them that wastewater from the drilling can be harmful to certain treatment systems and cause them to violate their discharge permits. The water must be tested and approved by DEP.

Such contracts could be lucrative, but have potential problems. WVSA, the major wastewater treatment facility in Luzerne County, charges 3.5 cents per gallon for treatment of up to 2 million gallons and 3 cents for quantities beyond that.

That could help offset the estimated $6 million in upgrades the authority said it needs to meet Chesapeake Bay watershed agreement discharge standards.

That quick influx, however, creates a problem.

Sandy Bartosiewicz, WVSA’s financial and budget officer, said the authority has never been in a situation where it accepted “that amount of volume at one time.”

It will also have an impact on wastewater haulers.

“The volume of the material is significant,” said Chris Ravenscroft, president of Honesdale-based Koberlein Environmental Services. “I don’t think there’s any one company out there that has the capacity for the volume. … So I think there’s a large volume of work that will be generated.”

He said his company is actively seeking energy companies that are looking for haulers and treatment facilities. Gas companies are investigating drilling possibilities through the Marcellus region, which stretches from upstate New York through northern and western Pennsylvania, including the upper fringe of Luzerne County, and down into Virginia. Several wells have been drilled in this region, according to DEP spokesman Mark Carmon.

Cabot Oil & Gas Co. announced recently a well in Susquehanna County became its first to generate income.

Copyright: Times Leader

State, gas drillers discuss water, land protection

DEP ordered partial shutdown of 2 drilling sites for not having permits.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

HARRISBURG – Reacting to regulation violations and some activities by companies exploring for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, state environmental regulators on Friday held an unprecedented summit with gas drillers to define expectations for water and land protection.

The meeting came about a week after regulators took steps to rein in the burgeoning exploration industry and its increasing demand for water. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission warned drillers they needed water-withdrawal permits, and the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered the partial shutdown of two drilling sites for not having such permits.

Citing Pennsylvania’s coal and oil past and current commitment to renewable energies, DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty assured the state “likes energy” and is “not allergic” to the effort required to extract it, but cautioned that her department will expend as much energy to protect the environment and natural resources.

“This is not about sending a signal that we don’t want to be a partner,” she said. “It’s just about some good rules for the road.”

Experts have known about the Marcellus Shale layer, which runs from upstate New York into Virginia and touches northern Luzerne County, for decades. They believe it contains enough recoverable gas to supply America’s natural gas demand for two years. However, technology has only recently advanced enough to tap the shale, which lies as much as 8,000 feet below the surface.

J. Scott Roberts, DEP deputy secretary in the Office of Mineral Resources Management, announced additions to the agency’s usual drilling permit specifically for Marcellus Shale that include detailed estimates of water use.

Paul Swartz, the river basin commission’s executive director, said companies need to make timely applications and factor the permitting process into their drilling timelines. Two permits were approved at the commission’s meeting on Thursday, he said, but another 84 – about a year’s worth of work – still await approval. Though there is a water-use threshold for requiring a permit, he said any work in the Marcellus would exceed that threshold and require a permit.

Exploration in the Marcellus is unlike gas exploration elsewhere in the state because deposits are vastly deeper, mostly unproven and necessary infrastructure, such as pipelines and water-treatment facilities, does not exist.

As energy prices continue to rise, drilling in the deep shale has become more enticing. DEP issued a record number of permits in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The rise leveled off in 2007 with 7,241 permits. So far in 2008, 2,510 have been issued.

Copyright: Times Leader

Gas leasing explored once more Notes from the Countryside With Mary Felley

Gas leasing! When I first wrote about this in May last year, lease prices were “up to several hundred dollars an acre.” When I did an update in December, prices “as high as $800” were said to be offered. Now $2,500 an acre is thought to be a reasonable price. Who knows how high it may go? Statewide, speculation about the most promising part of the Marcellus Shale is being directed solidly toward northeastern Pennsylvania.

The issues I mentioned in my first article are still valid concerns: clearing of trees and vegetation at the drilling site and for access roads; noise, lights, and vehicle and human traffic during the drilling process; and the risk of water supply interruption or contamination. Several water-related issues have come into higher prominence since then: the source and disposal of the water used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) a gas well, and the removal and disposal of solid and liquid wastes from the well site.

Representatives of land trusts from around the state, including Countryside Conservancy, met in Harrisburg in mid-June to learn more about the Marcellus Shale gas resource, how it will be developed, and how gas extraction can coexist with conservation. The conference organizer, the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association ( www.conserveland.org), has indicated that they will soon post information from this meeting on their website.

As a land trust, the Countryside Conservancy is dedicated to land and water conservation. We are not opposed to exploration and extraction of natural gas, but we want to ensure that the process does not damage natural resources of conservation value. To that end, we are working hard to educate ourselves about the pros and cons of gas development, and we urge landowners to do the same.

At the moment, one of the more accessible information resources for landowners is the Penn State Cooperative Extension website (naturalgaslease.pbwiki.com). It contains information, publications, links to lawyers, CPAs, energy companies and more. The Extension does not recommend the services of anyone referred to on their website, but it is a place to start.

If you are a landowner considering leasing your gas rights, you will NOT want to sign any lease you are given by a gas or leasing company. There are many provisions that may need to be added to a lease to protect you, your land and your finances. A small sampling of things that you may want your lease to dictate, beyond leasing rates and royalties: removal of waste materials from the site; bearing the costs of Clean and Green or other tax penalties; lease extension clauses; permitting gas storage and transmission in addition to extraction; “shut-in” or “holding by production” clauses; defining the primary vs. secondary term of the lease; controlling the number of wells permitted on a property; timber payment for any trees removed; use of ponds as a water source; testing and protection of drinking water supply; the “Pugh Clause”; the landowner’s right to audit the operator’s production data; and landowner indemnification. This is not a comprehensive list, just an illustration that leases are complex legal documents.

Our #1 advice remains: talk to a lawyer who has experience in this field. You do not want to sign any important legal document that may change your land forever without having a lawyer on your side.

Also, get your well water tested. In fact, even if you are not leasing but your neighbors are, it is an excellent idea to test your water supply so that you will have pre-drilling baseline data. The testing needs to be done by a DEP-certified lab in order to be admissible for legal purposes. You can visit the Department of Environmental Protection website ( www.dep.state.pa.us) for a list of approved labs and other information (search under “Energy,” then “oil and gas wells”).

We at the Conservancy are not geologists or gas-rights lawyers, but we are dedicated to helping landowners make the best decisions for their land. We will do our best to put landowners in touch with people who can provide sound advice.

I can’t do better than quote the disclaimer on the Penn State Cooperative Extension web site: This information is for educational purposes only. The information posted here is NOT to be considered as legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney before signing anything!

Last call for the Countryside Conservancy’s 9th Annual Auction! The Auction takes place Saturday, July 12 on the green at Keystone College and tickets are still available. The party starts at 6 pm. Call 945-6995 now to reserve your place!

Mary Felley is the Executive Director of the Countryside Conservancy. Contact her at 945-6995 or cconserv@epix.net

Copyright: Times Leader