Posts Tagged ‘Paul Salansky’

By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: July 22, 2010

FAIRMOUNT TWP. – In one Luzerne County municipality, a natural gas drilling rig towers in the background as a guard keeps vigil against unauthorized personnel at the gate that is kept open to allow trucks to pass in and out of the site.

In another Luzerne County municipality a few miles away, new electrified fencing surrounds a meadow and engineers’ trucks kick up dust along the freshly re-graveled road.

On Wednesday, Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. started drilling the county’s first exploratory natural gas well in Fairmount Township, and also began site preparation for a second well in Lake Township.

Encana spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck said the drilling components have arrived and operations are moving forward on the site owned by Edward Buda in Fairmount Township, on Route 118 behind the Ricketts Glen Hotel. The well will be drilled about 7,000 feet deep, then go out 2,500 to 5,000 feet horizontally.

Asked what motorists can anticipate near the site, Wiedenbeck said, “We would expect some additional truck traffic. There is signage on the road leading up to and away from the location.”

Noise and dust are side effects of the drilling process, which it is estimated will take about 30 days, Wiedenbeck said. Encana will monitor and mitigate both the dust and the noise at the site, and the company is working closely with Fairmount Township officials, she said.

About a quarter of a mile down Route 118 from the drilling site, Good’s Campground owner Frank Carroll was cutting firewood Wednesday afternoon. He noticed there has been a lot of truck traffic at the drill pad.

“Crazy thing is, all I can hear is the backup of the trucks – you know, beep-beep-beep,” Carroll said as he piled the cut wood in the bed of his pickup truck and pulled a blue tarp over it. “It doesn’t bother me, but I can hear it.”

Carroll says he wakes early and sleeps soundly, so he doesn’t expect the 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week drilling operation to disturb him.

“I’d sleep through the end of the world,” he joked.

One thing does bother Carroll: the speculation. Will the well pay off in royalties to landowners who leased mineral rights?

“Everybody’s been talking about it for two years, how they’re going to get rich or they’re going to get nothing,” Carroll said. “And they’re still talking about it. They all think they’re going to be rich – and they can’t all be rich.”

As soon as drilling is complete in Fairmount Township, the rig, from Horizontal Well Drillers of Purcell, Okla., will be taken to the Lake Township site.

“Efficient work operations is to go from one area to the other,” Wiedenbeck said.

In Lake Township, heavy truck traffic warning signs are in place on Meeker, Outlet and other roads to be traveled by the approximately 2,100 total trucks it will take to create the drilling pad, drill the well and bring in the roughly six million gallons of water needed for hydraulic fracturing.

Robert and Debra Anderson live so close to the Zosh Road site that will be transformed into a natural gas drilling pad they could throw a baseball from the front yard of their trailer home and easily have it land over the electrified wire fence surrounding the meadow belonging to Paul and Amy Salansky.

The Andersons love the area, which is full of wildlife: “I have turkeys, I have deer, I have foxes, I have bear … I even have ducks in my pond,” Debra Anderson said.

Things were quiet on Wednesday afternoon, but in the morning, there was a “big meeting” at the drill pad site, Robert Anderson said.

Just then a pair of engineers drove by in a Borton-Lawson truck, stirring dust from the road as they passed.

But not much dust. The Andersons are pleased with the work Lake Township’s three-man road crew has done on the dirt-and-gravel roads around the site: enlarging them, smoothing them, lining the drainage ditches with rock. Debra Anderson declared she hasn’t seen the roads look that good in the 15 years they’ve lived in the township. Encana’s paying for the road maintenance, Robert Anderson said.

Lake Township will provide dust control with calcium chloride applications on the roads, he said. But what about the noise and light when drilling starts?

“We’ll deal with it. You can’t stop progress,” Robert Anderson said.

He called Encana a “reputable company, not like the one that’s up in Dimock,” and said its representatives are good about telling residents what’s going on. He said he attended the last Lake Township meeting, at which dozens of natural gas drilling opponents showed up, and he said they should go to the company for information, not the supervisors.

“People that go to the Lake Township meetings should be Lake Township residents,” Robert Anderson said. “It’s no one else’s concern.”

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

By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: July 5, 2010

Luzerne test wells’ results awaited

Depending on how its first natural gas wells turn out, Luzerne County could attract a lot of attention from potential drillers.

“I suspect everybody’s interest levels will be piqued if Encana gets successful,” said Steve Myers, director of Land and Legal Affairs for Citrus Energy Corp.

Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. is poised to start drilling two exploratory natural gas wells this summer, one in Fairmount Twp., on the property of Edward Buda off Route 118, and the second in Lake Twp. on the property of Paul and Amy Salansky on Sholtis Road.

Drilling for natural gas in an area once known for anthracite coal mining is a daring move, by industry standards.

“Everyone’s nervous about going that far south,” Mr. Myers said.

Maps of the Marcellus Shale show the formation running throughout Luzerne County. However, its shale may not be very rich in gas due to the proximity of the anthracite coal-producing areas and high temperatures, which can turn the gas into carbon dioxide, Mr. Myers said.

“There’s some concerns that the Marcellus Shale was subjected to some high temperatures, high pressures that would have converted the shale to graphite and cooked off whatever gas was in place,” he said.

There’s a line that exists, but nobody knows exactly where it is, Mr. Myers said.

“One side, it’s going to be productive; you throw a rock and it’s not,” he said. “Kind of like a summer shower. It can rain across the street, but it doesn’t rain in your yard.”

Encana officials are willing to take the risk.

“We’ve said all along that it’s exploratory, and we have to prove we can develop commercial quantities of natural gas,” Encana spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck said.

“We’re not focused on what other operators are doing; we’re just focused on acting responsibly and getting the wells drilled. And the well results will speak for themselves.”

Although the drill rig is expected to arrive in Fairmount Twp. at some point after today, and the drilling and completion process will take an estimated 65 to 75 days total, production results won’t be in until the end of the year or even 2011, Ms. Wiedenbeck said.

Gas production for the Fairmount Twp. and Lake Twp. wells will have to be reviewed before Encana makes further plans, she said.

At one time Citrus had considered drilling in Luzerne County, leasing hundreds of acres in Lake and Fairmount townships in partnership with Tulsa, Okla.-based Unit Corp. But the partnership broke up and Citrus ended up selling off almost all its leases to Williams Production Appalachia.

Williams Inc., also based in Tulsa, does natural gas drilling and processing, and owns thousands of miles of pipelines, including the Transco, which runs through northern Luzerne County – conveniently close to Encana’s planned drilling sites.

Williams has received permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection to drill three wells in Columbia County: two in Benton and one in Sugarloaf Twp.

Another natural gas company, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy, also has dozens of leases in Luzerne County but hasn’t made a move yet.

“Chesapeake is still evaluating the area. However, as we drill each new well, we learn more about the potential and the productivity of particular geologic areas, and this information guides our decisions about where to focus future activity,” Brian Grove, Chesapeake director of corporate development, stated in an e-mail.

For the time being, Citrus is focusing its efforts in Wyoming County, according to Mr. Myers. The company has drilled four wells so far in a successful partnership with Procter & Gamble, and has more in the works.

Citrus also plans to drill its own wells in Wyoming County, where it has leased large chunks of land – as have Chesapeake, Carrizo Marcellus LLC, Chief Oil & Gas, and others drawn by the prospects of production in Luzerne County’s neighbor to the north.

“It’s very much a hotbed of activity,” Mr. Myers said. “Any time you get good production, people are going to come. … We expect to have plenty of company here in the future.”

Contact the writer: eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

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Copyright:  The Scranton Times