Posts Tagged ‘Rory Sweeney’

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

About 8,400 gallons of a gel used in drilling natural-gas wells was spilled on Wednesday at a well being drilled in Dimock Township for Cabot Oil & Gas, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced Thursday.

Spilled at the Heitsman well site, the substance affected an unknown amount of “shallow wetland,” said company spokesman Ken Komoroski.

DEP and state Fish and Boat Commission officials were on hand Wednesday and Thursday as a crew cleaned up and contained the material, said DEP spokesman Mark Carmon. It may have gotten into Stevens Creek, he said.

“What was done was the spilled material was immediately contained” using an eight-man crew, Komoroski said. “The gel was able to be removed by vacuum trucks.”

The spill occurred as Halliburton was using a fluid to fracture the Marcellus Shale and release the natural gas within it, he said. Baker Tank, the contractor responsible for tanking and piping for the “frack” job, allowed a pipe to come loose and release the gel, he said.

“This is certainly disappointing to Cabot that this occurred,” Komoroski said. “On the other hand, these are the types of things that are typically unforeseeable and it’s important to react to it when it occurs.”

The slippery substance is “relatively innocuous,” he said, but “does have the potential for eye, skin and respiratory irritation.” Used to help suspend sand particles evenly throughout the so-called fracking fluid, it’s made of “paraffinic material” and polysaccharides, or something like fluid wax and starch.

Copyright: Times Leader

After ’08 deal dies, Wyoming County Landowners expect Chesapeake Energy deal.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

A year after the financial meltdown sank a lucrative gas-lease offer, the Wyoming County Landowners group has come to terms with another company, Chesapeake Energy, for what is expected to be a record deal.

Neither side has released details yet, but Chip Lines-Burgess, secretary of the landowners’ group, expected an announcement late Tuesday evening.

“No one in the region has seen this amount of money,” she said. “We’re excited about the offer we have received, and it’s going to be a huge impact for our entire region financially. … Hopefully, it comes to fruition. … This is what we’ve been striving for the last year and a half.”

She added that lease signings could come as soon as a facility is secured that is large enough to hold the expected 600 to 800 landowners involved.

The group is composed of roughly 37,000 acres in Wyoming, Bradford, Susquehanna, Sullivan and Lackawanna counties. A minimal amount of Luzerne County acreage is also involved, Lines-Burgess said.

Only those who have recently re-signed are currently members, she said, though other members can re-join by filling out paperwork on the group’s Web site. New members also might be considered, though Lines-Burgess was unsure what the demarcations will be. She also noted that while current Lackawanna County members will remain in, it’s unclear if new landowners from that county will be accepted.

In August 2008, the group made headlines by signing a lease with Colorado-based Citrus Energy, but the worldwide financial crisis caused the deal to fall through quickly. Ironically, Citrus was chosen after it beat an original offer from Chesapeake.

The landowners regrouped quickly and began aggressively courting companies, creating a solicitous Web site and attending two industry expos. Most members chipped in $30 to cover various expenses, including creating their own roughly 40-page lease with items worked in that are usually left for individual landowners to add or subtract as addendums.

“We knew that we wanted a company that could afford to buy 37,000 acres … that could not only buy us, but drill us,” Lines-Burgess said. “In order to do that, we knew we had to go for the cream of the crop. … Within the last month, it has just heated up tremendously.”

Chesapeake is one of the largest natural-gas producers in the country and the largest leaseholder in the Marcellus Shale, a layer of gas-laden rock about a mile underground that’s centered on northern Pennsylvania.

Lines-Burgess said Marty L. Byrd, the vice president for land in Chesapeake’s Eastern Division, flew into the region Monday evening to meet with members of the landowners’ group Tuesday morning. He is expected to meet with the group’s core membership today, and leases could be signed by the end of the month, she said.

“There was a little give and take all the way around,” she said, citing the company’s requirement of an increased drilling-unit size. The group estimates about 100 well pads will be created throughout the entire acreage.

TO LEARN MORE

To join the landowners’ group, read its lease and find other information about the group, go to its Web site at: www.pamarcellusshale.com

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

Copyright: Times Leader

The company hopes to see more than two dozen wells drilled on its property.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

MEHOOPANY — In October, drilling for natural gas will begin at the Procter & Gamble plant in Mehoopany, and, if geologic estimates pan out, the company hopes to eventually see more than two dozen wells drilled on its property, saving it “tens of millions” of dollars annually for years to come.

The Wyoming County plant consumes about 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year that is piped up from the Gulf Coast, company spokesman Alex Fried said. The hope is that drilling on its own property will alleviate much of that need.

“If the wells are productive, sure there’s the possibility. We’ve got enough property there,” Fried said. “If they can supply that, I’ll gladly take it because I’d rather get it from under my own ground.”

Located in Wyoming County, the plant sits in a potentially productive section of the Marcellus Shale, the layer of rock about a mile underground stretching from New York to Virginia that has natural gas locked within its pores. Though it was known about for decades, accessing the rock has only recently become financially feasible with advancements in technology.

Colorado-based Citrus Energy Corp. contracted with P&G to construct five well pads at the company’s 1,300-acre property on the bank of the Susquehanna River. The township gave approval for all five sites, as did the state Department of Environmental Protection for the erosion and sedimentation plans.

Additionally, Citrus got a permit in December from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to withdraw 499,000 gallons of water per day from the river. It has been bonded with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to cross state Route 87 and signed a road-maintenance agreement to use Carney Cemetery Road to access the sites.

Citrus still needs drilling permits from DEP for two sites, but Fried said the sites currently aren’t necessary. “The (sites) at the westernmost and easternmost part of our property aren’t going to be built until next year,” he said.

Starting in October, a well will be drilled at each of the middle three pads. Next year, if the geological indications look good, the company will consider drilling the wells deeper by going horizontally through the shale seam.

After that, the focus will shift to the two remaining pads.

If that all works out, Fried said, P&G could lease land at a 300-acre warehousing site about a mile from the plant, where at least one more pad could be built. In all, Fried estimated, perhaps 30 to 35 wells could be drilled.

Fried declined to discuss the royalty deal struck with Citrus, but described it as “very competitive” because the company could offer a variety of advantages, including access to water, industrial zoning and a direct connection between the buyer and seller.

It also boasts rail access, which Fried said could be used in the future to haul away the contaminated fluid that’s used to break open the rocks and release gas.

The drillers “can haul away 35,000 gallons at a time on a tanker car,” Fried said.

Another benefit is that the gas doesn’t have to go far to get used. “The pipeline will bring it right to the plant, so we’ll still get our royalty, except it just will be a discount off the price of the gas that we’re purchasing,” Fried explained.

Fried said interest in inking a deal came from both sides. He began researching the possibilities at the beginning of the year, around the same time unsolicited calls started rolling in from gas companies.

Originally, the companies simply wanted to lease the land and sell the gas, but Fried had another idea – keeping the gas at home.

“In many cases, they just came in and said, ‘We want to lease,’ ” he said. When he told them how much gas P&G would be willing to buy each year, “their jaws dropped and hit the floor,” Fried said.

Copyright: Times Leader

Tuesday’s program will include presentation on Marcellus Shale and questions from audience.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

The Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists will hold a seminar Tuesday on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, and it’s prepared to take on even the most technical of questions, from the science of the drilling itself to the legal issues surrounding it.

“We’re going to try to answer those questions,” said Rhonda Hakundy-Jones, the council’s executive director. “We’ve certainly heard those questions before. Some of them don’t have definitive answers; they have, shall we say, a range of answers.”

The deadline to register for the Tuesday event, set at the Quality Inn on Kidder Street across from the Wyoming Valley Mall, has been extended to today and applicants can contact the council to make arrangements if they won’t be able to get the entry fee in on time, Hakundy-Jones said.

The council has a subcommittee that’s been tracking shale-gas issues, she said, and “this was just the next logical step … to provide some of that educational material that we have collected, and our geologic knowledge, and present it to the public. … We are trying to make it a rather broad overview, and it’s geared more to professionals … people with some understanding of regulations in general and science in general.”

The panelists, who include two geologists, an attorney, a laboratory technician and representative of an environmental management company, plan to tackle the issues from an in-depth, technical perspective, Hakundy-Jones said, to explain “what those things are, how they work,” particularly hydraulic fracturing.

Additionally, after a 45-minute presentation and more than an hour for questioning, the event will host an hour-long session for informal discussion during which food will be available.

Hakundy-Jones expects, however, there will be interaction with the audience during the formal sessions as well. “We find that’s a great way to get additional information,” she said.

So far, about 20 people have registered, and she expects that may double.

“There should be plenty of opportunity for people to ask their questions,” she said. “Of course, how often, for example, can you get an attorney’s advice for $50?”

If you go

What: “A Rock ’n Rules Review” of issues concerning gas-drilling in the Marcellus Shale

When: 2:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday

Where: The Quality Inn on Kidder Street, Wilkes-Barre

Cost: $50

Who: Experts in the various fields involved in drilling will speak on technical topics, then take questions.

For information: Go to: www.pcpg.org/Marcellus_intro.asp for a registration form or call 717-730-9745.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Some landowners holding back, banking on economic improvement to bring better offers from drillers.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

The offer is somewhat unconventional, but a natural gas company that’s leasing land in Luzerne County says its deal is a successful compromise for both parties, and leaseholders agree.

Denver-based WhitMar has locked up more than 22,000 acres in, among other places, Fairmount, Ross, Lake, Lehman, Union, Hunlock, Huntington and Dallas townships, according to company representative Brad Shepard.

The company is offering an unusual deal that has garnered both accolades from landowners for navigating the money squeeze caused by the recession and criticism for its lack of a long-term commitment. WhitMar, which Shepard said is involved in similarly complicated and expensive drilling operations in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Utah and the Dakotas, is offering a four-phase lease.

Landowners receive $12.50 per acre for the first year, after which the company decides whether it will continue the lease for a second year at the same payment rate. The lease also requires that within the first year the company begin the permit process for drilling at least one well and within the second year begin drilling at least one well.

For the third year, the company will offer a $2,500-per-acre, five-year lease on the properties it wants to keep, and landowners whose land gets drilled also will receive 19.5-percent royalties. Conservation Services, the company that amassed most of the territory, receives .5 percent of the royalties.

“As far as I know, that’s the highest royalty that’s been signed in Pennsylvania or New York,” Shepard said. “The reason we offered that royalty is literally because the landowners were willing to let us come in and test it up for $12.50” per acre.

The company then retains an option for a second five-year, $2,500-per-acre lease. “All together, it could be a 12-year lease,” Shepard said, but noted that the leases dissolve if the landowners aren’t paid. “So if they don’t receive a $2,500 payment or a $12.50 payment, the lease has expired because we didn’t pay them like we said we would.”

The offer has aroused reactions on both sides among affected landowners. Some urge restraint, predicting that better offers will crop up when the economy rebounds. “Right now, (gas companies) are picking all this low-hanging fruit,” said Ken Long, an executive committee member of the South West Ross Township Property Group that declined to recommend WhitMar’s offer to their group. “People are panicking to sign leases … because they want to get this monkey off their back.”

Landowners who signed leases note the generous royalties and the commitment to quickly begin exploration drilling. “I firmly believe that a sweeter, more lucrative deal can not be found in Luzerne County,” leaseholder Michael Giamber noted in an e-mail. “By comparison, the folks in Dimock (a truly proven area) can only get 18 percent. Over 30 years, a 2-percent difference in royalties can literally add millions of dollars in a landowner’s pocket.”

Shepard added that forced drilling likely means additional drilling will occur. “For the most part, once the drill rig’s brought in, it’s not brought in to drill one well,” he said. “As long as they hit, we have every intention of drilling as quickly as we can and our partner wants us.”

The company is still working out important specifics, though. First, it needs to find a larger partner to help drill, Shepard said, and it also must secure the rights to millions of gallons of water for the process that cracks the underground shale and releases gas.

In nearby counties, the company is working with Houston-based Carrizo Oil & Gas, Fort Worth-based XTO Energy, Inc., Louisiana-based Stone Energy Corp. and others, Shepard said.

He added that the company has received many offers from landowners to sell surface water on their properties, but said the company is not yet at the stage where it’s investigating water-acquisition options.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Area group advises residents to be patient, don’t agree to low rates offered by drillers.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

ROSS TWP. – Gas-lease offers might be low, thanks to a lagging economy, but that’s not stopping drillers from proposing them.

Three gas companies are speaking with landowners in Luzerne County, and a fourth – Denver-based Whitmar Exploration Company – is covering leases, according to members of the South West Ross Township Property Group.

“Right now, they’re picking all this low-hanging fruit,” said Ken Long, a member of the group’s executive committee. “People are panicking to sign leases … because they want to get this monkey off their back.”

The in-depth, confusing and potentially disastrous decisions involved with signing a lease weigh on people, he said, and with offers crashing from one-time highs in the thousands of dollars per acre to Whitmar’s current $12.50 per acre, some landowners are eager to get whatever benefit they can and move on.

That, the committee warns, would be a mistake. “It’s not just going to be for today,” said Marge Bogdon, a member of the committee. “If you’re going to hurt your children or your grandchildren by signing a lease today, that’s bad.”

That’s why the committee has decided not to recommend Whitmar’s offer to their members and crafted 10 questions it says will combat “gas-rush fever.”

A large part of the rush is created, they say, by owners afraid they’ll miss out on everything if they don’t sign for peanuts now. Add to that pressure sales tactics levied by the companies, and the committee members foresee an ominous formula for rash, uninformed decision-making. They cite as example a recent missive from Conservation Services, the land-acquisition company employed by Whitmar. Announcing two meetings during which leases could be signed, the letter gave landowners six days to join before the offer was closed. Committee members said they received the notices with only about four days to decide. “If you only have two days to sign a lease, you can’t get a lawyer to look it over,” Bogdon warned.

Mark Stransky, another member of the committee, said he stopped by one of the signing meetings and found it “lightly but steadily attended.” Whitmar’s offer, as presented to the committee, was $12.50 per acre for the first two years, and the company would have the option to drop the lease after each year. In the third year, the company would pay a one-time bonus of $2,500 per acre to lease the land for the next four years.

“People are wondering if this is the only game in town,” Stransky said.

But the truth, the committee contends, is that lease offers will increase, not dry up, as the economy re-emerges, and that companies are likely cashing in on economic fears to score discounted leases. “You can lease with just about anybody,” Long said. “They’re taking everything they can at a really cheap price.”

“They’re coming out of the woodwork now with the Marcellus gas being proven,” Stransky said.

Near the beginning of the year, the group represented roughly 10,000 acres around Ross Township, but the committee members figured they’ve added on several thousand since then. They stress membership is nonbinding, and that landowners can opt out by writing a letter and waiting 10 days.

Though they receive no compensation for their efforts, they’re rewarded, the committee members say, by preventing their community from being spoiled. “If we weren’t part of this community, we wouldn’t be so concerned,” Bogdon said. “This is our home.”

And while they bear no animosity toward the drillers and landmen for their pushiness – “They’re salesmen; that’s their job,” Bogdon acknowledged – the committee members’ local ties, they say, are the best arguments for why their fellow landowners should hear them out. “Who’s going to tell you the truth, the people who are trying to help out the community, or the ones who are trying to make money off you?” Long asked.

10 Questions

If you go

The South West Ross Township Property Group’s executive committee has crafted these questions to help landowners scrutinize lease offers:

Has an attorney versed in oil and gas leases reviewed the lease?

Do I understand in detail exactly what I’m signing?

Are the terms and financial aspects of the lease acceptable, or will I regret signing it later?

Am I signing this lease just because a neighbor did or a landman claims a neighbor did?

Would waiting be more beneficial?

Can I afford to wait?

Does the lease protect everything I want protected?

What does my property owner group think about this lease?

What would my dad say?

Am I being pressured to sign this lease, forcing me to skip over things on this list?

What: South West Ross Township Property Group’s next meeting

When: 7 p.m., Tuesday

Where: Sweet Valley Church of Christ

Why: Dale Tice, an attorney with gas-lease experts Greevy & Associates, will speak.

More info: Call 570-256-4488 for an informative phone message or go to: www.rosstwpgas.com

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Needs assessment says most workers would be general laborers with basic skills.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

As the natural-gas drilling industry ramps up in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, it could employ perhaps 13,000 workers by 2012, the vast majority of them general laborers with basic skill sets, according to a needs assessment released last week by the Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center.

“There’s going to be a significant amount of folks needed across many occupations, but the bulk of the activity when it’s in the drilling phase – up to 75 percent – is going to require some entry level of the industry, but not necessarily a degree, which is a good opportunity for most folks who are displaced … by the economy,” said Jeff Lorson, an industrial technology specialist at Penn College in Williamsport.

The report focuses on the 13 counties in the Northern Tier and Central regions of the state Workforce Investment Board, but Lorson noted that the report assessed only direct employment by the industry, so jobs created in other industries to serve or support the drilling industry would raise the number.

The 13 counties do not include Luzerne, but do include all those on its western and northern borders: Wyoming, Sullivan and Columbia.

The report made “low,” “likely” and “high” estimates for positions in three phases: pre-drilling, drilling and production.

The vast majority would be needed in the pre-drilling and drilling phases, in which jobs are short-term and require regular relocation but limited skills. The assessment found that each well drilled would require “more than 410 individuals working within nearly 150 different occupations,” the total hours worked by them equaling about 11.53 full-time workers. The number of workers is linked to the number of wells drilled, however, so it would be reduced whenever the industry contracts.

A much smaller number of jobs would be required for production, but those jobs would be long-term and require more-specific skills. It would take about six wells to create one of these jobs, the assessment reports, but the jobs compile, so new jobs are being created over the years whenever wells are drilled.

Using a multiplier created by the Pennsylvania Economy League, the report suggests that nearly 20,000 non-industry jobs would be created by industry activities in the Northern Tier and Central regions.

Penn College is using the report’s results to refine its educational offerings through the shale training center. It will begin a “roustabout” program, Lorson said, that will provide general industry knowledge, occupational safety training and environmental awareness.

“They have a real feeling in the industry to start at the bottom and work their way up,” he said.

The report’s results jibe with the industry’s own assessment in 2006, according to Stephen Rhoads, the president of the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association. “They’re finding out what we’ve already known,” he said, adding that the industry is talking about setting up a statewide education program in high schools, vocational schools and higher-education institutions to prepare basic workers but also provide the education needed for advancement.

He pointed to a program in place at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in which rig workers take night classes to earn an associate’s degree needed for jobs to assist geologists and engineers.

“Many of the jobs in the industry that are in highest demand are people who man the drilling rigs and well servicing crews and people” who manage well sites, he said. “They don’t require advanced degrees. You need a good worth ethic, a high school diploma, and in many cases you have to be able to qualify for a driver’s license.”

TO LEARN MORE

To find the report, go to: www.pct.edu/msetc and look for the “Needs Assessment” link about halfway down the page.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

Firm accused of causing gas infiltration, but it’s unclear if rules knowingly violated.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. caused natural gas to infiltrate into at least nine homes in Susquehanna County, according a letter of violation from the state Department of Environmental Protection, but it remains unclear whether Cabot knowingly violated any regulations.

“The more important part of the investigation is still ahead of us,” DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said. “We know where it came from. The two more important things are how did it get there … and more importantly, how do we get it out of the wells.”

The company, however, is not confident in DEP’s findings, according to spokesman Ken Komoroski, believing the letter is “unnecessary” and claims as fact conclusions that haven’t been proven.

The situation has become an example of a statewide issue regarding the unknown consequences of gas drilling. Water contamination concerns have caused environmental agencies, including DEP and the Susquehanna River Basic Commission, to increase their regulation and oversight, hindering drillers’ efforts to secure permits quickly.

The letter cites Cabot for an “unpermitted discharge of natural gas” into state waters, for failure to prevent the discharge and failure to submit certain records on time. Though no financial punishment has been levied, Cabot was told to install gas detectors in nine homes where methane was detected in water wells and to continue providing water to four of those where there’s a safety threat from gas buildup, Carmon said.

“It’s disappointing to have a letter which is, at best, premature directed to the company that it violated environmental standards when that conclusion hasn’t been reached yet,” Komoroski said. “We’re hopeful, and I stress hopeful, that our hydrogeologist will actually be able to determine what caused the natural gas to be in the water. We don’t know that we’ll be able to do that.”

Cabot hit a bump on Jan. 1 in its exploration for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale when the cap exploded off a private water well near one of the company’s drilling sites.

While drilling hasn’t come to Luzerne County yet, companies have expressed interest in properties along its northern border. Fairmount Township Supervisor David Keller said several properties have been leased for years, and hundreds of acres, including his 90, were scheduled to be leased before the economic recession hit the industry. “The economy fell apart before they got the money to us,” he said.

The company and DEP agree that the gas isn’t from Marcellus Shale, a pipeline leak or naturally occurring sources above ground. They also concur that the gas is likely from a gas-laden upper layer of underground Devonian shale, of which the Marcellus Shale is a component but thousands of feet deeper, Carmon said. Marcellus Shale is generally at least 5,000 feet underground, while DEP determined the gas contaminating the water wells came from a shale layer roughly between 1,500 feet and 2,000 feet deep, Carmon said.

The company has cemented the upper Devonian shale layers of several wells, effectively extending the cement seals from the bottom of the water-bearing region, where the seals usually stop, to the bottom of the upper shale layers. The department has been trying to isolate the exact source of gas, seeing whether the extended seals produce a drop in water-contamination levels, Carmon said.

Because the method of contamination hasn’t been determined, Carmon said it’s too early to tell if Cabot knowingly violated regulations. “I’m not aware of anything blatant or anything like that, but, again, we want to know how did it happen,” he said.

Komoroski said the company is concerned about the effect the letter will have on its public image, particularly since it questions many of the department’s conclusions. It believes it filed all drilling reports on time, and that the gas detectors aren’t necessary. In fact, Komoroski said, the product DEP suggested Cabot buy wasn’t even a gas detector.

Cabot plans to meet DEP’s deadline for a response and is also scheduling an in-person meeting, as requested.

Copyright: Times Leader

Bill, 2 Supreme Court decisions could alter how operations are taxed, located.

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Three recent state-level actions – a legislative bill and two state Supreme Court decisions – could affect how natural gas wells are sited and taxed. Earlier this week, state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, proposed a bill to tax underground gas deposits by adding their assessed values to property taxes. The driller would pay, and the tax revenue would, for the first year, be used to reduce the municipality’s millage to equal the previous year’s tax revenue. The millage – a dollar tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value – could be increased in subsequent years.

“If a municipality needs the same amount of money as last year, then yes, the millage would go down. But, the reality is they’re probably going to keep ours the same and get more money from them (the drillers),” said Marianne Rexer, a business professor at Wilkes University.

The bill is in response to a 2002 state Supreme Court decision that no law exists to tax natural gas, as there does to tax coal and other minerals.

Stephen Rhoads, president of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association, said the tax wasn’t utilized by many counties before, and “it is a false hope that this is going to bring a revenue stream to counties and school districts any time soon.”

The state Supreme Court ruled in February on two western Pennsylvania cases regarding municipalities’ rights to restrict drilling.

In one case, the court found municipalities can’t control where drilling infrastructure is permitted, as that would interfere with regulations already promulgated in the state Oil and Gas Act.

But they can indicate in which zoning districts drilling may be allowed “in recognition of the unique expertise of municipal governing bodies to designate where different uses should be permitted in a manner that accounts for the community’s development objectives,” the court’s opinion states in the other case.

The ruling might not have much effect in the Northeastern Pennsylvania municipalities of interest to drillers. Many don’t have zoning ordinances, and others, such as Fairmount Township in northwest Luzerne County, want less restrictive ones.

Several landowners have sought drilling leases, township Supervisor David Keller said, and he has no interest in restricting their options. The township now yields to the county’s Planning and Zoning office, but Keller said the township is looking into writing its own zoning ordinance because “it would give us more leeway to let people do more with their property as they see fit.”

Copyright: Times Leader

College in Williamsport preparing workers

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILLIAMSPORT – Like many of his classmates, Mike Harris already has a job in electricity-generation lined up for when he graduates this spring.

The only problem is it will require the Dalton native to relocate to Illinois.

Soon enough, though, future students in these same welding classes at Pennsylvania College of Technology could be in a curriculum that funnels them into local jobs with natural gas drillers working in the Marcellus Shale region.

The Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center at the college is in its early infancy, only envisioned late last year and opened earlier this year, but plans are for it to expand quickly.

A collaboration with the Penn State Cooperative Extension, the center will identify the industry’s work force needs and respond with education tracks that train people for those jobs, said Jeffrey Lorson, an industrial technology specialist at the college who’s running the training center.

“With the escalation and the things with the Marcellus, there was clearly a need in the work force,” he said. “We knew we had a tremendous fit to support the industry.”

The jobs are certainly here, Harris said, and there aren’t enough local workers. “They can’t find anybody,” he said about drillers.

Lorson’s family has a motel in Bainbridge, N.Y., near Binghamton, and the place is constantly packed. “There’s guys coming from all over the place” to work for the drilling companies, he said.

He felt Penn College graduates would be “competitive” for jobs in the industry, which could feed off the college for workers in fields from welding to heavy machinery operation.

“The center has the potential to provide very meaningful training options for local residents,” said Stephen Rhoads, the president of the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association. Certain skills, such as building and maintaining infrastructure and inspecting gauges and other moveable parts, “are all skills that could very easily find a home up in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” he said.

“If the industry grows as we expect it to, there will be long-term career opportunities.”

While he plans to enjoy traveling while starting his career, Harris said he’s looking ahead to hometown job security.

“I feel very confident, and I’d love to stay in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but right now as things are starting to take off, I think it’s easier for me to leave and get some experience,” he said.

The center could also help students outline career paths, an idea Harris has already considered. He’s planning to become certified in visual inspections.

“It keeps me out in the field, but it’s managerial,” he said. “You’re in the middle, which is pretty much where I wouldn’t mind being.”

See more photos of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center at www.timesleader.com.

Copyright: Times Leader