Posts Tagged ‘Steve Mocarsky’

Senator drafting legislation to improve the emergency response at oil and gas wells.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

At a hearing he chaired on Monday in Pittsburgh, U.S. Sen. Robert Casey sought input on legislation he plans to introduce to improve emergency response at oil and gas wells.

The Faster Action Safety Team Emergency Response Act of 2010 would empower the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to draft regulations that would enhance emergency response procedures at oil and gas wells.

Specifically, the act would let OSHA draft regulations requiring well operators to:

• Have an employee, knowledgeable in responding to emergency situations, present at the well at all times during the exploration or drilling phase.

• Make available a certified response team, within one hour of ground travel time, if an emergency situation arises.

• Contact local first responders within 15 minutes of an emergency situation beginning.

• Contact OSHA and the National Response Center within one hour of an emergency situation beginning.

• Provide communication technology at the well site (for example, mobile communication or satellite phone).

• Provide annual training to local first responders on the hazards of a well site and proper emergency response techniques.

• File an annual report with OSHA that names the certified response team assigned to each well of the operator.

OSHA would define the term “emergency situation” and would have 18 months to finalize the regulations under the act.

Casey, D-Scranton, sought input on the legislation from panelists at a field hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee titled “Emergency Response in the Marcellus Shale Region.”

“Because of the recent incidents at several gas well sites, I have called this hearing to investigate the current emergency response procedures and determine where we need improvement,” Casey said.

Panelists testified on current emergency response procedures and whether increased regulation is needed.

Among those testifying was Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Robert French, who said Marcellus Shale drilling has inherent risks, as demonstrated by the recent blowout at a well in Clearfield County and a fire at a separator tank in Susquehanna County. In the past year alone, there have been at least 47 incidents at natural gas operations that required an emergency response by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

French said PEMA has had to elevate efforts in response to industry growth, conducting tabletop exercises and meetings with industry and local officials and assisting county 9-1-1 centers with concerns about identifying drilling sites – often in very remote locations – so first responders can more quickly react.

French said state budgetary constraints can impact training and emergency response capabilities, and noted that part of a natural gas severance tax proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell would go to local governments and emergency responders for planning, training and equipment.

Barney Dobinick, emergency management coordinator for Lake Township, where Encana Oil & Gas USA plans to begin drilling a gas well later this summer, said Encana and the township already have everything in place that the senator’s been discussing.

“In fact, we exceed those (requirements) 10 times over in our plans,” Dobinick said.

Copyright: Times Leader

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

View article here.

Copyright:  The Times Leader

It is up to the state whether to approve or deny the request to seek natural gas.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

PLAINS TWP. – A second energy company has plans to drill a natural gas well in Luzerne County – this one behind the East Mountain Business Park in Plains Township on property owned by Theta Land Corp.

Rice Drilling, a subsidiary of Washington County-based Rice Energy, filed an application for a permit to drill and operate a well in the northeast corner of the township with the state Department of Environmental Protection on June 24, according to the department’s online database.

The department has 45 days from receipt to either approve or deny the application.

Encana Oil & Gas is set to begin drilling two wells in Fairmount and Lake townships this summer and has drilling permits for two other sites in Lake and Lehman townships.

According to a DEP well locator map, the proposed well site in Plains Township would be just west of Deep Hollow Pond, a little more than 1,000 feet from Baltimore Drive and less than a mile south of Jumper Road.

Freda Tarbell, DEP’s community relations coordinator for the Northwest Region, said the staffer handling the application was unavailable on Thursday, so specifics on the site, such as acreage and distance from water sources, were unavailable.

A secretary with Rice said no company representative was available to provide information on Thursday.

The permit application is somewhat unusual, given that energy companies normally lease gas rights from land owners before applying for drilling permits. However, no lease for the land had been filed with the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds.

Theta Land Corp. is a subsidiary of Southern Union Co. – one of the nation’s largest suppliers of natural gas – and has been linked to billionaire Louis DeNaples of Dunmore.

Environmentalists criticized DeNaples in 2000 in connection with the purchase of 44,000 acres of land – some of it environmentally sensitive – owned by Theta. He had long been thought to be the buyer, but a confidentiality clause in the sales agreement kept the buyer’s identity secret.

However, DeNaples’ role was confirmed by a Dauphin County grand jury, which determined that a company controlled by DeNaples had purchased Theta. DeNaples in 2008 had been charged with perjury for allegedly lying to state Gaming Control Board investigators about alleged ties to organized crime members. Prosecutors withdrew the charge after he transferred ownership of Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County to a trust.

Plains Township Secretary Kathy O’Boyle said no application for drilling has been submitted to the municipality. She said most of the land behind the business park is zoned as a conservation district and extraction of natural resources would be considered a conditional use. The driller would have to appear before the planning commission and the township board of commissioners for approval, and that process could take about a month, she said.

Reacting to news of the drilling permit application, state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said he’s “in favor of economic development and job growth,” but he supports a temporary moratorium on gas drilling in Pennsylvania “until safeguards are in place.”

“There needs to be regulations in place, enough inspectors on the ground, enough state police to monitor and check vehicles and proper water treatment facilities to protect drinking water sources,” Pashinski said.

“We were all very excited when we learned this new industry was coming to Northeastern Pennsylvania. &hellip Their initial presentations were very encouraging. But in light of what happened in Dimock and Clearfield County, I am supporting a temporary moratorium,” he said.

Natural gas migrated from well bores in Dimock, Susquehanna County, contaminating some drinking water wells last year.

A blowout at a well in Clearfield County in June shot explosive gas and polluted water 75 feet into the air before crews tamed it 16 hours later.

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

Copyright: Times Leader

It is up to the state whether to approve or deny the request to seek natural gas.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

PLAINS TWP. – A second energy company has plans to drill a natural gas well in Luzerne County – this one behind the East Mountain Business Park in Plains Township on property owned by Theta Land Corp.

Rice Drilling, a subsidiary of Washington County-based Rice Energy, filed an application for a permit to drill and operate a well in the northeast corner of the township with the state Department of Environmental Protection on June 24, according to the department’s online database.

The department has 45 days from receipt to either approve or deny the application.

Encana Oil & Gas is set to begin drilling two wells in Fairmount and Lake townships this summer and has drilling permits for two other sites in Lake and Lehman townships.

According to a DEP well locator map, the proposed well site in Plains Township would be just west of Deep Hollow Pond, a little more than 1,000 feet from Baltimore Drive and less than a mile south of Jumper Road.

Freda Tarbell, DEP’s community relations coordinator for the Northwest Region, said the staffer handling the application was unavailable on Thursday, so specifics on the site, such as acreage and distance from water sources, were unavailable.

A secretary with Rice said no company representative was available to provide information on Thursday.

The permit application is somewhat unusual, given that energy companies normally lease gas rights from land owners before applying for drilling permits. However, no lease for the land had been filed with the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds.

Theta Land Corp. is a subsidiary of Southern Union Co. – one of the nation’s largest suppliers of natural gas – and has been linked to billionaire Louis DeNaples of Dunmore.

Environmentalists criticized DeNaples in 2000 in connection with the purchase of 44,000 acres of land – some of it environmentally sensitive – owned by Theta. He had long been thought to be the buyer, but a confidentiality clause in the sales agreement kept the buyer’s identity secret.

However, DeNaples’ role was confirmed by a Dauphin County grand jury, which determined that a company controlled by DeNaples had purchased Theta. DeNaples in 2008 had been charged with perjury for allegedly lying to state Gaming Control Board investigators about alleged ties to organized crime members. Prosecutors withdrew the charge after he transferred ownership of Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County to a trust.

Plains Township Secretary Kathy O’Boyle said no application for drilling has been submitted to the municipality. She said most of the land behind the business park is zoned as a conservation district and extraction of natural resources would be considered a conditional use. The driller would have to appear before the planning commission and the township board of commissioners for approval, and that process could take about a month, she said.

Reacting to news of the drilling permit application, state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said he’s “in favor of economic development and job growth,” but he supports a temporary moratorium on gas drilling in Pennsylvania “until safeguards are in place.”

“There needs to be regulations in place, enough inspectors on the ground, enough state police to monitor and check vehicles and proper water treatment facilities to protect drinking water sources,” Pashinski said.

“We were all very excited when we learned this new industry was coming to Northeastern Pennsylvania. … Their initial presentations were very encouraging. But in light of what happened in Dimock and Clearfield County, I am supporting a temporary moratorium,” he said.

Natural gas migrated from well bores in Dimock, Susquehanna County, contaminating some drinking water wells last year.

A blowout at a well in Clearfield County in June shot explosive gas and polluted water 75 feet into the air before crews tamed it 16 hours later.

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

View article here.

Copyright:  Times Leader

Land in the Back Mountain complex will not be disturbed, since the approach is horizontal.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

LEHMAN TWP. – Board members who oversee the Back Mountain Recreation Complex will certainly appreciate any revenue derived from a natural gas lease if local Marcellus Shale development is successful, but that’s not why they approved the lease, according to the board president.

“All of the adjacent landowners to our property I believe did sign leases with Marcellus Shale companies,” said board President Richard Coslett, a dentist practicing in Shavertown, Kingston Township.

Because it was expected that natural gas drilling would be going on all around the organization’s 130-acre property, there was no reason not to sign a lease with Chief Oil & Gas, Coslett said. “But there will be no well drilling on the property &hellip absolutely not.”

“Our land is there for one purpose – for the recreational enjoyment of residents of the Back Mountain,” he said.

Back Mountain Recreation will receive a bonus payment of $12.50 per acre and, if natural gas is extracted from the land beneath the complex, the organization will receive 20 percent royalty payments.

Coslett said that money would go right back into developing the complex.

Coslett said the lease gives permission to Chief Oil & Gas to drill horizontally deep underneath the organization’s property without disturbing the surface. “Now, on the other properties, I can’t speak for that,” he said.

EnCana Oil & Gas is proposing to drill just over a mile from the complex on property owned by Lake Township Supervisor Amy Salansky and her husband, Paul.

There was “very concerned discussion” among the board members about the safety of children and adults who use the complex if natural gas wells were drilled on nearby property, Coslett said.

“We see what happened to the roads in the Northern Tier counties; we heard the stories of water being contaminated in the Northern Tier. Myself and the board are very concerned about those things happening here also,” Coslett said.

And, of course, the thought of an explosion on property near the complex similar to the natural gas well blowout in Clearfield County on June 3 would be enough to make any Back Mountain recreational enthusiast shudder.

But Coslett is hopeful state officials will make sure adequate regulatory safeguards are in place before drilling begins anywhere near the complex.

“I really think there is a lot of emotional information out there right now,” Coslett said. “I can understand both sides of the issue. Hopefully, the facts will come out.”

The organization is in the process of a multiphase development. A lacrosse field and two soccer fields opened in summer 2007. They were dedicated in May 2008 as Edward Darling Field, Flack Field and Pride Field.

Two more full-size soccer fields and two mid-size soccer fields were completed in fall 2008 and opened for use last fall. The fields are currently used by Back Mountain Youth Soccer and Back Mountain Lacrosse. A football field, used by the Back Mountain Youth Football and Cheerleading League, is the most recent addition.

The fields lie on about 40 acres of the complex dedicated to organized recreational activities, Coslett said. But the board wants to develop part of the remaining 90 acres for passive recreational activities such as hiking and biking trails and other activities.

Copyright: Times Leader

An organization funded by the natural gas industry disputes the HBO film’s conclusions.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

After Josh Fox was offered nearly $100,000 to lease his 20 acres in Wayne County to a gas company, he heard two different accounts – one, a story of easy money, the other a tale of horror.

The 37-year-old independent filmmaker set out to find the truth about natural gas drilling, and his conclusions can be seen in his documentary film “Gasland,” to air on HBO at 9 p.m. on Monday.

And while representatives of the gas industry call the film a piece of propaganda filled with exaggerations and inaccuracies, Fox stands by his work and says it’s the industry’s response that is propaganda.

In a phone interview Thursday afternoon, as he was getting ready for a special screening of the documentary at the HBO Theater in New York City that night, Fox said a land man with a gas company told him in 2008 that the company probably wouldn’t even drill on the land. But he heard from others that environmentally, gas drilling was “very polluting.”

“There was such a disparity between what was being said and what was being offered, I needed to see with my own eyes,” Fox said.

So, Fox set out for the village of Dimock in Susquehanna County to talk with folks whose well water was polluted by natural gas migration from leaking gas wells.

“It was completely a disaster area. There were Halliburton trucks swarming everywhere. Water was bubbling and fizzing; some you could light on fire. There was a feeling of regret and betrayal in the air,” Fox said.

Residents were unaware of the contamination until Norma Fiorentino’s water well exploded on Jan. 1, 2009, Fox said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection fined the drilling company and ordered the wells capped.

Fox visited 23 other states where natural gas drilling was taking place. He interviewed people whose health and quality of life were negatively impacted; scientists, one of whom warns of the dangers of drinking water infused with chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (commonly called fracking), which releases the gas from the underground shale formations; and government officials on both sides of the issue.

One of the officials Fox interviewed was DEP Secretary John Hanger, who minimized the negative effects of fracking but refused to drink a glass of water from an affected well, according to a synopsis of the film on the HBO website.

On the same day as a special screening of the film in Montrose earlier this month, Energy in Depth – a gas-industry-funded organization, released an alert on its website entitled “Debunking Gasland,” pulling out numerous quotes from the movie and disputing them.

Energy In Depth claimed that Fox was “misstating the law” when he said that a 2005 energy bill exempted the oil and gas industry from the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Superfund law and other regulations. The industry is regulated under every single one of those laws, said Energy In Depth spokesman Chris Tucker.

The organization states that Fox was “flat-out making stuff up” when he said the Pinedale Anticline and Jonah gas fields of Wyoming are directly in the path of a 1,000-year-old migration corridor of pronghorn antelope, mule deer and sage grouse, each species of which is endangered.

Energy in Depth countered that three species of the pronghorn are endangered and none are found near the Pinedale Anticline, citing the Great Plains Nature Center; that only mule deer from New Mexico, noting that mule deer are so plentiful in Wyoming, there is a mule deer hunting season; and citing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife report stating that the sage grouse is not on the endangered list and there are “robust populations” of the bird in Wyoming.

Fox also blamed an algae bloom that killed fish and other aquatic life in Dunkard Creek in Washington County on natural gas development, Tucker said. But DEP reports show the bloom was caused by coal mine drainage.

The organization also cites a reference in the documentary to Colorado resident Lisa Bracken, who reported to environmental regulators occurrences of natural gas in the West Divide Creek, which she believed was related to natural gas drilling. “Fox blames methane occurrence in West Divide Creek, Colo., on natural gas development,” the release states.

Energy In Depth published links to reports on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission website that showed the methane was naturally occurring. Tucker said those reports were available long before “Gasland” was released.

Theo Stein, communications director for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said a commission investigation revealed that the methane Bracken reported bubbling in her beaver ponds near the creek was naturally occurring swamp gas from rotting vegetation.

Stein confirmed, however, that about a quarter-mile upstream, some methane gas was still present from a gas migration into the creek from a leak in a well drilled in 2004 by EnCana Oil & Gas, the company that will begin drilling in Luzerne County next month. EnCana received the largest fine in Colorado’s history for allowing that leak to occur.

Tucker, who is a native of Kingston Township and has been closely following the development of the Marcellus Shale in Northeastern Pennsylvania, said the press release was addressing only Bracken’s claims in the documentary. He was unfamiliar with the incident involving EnCana and said the issue alert was not meant to be misleading.

Copyright: Times Leader

Chief to offer “substantial” cash, says solicitor, who wants to see land involved, right-of-way agreement.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

and Rebecca Briarbria@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

DALLAS TWP. – An oil and natural gas company has asked township officials if it can lay pipeline underneath township property in return for money.

Two officials from Chief Oil and Gas attended the supervisors meeting Tuesday evening in search of an answer as to whether they can lay pipeline under a parcel of township-owned land.

Supervisor Glenn Howell said the land is along a gravel road off the Old Tunkhannock Highway. The gravel road leads to a Little League field and some other things, he said.

Township solicitor Thomas Brennan confirmed the company is offering “a substantial amount” of money to the township to lay the pipeline, though Brennan would not disclose the amount.

Brennan said there is no question about the legality of allowing the company to lay the pipe underneath township land. However, he said he first wants to take a look at the land to know what is involved.

The officials from the company also are wondering what they would have to do if they wanted to lay pipe under or along the township’s right-of-way. They said more than 20 miles of pipeline is planned coming from the north and terminating east of Dallas High School.

Brennan asked if the officials could provide a copy of the agreement they have with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation regarding their right-of-way usage. Brennan told the officials that he would have more information for them at the next supervisors meeting on July 6.

Earlier on Tuesday, township Zoning Officer Len Kozick said he’s heard from property owners in the township that they are being offered right-of-way agreements as well. And at least one agreement has already been signed.

According to Luzerne County property records, Leonard DeLeur, who owns Back to Basics – a fireplace and stove shop in Dallas – leased a 50-foot right-of-way along the edge of his 24-acre property in the township.

DeLeur said Chief offered him $20 per foot of pipeline laid on his property.

Kristi Gittins, vice president, Chief Oil & Gas, said a definite path has not been chosen for a pipeline, and one won’t be chosen until wells are drilled. She said no imminent drilling is planned for Luzerne County; the company’s next two wells will be drilled in Sullivan and Wyoming counties.

Josh Longmore, director of the Luzerne Conservation District, confirmed that drilling is slated to begin on his father’s land in Monroe Township, Wyoming County, in mid-July. His father, Robert Longmore, has a lease allowing Chief to drill on his 97-acre farm near Noxen Township.

Chief, which has 75 wells drilled in 10 counties, has wells in Lycoming, Bradford and Susquehanna counties that are producing gas, but there’s currently no way to get it to market. Gittins said gas is going to market from only about half of Chief’s wells in the Northeast because it takes a while to build a pipeline infrastructure where none previously existed.

Gittins said it costs about $1 million a mile to lay pipeline. And lease holders don’t see any royalty money until the gas gets to market.

Gittins said that Chief is selectively seeking leases in Luzerne County, but only in the area of currently leased land, she said. The company has leased a few properties in Fairmount Township. The Dallas, Texas-based company has 650,000 acres leased in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, she said.

In other business, supervisors awarded a bid for a paving and drainage project on Main and Campground roads to Popple Construction, the lowest bidder, at $147,530 for Main Road and $56,642.33 for Campground Road.

Supervisors Vice Chairman Frank Wagner previously said the project will consist of paving Main Road from the Kingston Township line to Route 309, as well as all of Campground Road.

Also, George Stolarick, who said he has lived on Ridge Street for the past 45 years, asked the supervisors to consider paving his road. Stolarick said that although there are only three houses on his road, eight families use the road to access their homes.

But, Supervisors Chairman Phil Walter said “it’s not in the cards right now.”

Rebecca Bria, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7436. Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

Copyright: Times Leader

Pa. Senate committee hearing on gas drilling will be held June 29 in Harrisburg.

STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com

The state Senate panel that oversees emergency preparedness in the state will hear testimony later this month on how ready responders are to handle catastrophes related to natural-gas drilling.

Sen. Lisa Baker, chairwoman of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, said in a press release that community groups and environmental activists are questioning whether plans to deal with well blowouts, leaks and spills are in place and detailed enough to meet the challenges posed by the increased drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale.

Baker, R-Lehman Township, said those concerns warrant the attention of lawmakers.

“Community safety, public health and water quality are put at risk if there are any holes in emergency planning. With government budgets at every level under severe strain, it is a legitimate worry that preparation and training have not kept pace with the need,” Baker said.

In the wake of a recent natural gas well blowout in Clearfield County, Baker said there are local rumblings that the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency was “either not ready or not properly engaged.

“There is a responsibility to air the situation and find the facts,” Baker said.

Aaron Shenck, executive director of the committee, said he also believes state emergency officials were not notified until several hours after the well explosion, which took about 16 hours to contain.

Shenck said a representative of PEMA and the state fire commissioner will testify at the June 29 public hearing. Baker’s office also will invite representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection and state police.

Baker said she is equally concerned about emergency preparedness at the local level.

“The heavy truck traffic resulting from equipment and fracking (hydraulic fracturing) material being shipped in raises the possibility of collisions, turnovers and spills. We are dealing mostly with rural areas and small communities. What is the state of readiness? Is there the necessary coordination and communication between levels of government before we are tested by crisis? Are the resources immediately available when the worst happens?” Baker said.

To present testimony from a more local perspective, representatives of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, the Keystone Emergency Management Association and the Lycoming County Task Force on Marcellus Shale also will be invited, Shenck said.

Lycoming is the only Pennsylvania county in which Marcellus Shale drilling is taking place that has a task force specifically designed to address drilling-related emergencies, Shenck said.

At least one representative of the natural gas industry also will be invited to testify, Shenck said.

Copyright: Times Leader