Marcellus Shale Trucking Takes Toll on Roads
PennDOT, municipalities ramp up efforts to ensure Marcellus firms
pay for repairs
Pittsburgh Business Times
24 December 2010
By Anya Litvak
Increasing Marcellus Shale development means new rules of the road for
many Pennsylvania municipalities, which, along with the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation, are stepping up their efforts to make
sure trucks carrying equipment for the industry pay their share to
repair roads.
PennDOT and township supervisors have been posting more and more roads
with 10-ton weight limits to encompass as much Marcellus traffic as
possible. A typical frac truck carrying water used to fracture the
shale weighs around 33 tons, according to the Marcellus Shale Coalition.
Natural gas operators must present their truck routes to local and
state road authorities, and bond those stretches of road where their
load weight will exceed the posted weight. A bond secures the
companies’ responsibility for damage and can be called if the company
refuses to pay for repairs or goes out of business.
Since 2008, PennDOT has posted more than 3,000 miles of road to
accommodate the increased traffic and damage from the Marcellus Shale
industry. In some counties in the northeastern part of the state, all
four-digit state routes, otherwise known as secondary roads, are now
posted.
In the Pittsburgh region, the bulk of new postings has been confined to
Washington, Westmoreland, Greene and Fayette counties, where an
additional 288 miles of road has been pegged with the 10-ton limit.
Allegheny and Beaver counties, where there is little drilling, have
seen only 13 miles of road posted during that time.
“A new and very dramatic increase in traffic and weight volumes is
having a very specific impact on roads,” said PennDOT spokesman Rich
Kirkpatrick. “The industry has been living up to the terms of these
bonding agreements and they’re doing the repairs.”
Paying their share
According to Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the
Marcellus Shale Coalition, the five companies that comprise its road
use committee have spent more than $200 million on road repairs in 2010.
Moon-based Atlas Energy Inc., one of the most active operators in
southwestern Pennsylvania, has spent more than $11 million paving or
repairing 86 miles of road this year, according to company spokesman
Nate Calvert.
“We expect that this amount will increase next year as our operations
increase,” he said. The company plans to double its drilling rate in
2011.
Atlas representatives “meet with PennDOT officials every two to three
weeks to assess and evaluate all state roads,” Calvert said. “This
year, Atlas has begun making preemptive repairs on roads that we plan
to use in the winter months ahead. We believe that taking preemptive
action with regard to road maintenance is the most effective way to
ensure Pennsylvania’s state and local roads are kept in safe condition.”
PennDOT has not had to call any bonds as of yet.
“We have revoked permits until they fixed the damages, though,”
Kirkpatrick said. “Pulling the permit is usually a better hammer than
pulling the bond. The bond only comes into play if they do damage, and
then refuse to pay or go out of business.”
Creating a guide
In addition to PennDOT, municipalities in Pennsylvania also can bond
their own roadways. David Sanko, executive director of the Pennsylvania
State Association of Township Supervisors, said he’s been trying to
convince all municipalities in Pennsylvania to pass ordinances that
allow them to hold Marcellus companies accountable for road damage. He
also wants to see the state bonding limits increase to reflect the cost
of road repair. Currently, the state limit is $12,500 per mile of paved
road.
“That would barely paint the stripes,” said Charlie Campbell, director
of special projects for Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc., which does road work
for about 20 Marcellus operators. But, Hawbaker noted, it’s not the
bonds that hold companies’ feet to the fire. It’s PennDOT’s and
municipalities’ ability to yank permits, which would effectively shut
down multimillion-dollar operations.
What appears to be working best for both governments and companies are
road management agreements, Sanko and Hawbaker said. These are
documents that guide where and when Marcellus trucks will travel, who
will be responsible for repairs, and even which construction firms are
on standby in the event of road damage.
“For the most part, the industry’s been very cooperative and helpful in
fixing the roads or making even bigger roads, but let’s be clear,”
Sanko said. “They’re not doing it because they want to be good
neighbors — they need to do it.”
Road management agreements keep municipalities in control of which
routes these trucks will travel.
“The only way they’re allowed to go is where their bond states,” said
Mel Cornell, a supervisor at South Huntington Township in Westmoreland
County.
South Huntington is one of the most active municipalities in the county
for Marcellus drilling. Cornell said there’s been a lot of damage to
local roads, the vast majority of which are posted with the 10-ton
limit, but that the township has not had any problems getting companies
to pay for repairs.
“They come in and pay a bond, and if they destroy any part of that
road, they repair it,” he said.
What concerns Sanko, however, is the ability of small townships to pay
for the maintenance of these new roads 10 or 15 years from now, when
the companies may no longer be drilling here. He’s been advocating for
a road repair fund with revenue supplied by a natural gas severance tax.
Posting roadways
With more trucks on the road due to the growth of the Marcellus Shale
industry, PennDOT has posted weight restrictions on more roads (listed
by district, counties and miles posted on secondary roads since 2008):
11, Allegheny, Beaver, Lawrence, 13
12, Westmoreland, Washington, Greene, Fayette, 288
10, Butler, Armstrong, Clarion, Jefferson, Indiana, 19
State total: 3,188
Source: Pennsylvania department of transportation
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