Marcellus Shale Drilling Approved Amid Residents' Concerns
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
11 March 2010
By Andrea Iglar
Officials in North Fayette and Robinson have approved an energy
company's plans to drill the Marcellus shale field.
Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Appalachia LLC will create five natural gas
wells on land that straddles the neighboring townships in Washington
County.
The formerly strip-mined site, owned by Champion Processing Inc., is in
an industrial zone bordered by State Route 980, Steubenville Pike,
Beech Hollow Road and Candor Road.
Supervisors in both townships voted 3-0 in February to approve the
wells, and they attached conditions that promote health and safety.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for
issuing drilling permits.
North Fayette manager Bob Grimm said residents had raised concerns
about local water pollution and other environmental issues.
"They're not things we can address as a township," he said. "They are
things that are regulated by the DEP."
Chesapeake plans to install three wells in Robinson and two in North
Fayette.
According to the company's website, work begins with preparing a pad to
hold the drilling rig and other equipment.
Next come drilling -- both vertically and horizontally -- and hydraulic
fracturing, or "fracking," a process that generally involves the
forceful pumping of water, chemicals and other materials into the
ground to crack rock and increase gas flow.
Once the wells are completed, they are connected to underground
pipelines so the natural gas can be transported and sold.
Documents from North Fayette say Chesapeake's conditional use
application did not include pipeline infrastructure.
North Fayette supervisors on Feb. 23 approved Chesapeake's request to
work 24 hours, seven days a week while drilling and fracturing, which
could last approximately three weeks per well.
Robinson supervisors on Feb. 8 said the company must take measures to
protect the water supplies of nearby residents.
Both townships included provisions for training emergency personnel to
respond to the site.
An access road between Route 980 and the work site will cross the
Montour Trail.
Heavy trucks must travel only on approved, state-owned roads, and all
local roadways must be kept clear of dust and debris, both townships
said.
The access road must be graveled, and Chesapeake must consider the
feasibility of widening the drive to address any potential traffic
hazards, Robinson supervisors said.
Robinson prohibited the transportation or use of fly ash in any aspect
of the project.
The wells will be on the same property as Robinson Power's proposed
Beech Hollow Energy Project -- a planned waste coal-fired power plant
that recently lost a state air permit -- but will not be located within
the project's permit boundaries.
Fly ash would be a byproduct of burning waste coal, or gob, about 40
million tons of which sit on the 800-acre Champion property.
Andrea Iglar, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.