Marcellus Shale - Gas Wells

October 28, 2010

Countryside Conservancy branch hosting Marcellus Shale seminar

By Thomas Krivak Abington Journal Correspondent

 

Two guest speakers will give presentations and answer any questions from the audience on Monday Aug. 2, when the South Branch Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Coalition, a branch of the Countryside Conservancy,  hosts a free seminar on Marcellus Shale drilling, including the basics of gas leasing and water well testing. The presentation will take place on the campus of Keystone College in room 208 of the Capwell Science Hall at 6:30 p.m.

Prior to the seminar, the Coalition will hold its monthly meeting at 6 p.m., which is also free and open to the public.

Stephen Saunders, an attorney from Tressler-Saunders LLC, practices environmental law and oil and gas law. He will provide background information on issues landowners need to consider before entering into a gas lease. In addition to currently acting as General Counsel for Environment and Planning to Lackawanna County, the firm has served as Special Environmental Counsel to Luzerne County.

Independent Water Testing, based in Clarks Summit, will have owner Andy Goldberg speak about their testing packages to identify the contaminants most likely to occur due to gas drilling. The company’s baseline water testing services for private landowners adhere to the guidelines developed by Penn State University.

Marcellus Shale is a rock formation located at a depth of 5,000-8,000 feet underground. It is believed to hold trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. The Pa. Department of Environmental Protection details the extraction process as “horizontal drilling and a process known as ‘hydraulic fracturing’ that uses far greater amounts of water than traditional natural gas exploration.

“Drillers pump large amounts of water mixed with sand and other proponents into the shale formation under high pressure to fracture the shale around the well, which allows the natural gas to flow freely.”

According to DEP whitepapers, due to recent advances in drilling technology and rising natural gas prices, new interest has been taken in drilling for this shale. “The geology of the Marcellus formation suggests that areas in the southwest, northcentral and northeastern regions of Pennsylvania that have not traditionally seen much gas well drilling may be especially productive.” The DEP is also responsible for issuing drilling permits and inspecting drilling operations. Inspectors conduct both routine and unannounced inspections of drilling sites and wells across the state.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, based in Canonsburg, Pa., states “the development of natural gas from Marcellus Shale offers great potential for the region’s economic future, as well as the thousands of individuals, families and small, locally-owned businesses involved in extracting this clean-burning and abundant energy source from the ground…The Marcellus Shale formation holds enough recoverable natural gas reserves to not only serve Pennsylvania’s needs, but to turn the Commonwealth into a significant exporter of energy, generating equally significant economic benefits.”

 

For more information about the seminar or the South Branch Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Coalition, call 570.945.6995 or e-mail cconserv@epix.net.

Additional information from the Pa DEP on Marcellus Shale can be found at http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/oilgas/new_forms/marcellus/marcellus.htm.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition’s Web site is http://marcelluscoalition.org/

 

Tweet	Follow @TLnews

Send Question or Remark to the Publisher

This story also appears on the following websites...