Jon, Absolutely. I've yet to see any five-acre drilling pads. The typical Marcellus drilling pad that I have seen has been between 1 and 1.5 acres, including the stormwater and erosion and sedimentation controls required by Pennsylvania authorities, and the stockpiles of topsoil set aside for site restoration. Some have also been located on fairly steep side hills which may require a slightly larger area, but still 2 acres or less of disturbance has been the rule. The pads are also temporary as drilling is generally completed within 6-8 weeks and the sites restored to their former condition. Then usually all that is visible is a small wellhead control unit and small storage tank. The site is reduced to a small gravel access road and a square 20-30 feet on a side around the wellhead. Because they value their farmland, the farmers who have leased their gas rights in PA aren't interested in having it permananetly scarred or rendered unproductive. I haven't read any leases, but I suspect that they have written into them the condition that the site be restored as close to its original condition as possible. I suspect too that the PA Department of Environmental Protection requires site restoration as a condition of their permit. I'm not denying that there are issues, and I'm not denying that we are dealing with an industry that would dig up its mothers' bones if they thought there was natural gas under them. But let's work the problem. And let's not destroy our credibility with wild assertions that any knowledgeable person can easily discredit. George Frantz
--- On Wed, 9/2/09, Jon Bosak <[email protected]> wrote: From: Jon Bosak <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Map of Tompkins County gas leases - new website To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 1:20 PM George Frantz wrote: > There are some three dozen natural gas production wells within > sight of Rte. 96 between Ovid and Geneva that tens of thousands > of tourists and Ithaca-style environmentalists have driven by > over the past two decades or so, without even noticing them. The five-acre pads needed for fracking are said to be completely different from the much smaller installations used for conventional drilling. Are you saying that this is not true? Jon _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
