Of the 179 oil and gas wells drilled in Pennsylvania in February, 80 were Marcellus Shale wells. Of those 80, 26 were drilled in Bradford County (Data source: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection).
By Steve Reilly Staff Writer Published: Saturday, March 6, 2010 9:09 AM EST February was the busiest month yet for the natural gas industry in Bradford County, with 26 wells drilled over the month's 28 days, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). February's total is by far the highest since natural gas activity began in Bradford County. The next most-active month was December 2009, when 17 wells were drilled in the county. A total of 179 oil and gas wells were drilled throughout Pennsylvania in February, 80 which were natural gas wells in the Marcellus Shale. After Bradford County, Tioga County had the second-highest total of Marcellus Shale wells drilled with 16. Lycoming County had 12 Marcellus Shale wells drilled, and six were drilled in western Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County. According to Tom Rathbun, a spokesperson for the DEP, the agency has issued 2,792 permits for drilling in the Marcellus Shale since it began tracking activity in 2005. "What is interesting here is...Marcellus has been a minuscule part, but that is changing," he said. "It is starting to take off now." *Wells drilled* In Bradford County, the 26 wells were drilled in the following townships by the corresponding companies in February: . Armenia: 7 (Talisman) . Canton: 6 (Talisman) . Columbia: 6 (Talisman) . Troy: 3 (Talisman) . Albany: 1 (Chesapeake) . Springfield: 1 (EOG) . Towanda: 1 (Chesapeake) . Tuscarora: 1 (Chesapeake) February incidents and fines Several incidents and fines related to natural gas activity, including notable a spate of arrests stemming from overweight and oversize trucks, were reported in February: . On Feb. 2, DEP fined Talisman Energy $3,500 for violations at its "Cease" well pad in Troy Township discovered during inspections in 2009. A February 2009 inspection revealed that the company had not publicly posted the permit number and other required information at the entrance of the well pad. During a follow-up inspection in June 2009, a DEP statement explains, "flow-back fluids - or the fluids that are used to break up underground rock and then return to the surface - were found discharging into a drainage ditch, an adjacent sediment basin, and eventually through a vegetated area into an unnamed tributary of the south branch of Sugar Creek." . On Feb. 3, Pennsylvania State Police arrested and jailed four drivers employed by TK Stanley, a rig moving company headquartered in Waynesboro, Miss., for driving a convoy of oversized trucks through North Towanda Township on U.S. Route 6. . On Feb. 6, state police cited three men employed by T.A.W. Inc. of Wysox for driving trucks with weight, size and permit violations. . On Feb. 7, Arthur H. Dawes of Blossburg, Pa., was arrested and jailed after his overweight and oversized truck was involved in three separate accidents as he traveled through Bradford County. Dawes and his employer, Todd Berguson Trucking, received over $15,000 in citations as a result of the incident. . On Feb. 8, James Matusek of Shavertown, Pa., and his employer, Latona Trucking, were fined over $31,300 after state police discovered a truck driven by Matusek to be 49.7 tons overweight. . On Feb. 23, Arron Waddy, an driver for MARMC Transportation of Caspar, Wyo., was cited with $24,089 in fines after state police stopped his vehicle on U.S. Route 220 in Albany Township and discovered it was 71,707 pounds overweight. - - - Steve Reilly can be contacted at [email protected] -- ---------------------------------------------------- Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. President Sustainable Tompkins 109 S. Albany St. Ithaca, NY 14850 www.sustainabletompkins.org 607-533-7312 (home office) 607-220-8991 (cell) 607-216-1552 (ST office) 607-216-1553 (ST fax) [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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
