County will seek no-drill lease for Mingo Park
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Washington County will be advertising for proposals for an energy company to tap natural gas from beneath Mingo Creek County Park in Nottingham Township.
Randy Vankirk, Washington County purchasing director, said after the commissioners’ agenda meeting Wednesday that the county is interested in only a “non-surface” lease, which would not accommodate drilling in the 2,200-acre park.
Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan said several companies with an interest in drilling in Mingo Creek County Park have approached the county, but no contract has resulted. It was likely a matter of timing, according to solicitor Lynn DeHaven, because the interest abated when the stock market crashed in 2008.
In 2011, Washington County received $917,521 from Range Resources for the right to extract natural gas from beneath 327 acres of county land in Arden, including Washington County fairgrounds, which is also a non-surface lease. Range has surface-drilling rights and several wells in the 2,830-acre Cross Creek County Park.
The county will also seek proposals to build towers in the park that would increase the availability of phone service in the Mingo Creek valley.