Range gets OK to extract Mingo park gas
Two citizens asked the Washington County commissioners Thursday to hold off on signing a lease to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale layer beneath Mingo Creek County Park until convening public meetings specifically on the pros and cons, but board members just a few minutes later unanimously voted to enter into an agreement with Range Resources.
Although the commissioners will not permit drilling rigs inside the 2,200-acre park, Donna Riggle of Claysville called potential drilling installations around the park “a ring of fire” and asked the commissioners to table any action on the park until the beginning of the state’s fiscal year July 1 in case a natural gas severance tax becomes law under Gov. Tom Wolf.
She stressed her concerns center on public – and, especially, children’s – health, distributing pamphlets and a copy of a study from New York state to the commissioners.
John DeBord of South Strabane Township took notice of the short time between the announcement of drilling beneath Mingo park Wednesday morning and the commissioners’ meeting Thursday morning, when the matter appeared on the agenda for a vote.
“I am sure some residents of Washington County would like to have an opportunity to have their concerns addressed and comments heard,” he told the three-member board. “The quality of government is diminished when there is insufficient time given for the people to respond to decisions being made that impact on all of us. There are definite concerns to be addressed because of the fracking process to be used in the drilling.”
He expressed concerns about potential contamination of water, soil and air. “Conservation and protection of Mingo Creek park should be given the priority over it being a source of revenue,” DeBord said. “I believe the lease should not be approved, or ever exist. The serenity and enjoyment of Mingo park by all who choose to visit there should not be put at risk.”
Commission Chairman Larry Maggi thanked DeBord for his comments and acknowledged Riggle’s “passion” concerning environmental issues, but proceeded with the board’s agenda, which included the lease to extract gas that is under 1,740 acres of park land.
“It’s almost predetermined,” Riggle said after the vote. She fears the loss of aquatic life and habitat in the park in Nottingham Township.
Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan, the only Nottingham resident on the board, said, as a resident, she heard more feedback about a coal mine proposed for the municipality than she received about drilling for natural gas under the park. She referred to safeguards the state Department of Environmental Protection imposed and its recent $4.15 million fine against Range as incentives to make sure hydraulic fracturing is done responsibly.
The county accepted a bonus of $6,500 per acre – totaling $11,310,000 – and a royalty of 18 percent once production begins. To put the amount in perspective, the county’s 2015 preliminary budget is $82.7 million.
Range has five drilling sites on properties around the park’s perimeter. “One already was permitted, so there should be production in four to six months,” Fergus said.
When the county announced in 2013 it planned to seek proposals from firms hoping to extract shale oil and gas from beneath the park, it negotiated with Range, EQT and Rice Energy.
Mingo is home to an off-leash dog park; walking and equestrian trails; a night-sky observatory that serves as a gathering place for stargazers from the region; a creek for wading; playgrounds and picnic pavilions; and a pair of covered bridges that are a backdrop for an annual autumn festival that encompasses Washington and Greene counties.