Jul 15, 2015 4 min read

SLOVAN – Although geologists have known about the existence of the Marcellus Shale, one of the largest natural gas fields in the world, for 20 years, it was once thought that the reserve couldn’t be accessed.

That changed in 2003, when Range Resources used a relatively new technique, hydraulic fracturing, to extract the trapped fossil fuel.

Now, jargon like “pigging,” “fracking” and “NGLs” have become standard dialogue during municipal meetings across the region.

While Marcellus Shale is the current cornucopia, natural gas also is trapped in other formations, including the Utica Shale, located a few thousand feet below Marcellus. Even experts don’t yet know the implications of accessing Utica, where gas could prove to be more plentiful than in the Marcellus.

To plan for the inevitable but uncertain future of natural gas drilling, municipalities are quickly adopting and amending oil and gas production laws.

“We are dealing with this business in the middle of a learning curve,” said John Thomas, Smith Township Planning Commission member.

The group met with representatives of Range Resources and MarkWest Energy Partners Tuesday for input on amending township zoning provisions and providing standards and regulations for the industry.

Township supervisors approved an ordinance in May classifying natural gas processing facilities as a conditional use, months after MarkWest expressed an interest in constructing a plant in the 34-square-mile township.

A MarkWest processing plant application filling several cardboard boxes was received by the township early this week. Solicitor Gary Sweat said the application has not yet been reviewed.

Christopher L. Rimkus, MarkWest managing counsel, confirmed the application and said the company has a need for more processing plants because of the growth of gas wells in the area.

“Getting another plant is going to happen,” he said.

After Sweat brought up the growth of MarkWest’s Houston Processing and Fractionation Facility and expressed concerns about future potential growth of a Smith facility, Rimkus said, “Smith would very likely communicate with Houston via pipeline.”

But, he assured officials, a fractionator is not planned for Smith.

“I would never say it’s impossible,” he said, adding that the company would be more likely to build more processing plants before a fractionator.

Processing plants clean natural gas by separating out impurities and producing dry gas. Fractionators further separate the components.

Rimkus said fractionators are not a safety hazard, but do raise noise issues.

He also said that a Smith plant would not be like Houston because that facility supplies local markets with propane, increasing the amount of truck traffic.

Rimkus and James Cannon, a representative of Range Resources, suggested several changes to the ordinance, including decreasing the 1,500-foot setback requirements for pipelines and compressor station sites.

The group also debated regulations for operation re-entry.

Cannon said it is typical for companies to return to a well pad to drill more wells, sometimes as much as three to four years after well pad construction. He said requiring a conditional-use hearing for more wells would be bad for the industry.

Sweat said the township has to consider possible dealings with different companies.

“You guys buy and sell all the time,” said Sweat. “Range Resources has been great, but am I going to have a good working relationship with the next (company)? This is for the bad guys.”

Rimkus and Cannon assured the commission that they notify municipalities when they are going back to work on a site and that requiring a hearing for new wells could hinder business.

Sweat said the planning commission will continue to work on the ordinances, taking the issues brought up by the companies into consideration. He said it could take as long as four months to be ready for presentation to township supervisors and that more pubic meetings are planned.