Homestead mailing list

[Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

Bunjov AT aol.com wrote:

> All sorts of things could go wrong, with your soil, with your groundwater,  
> etc. Never mind their promises to 'fix it'. It would never be the same. 
> That  
> particular little piece of the Earth called to you for a reason, and you 
> would  
> be betraying that trust.

That's what really worries me; long term damage to land and water I want 
to protect. IF everything goes right, the damage would be minimal, but 
there's always the chance that everything could go wrong. Any place they 
drilled would probably not affect my well water (and they do go to great 
lengths not to pollute ground water), but there is a nice little stream 
that I wouldn't want to see damaged.

My neighbor said that 2 wells were being drilled in this area and I went 
out to look. To my great relief, gas wells aren't like oil wells. Once 
they are done, the part that sticks up isn't much bigger than the 
wellhead for my water well. They don't pump; the gas is under pressure 
and flows on it's own. The pipelines are buried, so all you see at the 
site is the wellhead. There are tanks and meters and things, and I'm not 
sure where they are located; maybe next to the road (I have a 'pulloff' 
along the road that would be the perfect place for stuff like that).

The drilling/staging takes about a month and makes a total mess of 1-2 
acres, which is leveled, with access roads, and tons of stone brought in 
to keep mud etc down. There is a lined containment pond and large, heavy 
machinery runs over the site continuously. Part of the contract requires 
them to remove the contaminated water (DEP is on the site to see that 
it's done right), regrade, and replant. The sites I saw were still in 
the drilling stage, so I don't know how good the 'cleanup' is (I would 
probably sign with the same company doing these). Do they remove all 
that stone they brought in or just smooth the dirt over it? Does it 
matter in a pasture?

If they DO clean up properly, my land would look pretty much as it does 
now. If they drill up in my woods (much harder logistically) they would 
clear an acre or two of trees, but would return it as pasture. I think I 
could live with that. Having a good access road up into the woods (that 
I didn't have to pay for) would be nice, too. And of course, they may 
never decide to put a well here; I still get $96,600 every 5 years for 
as long as they want to lease.

The way my finances are going, it may come down to leasing the mineral 
rights or sell the farm (to someone who would not hesitate to lease the 
rights).

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga County, PA


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