Oil company planning to do a seismic survey

An oil and gas company is planning to conduct a seismic survey in Oakmont as part of an exploratory operationto identify potential drilling sites in Allegheny and Westmorelandcounties.

The Monroeville-based company, Huntley & Huntley Inc., does not plan to drill in the small Pittsburgh suburb, a company representative said. But it is possible that horizontal well bores it drills nearby could extend into the borough, beneath propertyit has leased.

“The data generated by the survey in Oakmont will be used to a greater extent to provide information about geologic conditions and to support the company’s plans for natural gas wells in other locations,” company spokesmanBenjamin Komlos said.

The surveys involve creating shock waves by using explosive charges buried in 20- to 30-foot-deep holes or heavy-duty trucks that shake the earth using metal plates. Placed in hand-dug holes are geophones — devices resembling microphones — that record how long it takes the shock waves to return to the surface.

“Landowners will experience little impact during a seismic survey,” Huntley & Huntley says in a brochure announcing the surveys it expects to begin in June or July.

InOakmont, the survey is part of a larger appraisal by Huntley & Huntley that will cover roughly 130,000 acres in northeastern Allegheny and parts of Westmoreland counties, Mr. Komlos said. He added that more surveys are planned in the southern parts of the counties.

Expected to involve private land, the survey is meant to help the company determine how many well pads it will construct for planned drilling operations in the area. Specific locations remain undetermined, Mr. Komlos said, though he noted that the company intends to develop the MarcellusShale formation.

A public meeting on the survey is scheduled for May 30in council chambers.

Some property owners have signed leases with Huntley & Huntley that include a provision allowing the company to conduct seismic testing, Mr. Komlos said. Others are not subject to that provision, and the company wouldhave to get permission fromthem to use their land.

Although seismic testing is deemed safe by the company, its plans have not gone unnoticed.

At a public meeting earlier this month in nearby Lower Burrell, representatives of two companies the company has hired to conduct seismic testing there sought to ease concerns raised by officials and residents about the operation potentially affecting water and sewer lines.

“It is understood that some people may have concerns about what’s involved with this survey,” Mr. Komlos said. The public meetings, he added, are meant to “help people understand the facts about what is involved in the process of completing the survey.”