Lease OK’d to extract gas under township land
Well bore would be in Nottingham
Peters has entered into a nonsurface gas lease with EQT Corp. that would garner a $4,750 per acre signing bonus and 18 percent royalty payments for gas extracted from underneath townshipowned property.
Under the terms of the lease, the well bore would have to be at least 750 feet from the township line and would actually be located in neighboring Nottingham. The location of the well site would be about 1,500 feet from Venetia Road, Peters manager Paul Lauer said.
Mr. Lauer said he was unsure how many acres of township property would be drilled under because EQT is determining ownership of the parcels that would be affected. He added there is “no specific timeline” on when drilling would start because EQT is in the process of gaining access to the actual well site.
Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday in support of the fiveyear lease, with Frank Arcuri, James Berquist, Frank Kosir Jr., Monica Merrell and Gary Steigel Jr. in favor. David Ball and Robert Lewis dissented.
Prior to council’s vote, Mr. Lauer recommended the township enter into the agreement with EQT.
“This well is going to be drilled,” and the gas under our property will be extracted, he said. Mr. Lauer said that if Peters did not enter into a lease, the profits from the gas under the township’s property would go to EQT or to other leaseholders.
“We are sort of being put between a rock and a hard place,” Mr. Kosir said, adding that the township is going to have to deal with the dust and traffic from the well site.
“By taking the money for this, we are certainly not condoning any type of drilling in Peters Township,” Mr. Kosir said. “Ultimately our hands are tied. If we’re going to suffer the pain, we might as well take the gain.”
Mr. Arcuri added, “It’s going to go through whether we do this or not.”
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, council awarded a $156,856 contract for the old Oak Road culvert/bridge project to J5 Construction of Houston. The work, which is set to begin after school is out of session, is expected to take four to six weeks, during which time the bridge will be closed. Signs and detours will be posted prior to the start of work. Information will also be available on the township website, www.peterstownship.com.
Council scheduled a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. July 17 to hear residents’ comments on the revision of the township’s entire zoning ordinance. If a large crowd is expected, the hearing will be held at Peters Township Middle School.
A celebration to recognize that the Montour Trail has been named Pennsylvania’s Trail of the Year will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the east end of the Library viaduct in South Park Township.
Council appointed residents Michael Takacs and Daniel Rice to the Peters Hill Park Steering Committee. The park will be located on about 90 acres of the former Rolling Hills Country Club site along East McMurray Road.
Other members previously appointed to the committee are resident Charlene Salus; parks and recreation board members Brittany Smith, Pat Airhart and Jeff Crummie; environmental quality board member Gerry Coscia; and Peters school board members William Merrell and Minna Allison. Councilman Frank Kosir and Robert Lewis will also serve on the committee.