September 10, 2010

While many regions across the nation, and the Commonwealth, continue to face sluggish economic times and continued job loss, the responsible development of the Marcellus Shale’s clean-burning natural gas resources are driving commerce, and genuine and lasting economic activity, opportunity and job growth.

The benefits of the Marcellus are impacting our local workforce, helping to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and delivering more affordable and stable supplies of homegrown energy to Pennsylvania consumers.

By now, you’ve surely seen, or experienced, this work and its benefits firsthand. On travels to work, church, or to the Weis Market on West Bald Eagle Street, it’s hard not to recognize the increase in truck traffic, and construction on the roads, in and around Clinton County.

In many cases, Marcellus development is responsible for both the traffic and road construction – the two go hand-in-hand.

We understand and recognize the concerns regarding the uptick in truck traffic and its impact on our roads. And we also understand, as good neighbors, that we must do everything to ensure that roads are left in better condition than when our operations began.

So what actions are our industry taking to ensure that this commitment is kept?

This year alone, the Marcellus Shale industry will invest more than $100 million to repair and repave roads in the communities we operate in – and in virtually every case, we’re rebuilding these roads to higher standards, ensuring their ability to handle the increased traffic and weight. These upgrades and repairs are done overwhelmingly by local contractors, another example of our industry’s robust and growing supply chain – the “Marcellus Multiplier'” – helping to give a much-needed shot in the arm to local businesses and to our workforce.

But not only are these commonsense infrastructure investments the responsible thing to do, and are in most cases required by PennDOT, but it’s also in our companies’ interests to ensure that roads remain intact, passable and safe so that our trucks can access sites.

In fact, each Marcellus operator must submit, and subsequently have approved, an exhaustive road management plan to PennDOT, making certain that road management and reconstruction plans are in place.

And as part of this comprehensive plan, operators are required to “bond” each section of a given road where their trucks may travel. Trucks are only permitted to travel on roads that are bonded, and are part of an approved PennDOT road management plan. This brings forth increased, and needed, oversight and transparency.

It’s also important to understand that, according to PennDOT, “no additional tax dollars are needed for necessary road repairs due to increased” Marcellus development.

A good example of this system at work is the recently completed Route 664/Coudersport Pike project. Late last month, the road cones disappeared and the construction signs came down along that five-mile stretch. With a price tag of $1.2 million, this upgrade project was funded by two natural gas companies. Our industry will continue to make similar multi-million dollar infrastructure investments across the Commonwealth, as Marcellus development expands.

And as we work to repair, repave and rebuild our roads, we are also taking commonsense steps – driven by advancements in technology – to reduce the volume of overall truck traffic.

Approximately 1,500 truck-trips are required to develop a single Marcellus well. Of those 1,500 trips, nearly 1,000 are water tankers. The development of alternative water transportation systems to our sites is just one of several technologies that would reduce truck traffic.

At the same time, our industry is now recycling more than 60 percent of the water used throughout this process – some companies are recycling 100 percent of their water. These proven technologies, which continue to advance by the day, are dramatically reducing our overall water usage, and therefore allowing our industry to markedly reduce our overall truck traffic and road use.

But there’s much more to do, and we recognize this.

Mitigating and restoring the wear and tear on roads associated with Marcellus development is a responsibility we take very seriously; we’re committed to addressing this issue, and others, directly and straightforwardly. And in addition to our ongoing road restoration efforts, the Marcellus Shale Coalition is working with local officials and state regulators to craft solutions aimed at ensuring Pennsylvania’s roads are properly maintained and safe for everyone.

That’s one reason why the MSC is partnering with the PennDOT, the state police, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and other key transportation officials, for a Marcellus Transportation symposium on Oct. 12 in State College. The event, open to drivers, company safety coordinators or anyone with direct involvement with the transportation component of drilling operations, is focused on better educating “carriers and truck drivers supporting the natural gas industry of Pennsylvania’s regulations to improve their safe operating practices.”

Our commitment to each and every Pennsylvanian from the outset has been simple, and it’s something that our industry reinforced in a recent Express column, as part of our ongoing dialogue: “We are committed to working tirelessly each day to be good stewards of our land and waterways. We are also taking steps to ensure our operations minimize disruptions and risks in and near energy-producing communities. After all, our families live in these areas too.”

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Kathryn Klaber is the president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), an industry group that represents shale gas producers and can be found on the web atwww.marcelluscoalition.org.

Copyright: The Express , Lock Haven, PA