Second shale well planned in N. Strabane
North Strabane supervisors are expected to vote Tuesday night on whether to approve the second Marcellus Shale drilling operation in the township.
A conditional-use hearing was held last Tuesday night to take testimony on a 16.5-acre well pad planned by Range Resources on Donald and Elizabeth Henderson’s property at 207 Ross Road in Eighty Four.
If approved, drilling activities would begin in January with five wells on the site.
Range wants to be able to locate trailers on the site to temporarily house workers and asked the township supervisors for a variance of the ordinance that only allows emergency crews to be stationed there overnight. The company is offering to pay the township $1,000 per trailer on the site, but could not say how many workers would be living there.
Range also announced it would repave Ross Road to allow for rig traffic along the township road. Some residents raised concerns about truck traffic on the road and sight lines at some intersections. Township solicitor Gary Sweat said Range plans to “cut back” one particularly dangerous section to increase sight lines in that area.
Debra Aker, a local government affairs liaison for Range, said the company plans to build a sound barrier on the northern side of the rig to prevent noise from reaching a neighborhood on that side of the site.
The supervisors will convene for their monthly voting meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Officials in June unanimously approved a Marcellus Shale drill site on the A&S Landscaping property near Route 19.