SMYRNA – A natural gas exploration and development company conducted more seismic testing along county Routes 14 and 22 and Quaker Hill Road in the Town of Smyrna last weekend, and an area in the Town of Preston near county Rt. 18 was scheduled for some tests Tuesday.
Supervisor James Bays, D-Smyrna, said crews from Nornew, a company with offices in the Eaton Center in Norwich, have been drilling day and night.
“They are drilling 24/7 right now. You can see the towers lit up like the state fair (at night),” he said, adding that an underground vibration from the explosions could be felt but were “nothing significant.”
“When they come to a home fairly close to the road, they do in fact turn their machine to a lower level. This confirms that they (Nornew) are sensitive to homeowners,” Bays said.
Large quantities of natural gas have been discovered in northern Chenango and Madison counties since Nornew and other natural gas exploration companies began operations in the region about a decade ago. There are approximately 40 wells in Madison County, currently, and the company has plans to drill another 8 to 10 in 2009, Bays said.
Eight wells have been drilled in Smyrna. “They (Nornew) are definitely going forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t have another five or six wells by the course of next year,” the Smyrna supervisor said.
Nornew executives in Norwich and Buffalo did not return phone calls to provide details for this article by deadline.
The Chenango County Highway Department granted permits for the new testing on the Smyrna routes in January. Permits were issued last year for county roads 18, 8 and 30 toward Bainbridge, according to Randy Gibbon, director.
Municipalities have also granted permits for seismic testing along right-of-ways on routes 16, 26, 10, and 10A.
Gibbon said he had been directed by the county’s attorney on application procedures and now forwards copies of approved permits to town supervisors to alert them in advance of testing. Chenango County Public Works Committee Chairman Harry W. Conley said county attorney Richard Breslin had not yet written the county’s policy for testing along the county’s right-of-ways, for bonding or for other insurance protections, however.
“He (Breslin) has not addressed it to my knowledge at all,” Conley said Wednesday. Breslin could not be reached for comment.
Bays said the Town of Lebanon experienced $30,000 in highway damages caused by seismic testing. Nornew picked up the tab. Nornew is also, according to Bays, working more closely with town supervisors and highway officials.
Bays said county lawmakers should still be concerned about the potentially damaging affects of testing and drilling on aquifers: “Our watershed and our viewshed are the main natural resources that we have. It should concern us all.” He also pointed to a need for more oversight on the natural gas exploration industry from the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Public Services Commission and the state’s legislature.
The Public Works Committee last week passed a resolution to refer the issue of natural gas exploration to the Agriculture, Buildings & Grounds and Economic Development committees for input. “We need to begin to get our arms around the potential of tapping into this new energy source for economic reasons,” Bays said. “We need to see if we can’t draw off some benefit for all who have this resource under their soil.”
Committee members Peter C. Flanagan, D-Preston, said people need to pay close attention to what’s going on in the leasing process. “Landowners need to keep up to speed on this,” he said. “Read articles. See what others are getting for their leases.”