PAGE 10 THE DALLAS POST Sunday, April 18, 2010 LAKE TWP. LEHMAN TWP. SUPERVISORS LIFESMARTS TEAM LAUDED SUPERVISORS TE rr e— SL a Drilling concerns aired at meeting Residents worried about water-testing, road use and industry procedures. By EILEEN GODIN Correspondent Residents attending the April 14 supervisor’s meeting voiced concerns about gas drilling set to begin this summer. Those wor- ries included questions about procedures, well-water testing, and road maintenance. In July, a Marcellus Shale nat- ural gas drilling operation with EnCana Oil and Gas USA of Den- ver, Colo. will come to the town- ship. The site of the operation is owned by supervisor Amy Salan- sky. Salansky said the farm was pre- viously owned by an older neigh- bor, who willed the gas and min- eral rights to a nephew and gave Salansky and her husband the “first right to buy” the land. “The agreement was already made when we purchased the farm,” Salansky said. Residents within a mile radius of the site have received letters from EnCana stating a voluntari- ly assessment of well water will be scheduled immediately. Salan- sky said the letter states a third- party environmental firm, Ret- tew, of Lancaster, will collect wa- ter samples. Samples will be sent to a state-certified lab at no cost to residents. The letter stated if residents want to use a lab of their choice to test water, the sample will be split by Rettew and sent to a sec- ond lab. Residents would pay the cost. With 75 percent of the town- ship’s roads being dirt, residents questioned supervisors on road routes EnCana may use and who would be responsible for mainte- nance and repairs. Chairman of supervisors Lon- nie Piatt said the township roads are not bonded yet, but the town- ship has an agreement with En- Cana. He said it is possible that EnCana will hire a contractor for road maintenance. It is undecided which routes will be used. Salansky said they have not sat down with EnCana officials yet to determine which incoming and exiting routes will be used. Barney Dobinick, the town- ship’s emergency management coordinator, said it is possible that the trucks will run on a dif- ferent schedule then school bus- es, so the two are not navigating streets at the same time. Dobinick said EnCana has pro- vided him with a list of chemicals to be used on-site and a list of their safety guidelines. He also has the Department of Environ- mental Protections regulations for gas drilling. In other news, the annual spring cleanup will be held May 8 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the mu- nicipal building. Residents must provide proof of residency and pay $15 per pick- up truckload, $20 for large pick- ups and $6 per car load. An addi- tional $6 fee will be applied for the following items: washers, overstuffed chairs, couches, dressers, televi- sion sets, hot water heaters, boil- ers, furnaces, stoves and large ap- dryers, carpets, pliances. The following items will not be accepted: tires, hazardous wastes, chemicals, brush, tree stumps, cinder blocks, animal waste, shingles, sheet rock or other building materials, garbage and freezers, refrigerators con- taining Freon and air condition- ers. DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER The Lehman Township board of supervisors approved an ordinance on April 13 allowing EnCana Oil and Gas Inc. to allow the company to begin natural gas drilling operations near Peaceful Valley Road. From left to right are Attorney M. John Haley, Jon Rogers, David Sutton, Ray Iwa- nowski and Douglas Ide. Drilling plans move forward By RALPH NARDONE Correspondent Township residents will get a new neighbor when EnCana Oil and Gas Inc. begins drilling for natural gas in late summer. Township officials voted unanimously on April 13 to ap- prove an ordinance allowing the company to start Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations near Peaceful Valley Road. Board of supervisors Vice Chairman Ray Iwanowski made the motion to enact the ordinance and Chairman David Sutton and supervisor Douglas Ide voted yes. Township zoning board solic- itor Jack Haley addressed a well-mannered crowd of about 70 people before the vote, es- sentially telling them the town- ship was in no position to halt the company’s plans. Some residents who ex- pressed opposition wanted the supervisors to “send a mess- age” by not enacting the ordi- nance, Haley said. That would have amounted to “civil disobe- dience,” he said. According to Haley, all au- thority to halt drilling oper- ations in any municipality in Pennsylvania lies in the hands of state agencies, not local gov- ernments. The township’s rules are “superseded” by the state Oil and Gas Act, he said. The state Supreme Court al- ready reviewed two similar cases, he added, and decided the only authority Lehman Township has applies to what roads EnCana can use. Haley also addressed con- cerns raised that two of the su- pervisors, Ide and Sutton, have personal ties to gas drilling. Ide leased some of his own land for gas drilling, and Sutton con- sults property owners concern- ing drilling, Haley said. Both members could only second the motion or vote yes but could not participate in any questions about the vote or make the original motion. The only supervisor who could make the motion was Iwanow- ski. The state Ethics Commis- sion checked into the potential conflict of interest involving the two supervisors. Iwanowski outlined six con- ditions to the motion: that En- Cana put up $13,540 to main- tain Firehouse Road through the total time it is used; EnCana put up $32,192 to maintain Peaceful Valley Road similarly; all traffic related to the drilling traverse on Firehouse Road to- ward state Route ate 118; no traffic will go on Old Route 115 in the township (near the school); En- Cana provide adequate insur- ance coverage for the township, and that a legally binding agree- ment be signed by EnCana holding it to its commitment. No representatives from En- Cana attended the meeting. About 25 peaceful protesters were there greeting meeting at- tendees at the door with anti- drilling literature. Leanne Ma- zurick, 30, of Dallas Township, stressed the industry is essen- tially “unregulated.” She said residents in other communities of northeastern Pennsylvania are having trouble with water contamination where there is “We want safeguards put in place,” she said. Karen Belli, of Dallas Town- ship, and member of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, emphasized a long list of ills that arise from local gas drill- ing. She pointed out that home- owners in one local community have to use “water buffaloes” for their water supply because of contamination. Belli also questioned how su- pervisors Ide and Sutton could be involved in the vote knowing their connections to the indus- try. Not all in attendance were op- posed. Barry Edwards, of Leh- man Township, said the con- cerns about water are just a “ha- rangue.” He added that in Sus- quehanna County the drilling companies have made the roads Iwanowski said fixed-income 1 elderly residents and farmers facing large debt are finding the gas drilling a financial “god- send.” He said the ordinance allows EnCana to drill only vertically. If the company wishes to ex- pand horizontally under- ground, that will require anoth- er vote from the township. KINGSTON TWP. SUPERVISORS Board seeks OK on police manual By REBECCA BRIA | rbria@timesleader.com The board of supervisors vot- ed April 14 to have the chief of police sign off on the police de- partment’s accreditation manual. Police Sgt. Michael Moravec explained the police depart- ment is in the process of trying to become accredited by the state. However, sign-off from the chief is needed on an ac- creditation manual to proceed. Moravec is filling in as chief of police while Chief James Ba- lavage is out on medical leave. Balavage is expected to return in May, Moravec said. In addition, the accreditation manager from the department, Officer Michael Huntzinger, is also out on medical leave. Moravec explained the ac- creditation manual contains 130 policies and procedures. It must be approved by the ac- creditation board, followed by a mock-up, recommendations by the board, and an on-site re- view. Supervisor Jeffrey Box said the supervisors have supported the police department becom- ing accredited for the past six years. Box said it is frustrating that it still has not been com- pleted. The supervisors voted to con- tact Balavage and have him sign the accreditation manual be- fore his return. Land preservation project The supervisors approved writing a letter on behalf of the township in support of a land preservation project. Rick Koval, of the North Branch Land Trust, asked the supervisors to send a letter of support for the project. Koval said the land trust is applying for a grant from the Pennsylva- nia Department of Conserva- tion and Natural Resources. If the trust is awarded the fund- ing, it will be used to purchase development rights for 280 acres of forest land owned by the Lands at Hillside Farms. Koval said each acre is ap- praised at about $4,000 and the state will award 50 percent of the total value of the land as a conservation easement value. Also, the land will be guaran- teed to be protected from being developed forever, he said. The forest land is located in both Kingston and Jackson townships, Koval said. Wind energy facilities ordinance Approval was granted to draft an ordinance on the operation of wind energy facilities based on an ordinance adopted by Ha- nover Township. Chairman of supervisors James Reino said the ordinance is meant for larger windmills and not residential ones. Reino said the ordinance will not dis- allow windmills, but is a safety measure. Road name changed Church Road, located off of Route 309, was approved to be renamed to West Church Road through the E-911 addressing project. Another Church Road exists in the township in the Carverton Heights area. FEMA flood map The new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood- plain map for the township was approved. The solicitor will re- vie the map and it will be avail- able at the municipal building for public review. DAMA request approved The supervisors approved the request of Dallas Area Mu- nicipal Authority to be a con- duit issuer on behalf of Miser- icordia University’s endeavors to refinance bonds and notes. The request does not obli- gate the township in any way not does it make the township liable for any part of the pay- ment. Reino said DAMA needed ap- proval from the township be- cause it is one of the townships that founded DAMA. Zoning hearing board term altered A new ordinance was ap- proved to change the term of of- fice for members of the zoning hearing board from three years to five years. The measure is in accordance with a section of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. Donation approved A budgeted donation of $1,000 was approved for the Dallas High School 2010 gradu- ation lock-in. The Dallas High School LifeSmarts team received citations from Rep. Karen Boback and Senator Lisa Baker at a recent Dal- las School Board meeting. LifeSmarts tests students’ knowl- edge in five areas: consumer rights and responsibilities, health and safety, personal finance, technology and the environment. The Dallas team was one of nine teams to qualify for state com- petition in Harrisburg. From left, first row, are Kevin West, coach; Katelyn Reinert, team captain; Monica Esopi, and Lois Redmond, co-coach. Second row, Pierce Donovan, Sen. Baker, Kevin Hunter, Boback and Tim Reinert. ROTARY, FRIENDLY’S COMBINE FORCES ) : aml a The Dallas Rotary Club and Friendly’s in Dallas joined forces "recently to host a tasty fundraising event. More'than $500 was raised through a donation from the store ‘and additional dona- tions from their customers. The funds will benefit the annual Dallas Rotary Club Book Scholarship Program which awards six $500 scholarships to area high school seniors from Dallas, Lake-Lehman and Northwest School Districts who are heading off to college in the fall. The awards dinner will take place in May. Seated is Randy Loyd. From left, standing, are Rotarians Ann Marie Konek, Todd Buckley, John Rhoads and Paul Saxon. TWO BMT STUDENTS EARN ROTC AWARDS f Christopher Box, left, of Shavertown, and Brian Haughwout, of ) Trucksville, both students at the University of Pittsburgh, re- cently won awards during Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Train- ing Corps) Parents’ Day Awards Ceremony. Cadet Box, a sopho- more, is majoring in mechanical engineering and won the Pitts- burgh Post Society of American Military Engineers ROTC Award. It is given annually to an outstanding freshman and sophomore cadet majoring in engineering or science. Cadet Haughwout, a freshman mathematics student, won the American Veterans Award awarded to a freshman cadet found to possess a positive attitude towards Air Force ROTC, a neat personal appearance, outstanding personal attributes and demonstrating officer po- tential.
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