"What does Marcellus Shale look like?"
}:-)4
Posted on 05/28/2010 5:50:01 AM PDT by Born Conservative
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski held a news conference recently to talk about a federal money for water system improvements at local industrial parks but also touted another resource that he believes should be developed.
"We have to have protection and clarity of our water and we have to have the value of the resource of natural gas. Together those two resources can be most prosperous for Northeastern Pennsylvania," Kanjorski, D-11, said.
The congressman offered some unsolicited advice to property owners in the Hazleton area: Don't sell property without reserving gas and oil rights.
"You'll be very, very sorry if you do," Kanjorski said.
He added that recoverable gas lines from Marcellus Shale are estimated to be anywhere from $1 trillion to $7 trillion in value - enough to pay off the national debt.
"That's a lot of money. As my friend (Vice President) Joe Biden said, 'That's a big f'n deal,'" Kanjorski said.
He went on to say that Wilkes-Barre and Scranton will end up being the energy cities of Pennsylvania.
"That ought to benefit everyone and we don't consider Hazleton the poor cousin by any stretch of the imagination. Hazleton is going to prosper too; that's if you don't give away your land," Kanjorski said.
All of Luzerne County has gas deposits and can become the center of gas development, according to Kanjorski.
The congressman didn't know that 15 years ago when he helped Earth Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental group, land a $20 million grant to buy 16,000 acres following the bankruptcy of the landowner, Blue Coal Co.
"In the process of negotiating that sale with the trustee of the Blue Coal estate, I insisted that we get title and interest to all of the land resources known and unknown until the time of the sale," Kanjorski, a former lawyer, said.
Turns out, Blue Coal's holdings included the gas and oil rights to another 45,000 acres in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne counties, "most or all of which has gas deposits," Kanjorski said.
"A conservative estimate is that it will gain in value probably in about 30 or 40 years from anywhere from $500 million to $5 billion," he said. "That's a pretty good lucky break but that's what is going to happen in the Hazleton area because you have the same type of resources."
Earth Conservancy is now in its 16th year and Kanjorski has been a big supporter of the organization, according to Earth Conservancy President and CEO Michael Dziak.
"He has added his help to get Earth Conservancy started and he added his help in getting $14 million - a huge amount to purchase the land from Blue Coal - and he has continued to do a "yeoman" job on all of Earth Conservancy projects" Dziak said.
Earth Conservancy has since sold off about 2,000 acres of the land for residential development and open spaces, including 1,700 acres of state forest land, but retained gas and oil rights, according to Dziak.
"It remains to be seen whether it will be valued as high as Kanjorski and others have speculated on it," Dziak said.
Dziak explained that conservancy officials have worked with geologists to try to understand if pockets of gas exist in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties. He said gas companies have found prime deposits in the north and west ends of the counties but it would be "pure speculation" to say other areas, including the former Blue Coal property, are worth tapping.
None of the companies have contacted Earth Conservancy to date but will begin testing wells nearby in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, which will help determine how far the gas deposits have migrated and where drillers should focus, Dziak said.
"If there is gas in our land, that would be a Godsend for economic recovery," he said.
Until then, Dziak said Earth Conservancy will continue work toward cleaning up reclaimed land in Northeastern Pennsylvania left scarred by coal barons many years ago.
Earth Conservancy has reclaimed 1,200 acres of land at a cost of $22 million over the past 16 years. The revenue to clean up culm banks and other land stripped of coal came from previous land sales, grants from the state's Growing Greener program, and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to Dziak.
"It would be ironic to get money from gas companies to pay for damage done by coal companies many years ago. We are still paying on a loan from the state for developing land that hopefully will bring jobs here," Dziak said.
Ping
Damn.
A relative of mine sold a 57 acre farm about 20 miles from Hazelton, for a song. Wish I had known this before.
Oh well, win some lose some.
ping
Ed Rendell can barely contain his drooling these days when he thinks about the potential “revenue stream”.
Don’t feel bad. The Greenies will lock that gas up tighter then a drum. Can’t be using any of our resources you know, bad for Gaia.....
...that is, unless Marcellus Shale is a freshman phenom running back at Penn State...
Here in SW PA, it’s like the Beverly Hillbillies. . .near bankrupt farmers now leasing their mineral rights for big $$. It’s a beautiful, untold story.
HOWEVER, I can’t see a whole lot of “economic recovery” going on or local job creation - almost every plate on every truck is a Texas plate and every weekend there are more and more of them in the parking lots of the hotels in the areas.
YES, it’s spurring *some* influx of spending in our region (that never seemed to get out of the recession of the 70’s) - ESPECIALLY at the casino. (MONEY we’ll never see).
I hope Lou Barletta beats his sorry ass.
"What does Marcellus Shale look like?"
}:-)4
Don’t feel bad. The Greenies will lock that gas up tighter then a drum. Can’t be using any of our resources you know, bad for Gaia.....
That element is definitely out there. The interesting thing is that at this stage, they appear to be losing the battle to greedy Democrat pols, desperate for new streams of revenue that they can SPEND SPEND SPEND!
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