Work continues on new school site

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Neighbors | Submitted.The Austintown School District contracted Pluggers, Inc. from Niles to cap a natural gas well between Frank Ohl and Fitch. The district never received free gas from the well only small royalty checks each quarter.

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Neighbors | Submitted.Pluggers, Inc. from Niles pulled approximately one-mile of pipes that were more than 5,200 feet deep to cap a natural gas well that ran between Fitch and Frank Ohl. The well was originally installed in 1986.

The Austintown School District had a natural gas well located near the soccer field between Frank Ohl and Fitch capped June 6.

Pluggers, Inc. from Niles was subcontracted to pull almost one-mile of pipe that was more than 5,200 feet deep from a well that was installed in 1986. Within that depth there were pipes in 30 feet lengths that had to be pulled up and removed. Once the pipes were pulled and stacked to be recycled, cement was mixed and forced into the hole to fill the well.

As the concrete mixture was forced into the hole, water was pushed to the surface. A temporary retaining pond was dug and lined with plastic to capture and hold the water. The retainage pond was needed to protect the district from any possible soil contamination from the water that surfaced.

The water that was collected was gathered from the pond and removed from the site for proper disposal. Then the pond was refilled with the original soil.

The following week, the process of removing the 2-inch pipe that ran from the well site to the gas collection and storage tank began. The gas pipes were buried between four and five feet deep and ran from the gas well, across Falcon Drive, along the fence by Watson Elementary parking lot and around to the back of the bus garage.

The method of removal was to dig following the pipe line and every 20 or 30 feet pull a section of the pipe out.

The district never received free gas from this well. A small royalty check was received each quarter.