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Consol answers questions at forum
BOARDMAN
They came with questions and left with answers.
That was the point of a public forum Thursday at the Holiday Inn, said Consol Energy officials.
The meeting was a chance for Consol experts in drilling, leasing and other areas to address concerns of residents interested in leasing mineral rights.
Consol is a Pittsburgh-based company that produces coal and natural gas. The company will have another information session at Leo’s Ristorante in Howland from 4 to 7 p.m. May 22.
Denny Markley of Canfield owns about 20 acres of farmland in Ellsworth. He’s looked at mineral-rights leasing contracts before from other companies.
“It wasn’t so much about the money. It’s the protection of the land that I’m interested in,” he said.
A common concern, mentioned by Markley and another forum attendee, Fran Burns, is water.
“I have septic and a well on my land. I want to maintain my water supply,” said Burns, who owns 20 acres in Bristol.
Consol’s general manager of Utica operations, Harry Schurr, said the company has an “extensive casing program” with multiple layers, and also a water- testing and sampling program.
The company has been drilling within the Marcellus Shale for several years and recycles all of the water used in the fracking process and hopes to do the same with Utica Shale drilling, Schurr said.
“We’re not there yet with the particulars [for the Utica],” he said. The Marcellus wastewater is left to settle and is treated, if needed, and then used in other fracking wells.
Consol is active in Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage, Noble and Tuscarawas counties in Ohio. Consol’s first well in Mahoning will be on Western Reserve Road near White House Fruit Farm, Schurr said.