After a flurry of land lease activity last year, albeit mostly silent in the form of behind the scenes agreements and legal wrangling, the natural gas rush in Wayne County is beginning 2009 with a visible bang - seismic surveys.
A Texas energy exploration firm continues to crawl along the county’s highways and byways in its large “vibrator” trucks on a mission to prove if the Marcellus Shale thousands of feet below the surface here is indeed viable for drilling.
Evans Geophysical, of Suttons Bay, Michigan, has contracted Dawson Geophysical, of Midland, Texas, to collect data about the shale through a process called seismic surveys, which sends a sound wave - a vibration - through the ground revealing the geologic makeup below, said Evans Geophysical President Annette Evans in a phone interview with The Wayne Independent.
Her company is collecting this data - essentially, acting as a middleman - for energy companies who paid for what she described as a “speculative seismic survey.”
The process isn’t just limited to the Marcellus Shale, said Evans.
But that appears to be the main target as recent natural gas lease activity would suggest.
“We have a group of ... companies who remain anonymous, and they get together and pool their money” for the survey, she said.
Stephen Jumper, Dawson Geophysical President and CEO, has also said: “We don’t disclose who we’re working for - confidentiality agreements.”
At least 1,800 county landowners have signed land leases, giving energy companies the right to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, a vast geologic formation in the Appalachian region that holds trillions of tons of the home heating fuel.
Wayne County lies above it; however, there is only one well drilled, according to state Department of Environmental Protection records.
“It’s a good indicator that hopefully there will be drilling,” she said, of the recent survey action.
Last Tuesday, Dawson Geophysical vibrator trucks, equipped with a large metal, earth-rumbling foot beneath the trucks’ frames, moseyed on the Owego Turnpike through Paupack and Cherry Ridge Townships, The Wayne Independent confirmed.
Yellow and black fiber optic cables, stretching for miles, snaked along the turnpike’s right-of-way.
These cables translate the sound wave into two-dimensional data that will be used by natural gas companies to determine if additional seismic surveys are warranted, said Evans.
Evans Geophysical is gathering the “big picture” during its data collection process - whether the shale exists in certain areas of the county or not.
The company, which is surveying about 80 miles of the county in a wide, but generally continuous roadway network, is not collecting specific Marcellus shale information, such as its extent or the estimated amount of natural gas trapped within it, she said.
If the survey reveals the Marcellus formation below, additional, more specific, seismic surveys will be undertaken by other companies - not Evans Geophysical.
“If you’re approached to shoot ... seismic, you absolutely want to do it,” she said. “Our company, we’re just getting the big picture. We just shoot the data, and we’re gone.”
She expects the survey to wind-up in about two to three weeks, although it may take longer.
The company has also contracted surveys in Bradford, Columbia, Lackawanna, Lycoming, Monroe, Tioga, and Union counties.
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After a flurry of land lease activity last year, albeit mostly silent in the form of behind the scenes agreements and legal wrangling, the natural gas rush in Wayne County is beginning 2009 with a visible bang - seismic surveys.
A Texas energy exploration firm continues to crawl along the county’s highways and byways in its large “vibrator” trucks on a mission to prove if the Marcellus Shale thousands of feet below the surface here is indeed viable for drilling.
Evans Geophysical, of Suttons Bay, Michigan, has contracted Dawson Geophysical, of Midland, Texas, to collect data about the shale through a process called seismic surveys, which sends a sound wave - a vibration - through the ground revealing the geologic makeup below, said Evans Geophysical President Annette Evans in a phone interview with The Wayne Independent.
Her company is collecting this data - essentially, acting as a middleman - for energy companies who paid for what she described as a “speculative seismic survey.”
The process isn’t just limited to the Marcellus Shale, said Evans.
But that appears to be the main target as recent natural gas lease activity would suggest.
“We have a group of ... companies who remain anonymous, and they get together and pool their money” for the survey, she said.
Stephen Jumper, Dawson Geophysical President and CEO, has also said: “We don’t disclose who we’re working for - confidentiality agreements.”
At least 1,800 county landowners have signed land leases, giving energy companies the right to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, a vast geologic formation in the Appalachian region that holds trillions of tons of the home heating fuel.
Wayne County lies above it; however, there is only one well drilled, according to state Department of Environmental Protection records.
“It’s a good indicator that hopefully there will be drilling,” she said, of the recent survey action.
Last Tuesday, Dawson Geophysical vibrator trucks, equipped with a large metal, earth-rumbling foot beneath the trucks’ frames, moseyed on the Owego Turnpike through Paupack and Cherry Ridge Townships, The Wayne Independent confirmed.
Yellow and black fiber optic cables, stretching for miles, snaked along the turnpike’s right-of-way.
These cables translate the sound wave into two-dimensional data that will be used by natural gas companies to determine if additional seismic surveys are warranted, said Evans.
Evans Geophysical is gathering the “big picture” during its data collection process - whether the shale exists in certain areas of the county or not.
The company, which is surveying about 80 miles of the county in a wide, but generally continuous roadway network, is not collecting specific Marcellus shale information, such as its extent or the estimated amount of natural gas trapped within it, she said.
If the survey reveals the Marcellus formation below, additional, more specific, seismic surveys will be undertaken by other companies - not Evans Geophysical.
“If you’re approached to shoot ... seismic, you absolutely want to do it,” she said. “Our company, we’re just getting the big picture. We just shoot the data, and we’re gone.”
She expects the survey to wind-up in about two to three weeks, although it may take longer.
The company has also contracted surveys in Bradford, Columbia, Lackawanna, Lycoming, Monroe, Tioga, and Union counties.
Seismic study’s Wayne County route
Pink survey flags serve as the first indicator that Dawson Geophysical is coming to town.
The flags have been spotted as far north as Preston Township and around Lake Wallenpaupack in the southern tier.
PennDOT provided the Wayne Independent with some records showing where Dawson Geophysical plans to survey.
Numerous townships and boroughs are on the survey path which is mainly on state roads, according to highway occupancy permit records.
Beginning in the northern tier, the path runs from Preston Township on Route 370 then dips south onto Route 247 to Route 670 into the Honesdale area.
Around Honesdale, the survey route heads southeast on Route 191 through Texas and Cherry Ridge Townships, connecting to the Owego Turnpike, which was the center of survey activity last week. It also traverses Route 590, north of Lake Wallenpaupack, and Route 507 in Lehigh Township.
Dawson Geophysical applied for permission to seismic survey along the following roadway right-of-ways. The information, based on state highway occupancy permits, may not be fully complete.
Northern Wayne County:
Route 247, Rock Lake Rd. (Preston, Mount Pleasant area); Como Rd. (Buckingham, Preston area).
Central Wayne County:
Route 6, Route 191, Route 670, Owego Turnpike, School House Rd. (Cherry Ridge); Beech Grove Rd. (Texas); Bridge St. (Texas); Maple Ave. (Texas); Old Salem Pike (Texas, Dyberry area).
Southern Wayne County:
Route 435, Route 507, Route 590, Tobyhanna Rd. (Lehigh).
