Update: Residents Protest Potential Marcellus Shale Drilling at Seneca Valley

Signs in hand, members of Marcellus Outreach Butler positioned themselves outside Seneca Valley before the start of Monday’s school board meeting to protest potential drilling for Marcellus Shale on district property.

The group, which was made up of residents from Seven Fields, Jackson and Cranberry townships among others, also attended the meeting to ask for the district’s support in stopping a natural gas processing plant in Jackson Township.

According to the Jackson Township website, township officials will hold a public meeting on May 16 on a proposed conditional use application to build and operate  a facility  on 71 acres of vacant property along Hartman Road.

Cranberry Township resident Sandra McVeigh said the proposed plant’s location is about a mile from the district’s secondary campus in Jackson Township

“Sites like that should not be near residential property, and they should not be near schools,” she said.

McVeigh was one of several people who spoke at Monday’s school board meeting to voice opposition to Marcellus Shale drilling.

No drilling has occurred on the district properties, but Business Manager Lynn Burtner said officials last summer approved leasing a portion of the secondary campus and a portion of the Rowan Elementary School property to Rex Energy Corp., an independent energy company with properties concentrated in Appalachia, Illinois and the Rockies.

In light of the the district faces for the 2011-2012 school year, officials in March also brought up the possibility of drilling for Marcellus Shale gas on the 142-acre property the district owns on . The property spans Cranberry and Jackson townships.

The property, which the district purchased for $4.5 million in 2002, was once under consideration for new buildings after a predicted spike in school population.

Mirka Fatschel of Seven Fields, who is the mother of three Seneca Valley students, said she didn't want Marcellus Shale drilling to take place near any of the schools.

“There are many health issues we are worried about,” she said.

Marcellus Shale gas drilling involves extracting natural gas from shale rock. Some people have raised concerns about environmental and public health risks poised by drilling. Others have as a boon for the local economy.

Fatschel falls into the former category. She said she worries about a possible explosion at one of the sites, or that gas emitted from the drilling could contaminate the air students breathe and lead to health issues.

Jackson Township resident Lou Hancherick, who lives less than 1,000 feet from the school’s secondary campus, said he was concerned that “fracking” -- the process of cracking the shale rock so that natural gas can flow freely -- would taint the well water he depends on.

“If you proceed to allow drilling and my water supply is affected, I’m putting you on notice I have the right to sue, and I will do so,” he told school officials. 

Fatschel said that only recently she learned of the district's lease agreements for Marcellus Shale drilling. Last week, she and other members of Marcellus Outreach Butler also began distributing neon-orange fliers to Seneca Valley residents, asking them to attend next Monday’s public hearing on the gas processing plant in Jackson Township.

Fatschel said she felt there wasn’t enough public input on Seneca Valley’s decision to lease property for Marcellus Shale drilling. Other parents, she said, were equally shocked to learn of the district's lease agreements.

“People need to speak up about the health and welfare of our children,” she said. “This is going through so fast that it’s not on people’s radar.”

Burtner said the lease at Rowan Elementary is a non-surface lease, which means no wells can be drilled on the property. The secondary campus, she said, has a restricted surface lease.

“It’s a very small portion of land,” she said.

Board President Robert Hill said an agreement for the Ehrman Road property is in the works. Officials have not set a date to vote on that property, he said.

Burtner said the district received a one-time lease payment of $275,000 for five years from Rex Energy. If drilling occurs, she said, the district would receive a 15 percent share of the royalties for gas produced and sold.

“It’s going to be a moneymaker,” Hill said. 

Hill said the board closely examined the pros and cons of Marcellus Shale drilling. Hill, who has children in the Seneca Valley School District, said he couldn’t find any health-related issues in his studies that would prevent him from voting for the lease agreements.

“I haven’t heard anything that would make me change my mind,” he said.