Huntley & Huntley continues to make Upper Burrell in Westmoreland County, PA a key area of focus. In January we told you about H&H’s plans to add two more well pads in Upper Burrell, numbers 10 and 11 (see Huntley & Huntley Proposes Shale Wells 10 & 11 in Upper Burrell). And now, just a few months later, yet another new H&H well pad is being planned–number 12.
This latest pad is called the Hephaestus well pad project and is located on Merwin Road near the intersection of Whitten Hollow Road in the township. An application is being worked on but has not yet been filed with the state Dept. of Environmental Protection. According to an H&H spokesperson, “It’s very early in the process.”
By our count, this pad will host well number 12 that H&H has applied to drill in the town.
In October 2017, Upper Burrell supervisors approved a plan by Huntley & Huntley to drill four shale wells in the town. The supervisors endured an extremely hostile crowd as they voted to approve the plan (see H&H Drilling in Upper Burrell Gets Final Approval, Raucous Crowd). Those wells, at lease some of them, have since been drilled.
H&H came back with a plan to drill another five wells at the same location–the Zeus well pad–in October 2018 (see Huntley & Huntley Drilling Another 5 Wells in Upper Burrell, PA). That time there was no crowd opposing the plan. Just a simple, quiet approval by town supervisors.
And then wells 10 & 11 were announced in January. And now, number 12:
Plans for a new, unconventional natural gas well pad are underway for the Hephaestus well pad project on Merwin Road near the intersection of Whitten Hollow Road in Upper Burrell.
Civil & Environmental Consultants of Murrysville is currently working on the application to the state Department of Environmental Protection from Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration.
“It’s very early in the process,” said Kimberly Price, communications director for Huntley & Huntley.
The energy company has secured private leases for the drilling operations but the path of the well will be determined as a later date, she said.
Price expects it will take a year to move through the DEP and township application processes.
The township doesn’t know many details about the well pad project, only that it recently received notification, according to Ross Walker, chair of the Board of Supervisors.
No residents have called with issues or questions at this point, according to Walker.
The project entails a gas well pad about 480 feet long by 330 feet wide. The driveway to the pad would be about 1,860 feet long, according to information sent to Upper Burrell supervisors.
If DEP approves the project, then the township would likely have its approval process as well, according to Melissa Cortileso, township secretary. The township would likely require a conditional use hearing and township supervisor approval, she said.*
*Pittsburgh (PA) Tribune-Review (Apr 8, 2019) – Plans underway for new gas well pad in Upper Burrell
This post appeared first on Marcellus Drilling News.