SOMERSET —
A growing number of local and regional municipal authorities in Somerset and Cambria counties are getting into the business of supplying water for the natural gas industry.
For the past year, the Lincoln Township Municipal Authority in Somerset County has been selling up to 350,000 gallons of water per day on an as-needed basis to two energy companies, said authority Chairman Bruce Hottle.
The water is drawn from fire hydrants in the township by companies working on behalf of Chief Oil & Gas and Samson Resources, Hottle said.
Quemahoning Dam is the source of the water, he said.
“Without the Que pipeline we wouldn’t be able to sell the water to the drilling companies,” he said.
Water is a key component in the drilling process to tap the rich Marcellus Shale beds.
Industry estimates are that about a million gallons of water is needed for the vertical drilling while five million gallons or more is used for the horizontal fracking process to release the gas.
Somerset Borough officials have been authorized to negotiated with gas companies interested in purchasing water for drilling, Borough Manager Ben Vinzani said.
“We’ve had some interest. We’re inviting talks” he said.
The borough has a customer base of about 3,000 homes and businesses, but also services two state prisons.
The Somerset Township Municipal Authority is also considering selling water for the drilling and fracking process.
“We’ve talked about it, but we haven’t done anything yet,” said authority manager Nancy Aultz.
Advertisements in recent editions of The Tribune-Democrat notify the public that Chief Oil & Gas has filed an application with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission seeking approval to divert up to 249,000 gallons of water daily from the Cambria Somerset Authority in Summerhill Township.
The water will be drawn from the Pristine Pump Station, one mile northeast of the intersection of Law Street and Willow Beach Road.
According to the application, the water will be used for development of natural gas wells.
Chief has also applied to the basin commission for approval to divert up to 249,000 gallons of water per day drawn from Ebensburg at the Ebensburg Municipal Airport hydrant. It is located at the intersection of Route 22 and Pensacola Road in Cambria Township.
The commission’s approval is needed because it will impact the amount of water flowing into the Susquehanna River basin.
Water from the lower half of Cambria County and Somerset County flows west to the Ohio River. That watershed does not have a regulatory commission similar to the Susquehanna.
A similar application was made by Chief seeking permission from the Susquehanna commission to divert water taken from a hydrant in
Portage Township for use in drilling Marcellus wells in Blair County.
The water will be sold by Highland Sewer and Water Authority to Chief.
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