Pocono News Section

Gas drilling traffic has landowners thinking twice

Gas drilling traffic has landowners thinking twice - Friday, March 26, 2010 at 04:02AM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Friday March 26 2010
Gas drilling is leaving behind a bigger mess than many people expected in Bradford County . Landowners who lease their property for gas drilling get a royalty paycheck some get one every month. But people we talked with say they're spending that money for power washing their homes and fixing damage to their cars. In rural Terry Township , Bradford County , natural gas drilling has changed the landscape and some wish they could change their decision to lease their land. Mindy Milliron of Terry Township said, "if I could have went back i wouldn't have sold my rights to anybody." Milliron says she has to change the way she drives nearly everywhere. Trucks used for different phases of gas drilling have clogged up normally quite roads and left behind a mess. Milliron wants companies like Chesapeke Energy, the company drilling the most here to make changes. Milliron said, "Fixing the roads so they're drivable, people with cars can actually drive on them and not worry about breaking something. It's an extremely big deal." Dust on roads is a big problem as well, just ask Jackie Vanderpool, owner of Jackie's Hair and Tanning Salon. Vanderpool said, "When you have a nice day you want to open your windows and I can't." Drilling traffic has also affected Vanderpool's business. Vanderpool said, "I do have some clients that have said to me, you know, when the roads get better we'll be back but for now we're going to go somewhere else. So yeah, I have lost some business." PennDOT says gas companies are cooperative about making repairs to roads like this. A PennDOT spokeswoman says drilling and roads it affects is relatively new so fixing them is work in progress. Gas companies like Chesapeke Energy are responsible for paying for road repairs if their vehicles cause damage. Calls to Chesapeke Energy were not immediately returned.