North Strabane Closer to Gas Deal

North Strabane wants a sweeter deal for land it may lease to Range Resources, officials said at the Board of Supervisors’ non-legislative meeting Tuesday.

All told, the township is considering leasing 141 acres to the natural gas company for horizontal, non-surface drilling. Land upon which the township building sits accounts for 81 of those acres, with the remaining 60 coming from property that houses a composting facility off of Lindley Road.

But as of the last meeting officials had with the company, the proposed deal didn’t meet the expectations of Township Manager Frank Siffrinn.

While Range Resources offered $3,000 per acre and 17.5-percent royalties this past January in a , the company offered $2,500 per acre and 16-percent royalties this time around, Siffrinn said.

“Range is the only game in town now,” he said, adding that officials plan to meet with the company later this month.

Siffrinn said he thinks the lack of competition Range Resources has in the region contributes to the lower offer, which company representatives described to him as a standard rate.

Nothing has been finalized, Siffrinn added, and he is hopeful the township can secure a deal identical to the last one.

During the discussion, Eighty-Four resident Glenn Choate interrupted Siffrinn with a suggestion.

“Gentlemen, I’d push them,” Choate called out. “Even if they are the only game in town.”

Choate, who said he lives “15 feet” from North Strabane’s border, belongs to a group called the 84 Marcellus Shale Gas Lease Consortium. The bloc consists of landowners working together to prevent residents from settling for bad land deals.

Earlier in the meeting, Choate spoke to the board about his concern that a Range Resources deal in nearby Nottingham Township would bring trucks along Gilkeson Road and into North Strabane.

“The road is too narrow for two trucks to pass at the same time,” Choate said, adding that school buses also use the route. “We all think that’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Drilling may not commence for a few years, Choate said, but if the company buys up more land by then, transportation issues could be worse.

“Range Resources land men are all over the place,” Choate said.

Siffrinn responded to the concern by saying that a township ordinance would require the company to contact officials before bringing trucks through its roadways. But that might not last for long.

A bill moving through Harrisburg that would allow the state to enforce standardized gas industry regulations could come to a vote by the end of the year. If it passes, Siffrinn said, the township may have little say in the issue.

“That whole subject matter is up in the air,” Siffrinn said. “What they’re talking about doing is preempting virtually all local regulation.”