The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

September 5, 2012

Seismic survey info sessions set

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SLIPPERY ROCK — Mercer County residents who want to find out more about the seismic surveying that will help oil and gas companies figure out where to drill will have to travel to Butler County this week.

Discovery Acquisition Services, one of the companies that will be conducting the surveying, is hosting a pair of town-hall style meetings today and Thursday to explain the process they use to determine where natural gas may be trapped in the Marcellus Shale that lies below the region.

Tonight’s meeting is set for 5 to 7 at Jennings Environmental Education Center, 2951 Prospect Road, outside of Slippery Rock.

The company will hold a second meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Slippery Rock Fire Hall, 162 Elm St.

Jim White, president of business development for the company, told the Allied News for today’s edition that they’ll begin flagging areas for survey in Mercer County later this month.

The Katy, Texas, company is looking for Marcellus Shale oil and gas deposits that are deep underground and will later report their findings to gas and oil companies, which will use that data to pinpoint the best areas to drill exploratory wells for hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

White said the testing methods involve vibrations and dynamite and the company is “incentivized to do things right.”

That means surveying 300 feet away from structures like homes, water wells and bodies of water and working around the property owners who haven’t given Discovery Acquisition permission to perform the testing, he told the Grove City newspaper.

A company map indicates plans to survey areas in Hermitage, Mercer and Shenango, Wilmington, Lackawannock, East Lackawannock, Jefferson, Delaware, Fairview, Jackson, Findley, Springfield, Lake, Perry, Sandy Creek, Deer Creek, Otter Creek, and Sugar Grove townships.

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