Gas companies now looking at upgrading local roads before they use them

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: March 19, 2010

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Review Photo/JAMES LOEWENSTEIN While repairs have been made to Bridge Street in Towanda, there are still some rough areas.

Burlington Township Supervisor Ed Grant said he was encouraged to learn at Wednesday's meeting of the Bradford County Gas Advisory Committee that the state Department of Transportation has a policy of shutting down unsafe roads so that damage caused by heavy truck traffic can be repaired, and that gas drilling companies have become interested in upgrading local roads before they use them so that they will better withstand heavy truck traffic.

It was Grant who raised the issue of damaged roads at the March 11 meeting of the Bradford County commissioners, and who asked for the kind of summit that occurred at Wednesday's meeting of the Bradford County Gas Advisory Committee - where the county commissioners, township supervisors, aides to state legislators and representatives of Chesapeake Energy Corp., which is the most active drilling company in the county, all met in the same room to discuss the deteriorated condition of local roads.

Earlier this month, PennDOT shut down Clapper Hill Road (state Route 1001) in Tuscarora Township for a little more than a week so that the damage to the road caused by trucks used by Chesapeake Energy Corp. could be repaired, said Brian J. Toseki, the maintenance services manager for PennDOT District 3-0.

And earlier this month, PennDOT shut down a state route in Tioga County for two days so that damage caused by gas industry trucks could be repaired, PennDOT officials said.

During the shutdowns, the roads were closed to all traffic except local traffic, said Tracey Mausteller, the pavement manager for PennDOT District 3-0.

Both roads have since been reopened, said Rick Mason, a spokesman for PennDOT.

"If the roads are unsafe and (the gas companies) are not keeping up with the repairs, then we will close down the road except for the local traffic" until the road is repaired and made safe, Mausteller said.

However, Mason said Thursday that PennDOT would only close a road as "a last resort."

At Wednesday's meeting, Brad Wittrock, a field superintendent for Chesapeake, said that Chesapeake had tried to keep Clapper Hill Road repaired before it was closed. "It (the closure) was not due to a lack of effort (by Chesapeake)," he said. "We were out there (repairing it). It just deteriorated faster than we could fix it. Stuff happened overnight. We got a thaw and roads went down."

The freeze-thaw cycle coupled with heavy truck traffic has caused widespread damage to a lot of roads in Bradford County, Mason said.

Even though a gas companies may have many road crews deployed to repair the damage, "they are having difficulty staying ahead of the repairs right now."

Being proactive

Gas drilling companies in the area are now interested in doing upgrades to certain roads before they start drilling, "so they don't have to keep going back on a regular basis to make repairs," Mason said.

The upgrades would involve repairs to the blacktop and improvements to the base "to build up the structure of the road so that it can adequately handle heavy truck traffic," he said.

"A lot of the secondary roads in Bradford County are 'pie-crust roads'," Mason explained. "Typically they do not have a real strong base."

Gas drilling companies will be more likely to upgrade roads proactively if they will be using them over a number of years, he said.

Grant also said it is critical that residents call PennDOT at 1-800-FIX-ROAD to report damage to state routes caused by heavy truck traffic. And citizens also need to call their township supervisors to report road damage to township roads that is caused by heavy truck traffic, he said.

Reporting the damage is how PennDOT and the townships "will know where the problems lie," Grant said.

"From day to day, road conditions can change drastically on some of these roads" so without a call from a resident, PennDOT may not be aware that a road has severely deteriorated, Mason said.

An attempt by The Review to obtain comment for this story from Chesapeake Energy Thursday evening was unsuccessful.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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19 posted comments

I plan to sue the owner of the land on which the well is being drilled in Dushore. The damage to my under carriage is extreme, my gas is leaking. When I voice my concerns to the supervisor at the drill site, he said maybe I should move, because they're drilling three more right there. He said all the roads will be like that. I'm not leaving.
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Boycott Hunsinger Farms,  03/20/10 9:41
You can't expect work to be done without wear occuring! last I knew things didn't just magically get done without anything happening leading up to it being done! The roads in PA SUCK end point! The heavy truck traffic didn't help matters but atleast they are stepping to the plate to help fix the problems they have created and working towards addressing any future problem before they occur! It does suck for some of the less fortunate whois roads are in poor shape now and I wish them well in getting they back to shape for you! gotta give them a chance to get to them cant expect them to have it done in a blink of an eye! if that was the case hell I think we all would have more done in our life time! And from what I hear we are barely scratching the surface of what drilling is on its way!

I hope they plan to look and work to ensure that drinking water supplies are not become contaiminated! There is a few things that I think could be done to help ensure or even check to ensure that it isn't happening. rather than only checking within 1000' of a well why not check and see what water supplies run within the area of the well and then find out which wells are connected to that and verify and monitor those wells? They have all the seismic info on what is under the ground as far as gas and water I would think. So it wouldn't take much for them to verify who may or may not be at risk. I could be wrong in this logic as well.

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John Spencer,  03/19/10 6:03
What is happening to our roads in this area from the gas industry is unacceptable. When it rains we have mud! When it is sunny we have dust! Our quality of life is deteriorating due to the road issue and trucks. What will happen in warm weather when you want to open a window and let in fresh air. All you will have is dust. Travel Rt 6 from Towanda to Troy or from Troy to Canton. You would think you were driving a dirt highway with dust so thick you can only see 300 yds. Try to keep a clean car! What a joke that is. Now you can't tell the local vehicles from the gas industry vehicles. They all look the same!
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john,  03/19/10 5:20
Many people are acting as if their roads were high quality to begin with. Every year since I've been since I can remember the roads are all rutted up this time of year. Sure it's worse than normal but if you thought after the frost and thaw of the past year and taking into consideration the activity they would be better than usual you were living a dream. This is all temporary and you all know it. The revenue being generated from all aspects of this exploration has shielded this county from much of the recession and has enable many public programs to continue. The roads will be fixed. I'd bet they end up better than they were before these "gas people" dared set foot in this heck hole.
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Jay,  03/19/10 4:51
"Tired of the blame 2" I also have lived here for almost 2 decades and what is happening now is not normal winter damage. NEVER before has the Burlington Turnpike looked like a minefield and become totally impassable!! I sub at Troy schools and I am out of work until that road is fixed because of the damage being done to my car.
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Kathy Brenner,  03/19/10 4:22
WHAT? Are you people nuts or something? Blaming PennDOT for the road conditons? They're driving HUGE machines in, leaving three to four foot deep ruts, taking the roads surface, and everything below it, then refilling it with baseball sized rocks. That ain't better than PennDOT. Nobody is stupid enough to build a residental road, like you'd build a path for the space shuttler carrier. These roads are being fixed so the gas company can get to their wells. They don't care about you, they're blowing smoke around to get people off their case.
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Tired of the Blame 3,  03/19/10 3:36
Bob Packard, I don't know who told you the roads would be taken care of from day one. My understanding from the start was that there was going to be major road damage, and it would be repaired after the fact.
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Miss Informed,  03/19/10 1:43
The gas companies and their subcontractors DO know how to build roads. Have you ever driven on one of the roads going from the highway bact to a well pad? Those are boulevards, well constructed, smooth, and able to stand up to the heaviest trucks. They are built the way a road is supposed to be built. Maybe if some of the severance tax money can be directed our way we can get our pie crust roads rebuilt the way a road is supposed to be built, and they would last after the gas companies are gone.
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think of the possibilities,  03/19/10 1:40
I agree with "tired of the blame". Bradford County roads have NEVER been good. The roads have NEVER been maintained or repaired properly for the 29 years I have lived here. Quit blaming the gas companies for what we have ALWAYS had. I applaud the gas companies for trying to do what PennDOT should have been doing all along.
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Tired of the blame 2,  03/19/10 1:26
Next it will be your wells and everything else going bad. How are they going to get you bottled water with the road so bad. Just another scam on the working middle class by big buck corporations. You could see this ripoff coming a mile away.
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Mike,  03/19/10 11:59
We were all sold on the concept that our roads would be taken care of from day one. Another misnomer by those wonderful folks who told us how great this venture was going to be.
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Bob Packard,  03/19/10 10:33
Tey make a mess everytime
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Tim Hampton Jr,  03/19/10 10:25
I live on the clapperhill road it is a nightmare trucks go all nite mornings the bus cant get throught very rough roads all of us have had flat tires or something esle go wrong with our vehicles! Since last week my mail has to be dropped of down the road because the mail lady cant get to my mailbox . I truely think that the gas companys should have checked out the roads better before all this had taken place and yes things really did happen over night! There are crews working on our roads trying to make it better! Rite now if its not one thing its another!! Thank you for all the updates on our roads.
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Dawn Repsher,  03/19/10 9:53
There are gas guys on McNeal Rd now and we've never been more than tar and chip over dirt. Can't wait to see what a mess we're going to get!! I'm going to need a helicopter to leave my house before long since the Burlington Turnpike is still a disaster and now my own road is about to be destroyed as well! And NO fellas dumping loose stone in the holes does NOT fix the problem it makes it worse.
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Kathy Brenner,  03/19/10 9:18
I smell... *sniff, sniff* ...common sense! Lets hope they follow through with their promises.
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Paul,  03/19/10 7:49
We live on landing creek road and you are starting to see more gas people in the area. But penndot cannot blame the gas boy`s for this road because you cannot stay in the seat of your car now. Penndot can`t blame it on the winter it has been this way for years.Penndot must know about this because they have a truck full riding around the hill from time to time.
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Tired of the blame,  03/19/10 6:54
Fixing the roads before they go bad, what a concept! I wish our township supervisors would give that idea a try! A tip of my hat and a big thank you to Mr. Ed Grant for stepping up to the plate an doing what's right.
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Midnite,  03/19/10 5:48
Gas companies are like some logging companies. Harvest the product then leave. Don't be fooled by the statement that they will fix the roads.
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Donald,  03/19/10 5:20
What's with the stone they're using to fill the roads with? Are they insane? This isn't gravel, they are huge rocks. Anywhere from marble to baseball sized, rocks. Great for trucks, but when you see a huge dump truck, crawling along, because the fixed road is too rough. Then you know it's too rough for a car. How are those of us who have nothing to do with the gas wells, supposed to get to work, or town, if our car can't make it with out getting hung up? Who will pay for the tire, undercarriage and paint damage? This isn't regular wear. Driving on such roads could even void your car warranty. The least they could do is use smaller stones.. and roll it, not just dump and level. Forget about quick fire engine response. Volunteers can't get to the fire hall quick on these roads. C'mon.. Give the REST OF US a break.
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Charles,  03/19/10 4:28