Heavy Drilling Equipment Damaging Area Roads

CLEARFIELD COUNTY---As companies move into the area to drill for natural gas in Marcellus Shale, some of their heavy equipment is damaging area roads.

Companies that use area roadways to haul heavy equipment associated with Marcellus Shale drilling are required to obtain a permit with the stipulation that they repair any damage they cause.

PennDOT has already revoked two permits due to companies' failure to deal with the damage to the roads.

The latest was the permit issued to Chief Oil and Gas for State Route 2012 in Clearfield County, which usually has a 10 ton weight limit.

Their permit was revoked late last week, then reissued Tuesday morning after the company contracted Force Construction to make the necessary repairs.

There was a similar situation with J.W. Operating Company in Cameron County last week.

Their permit for State Route 3001 was also issued a few days later.

PennDOT officials said they hope other companies won't wait until their permits are revoked to repair the damage their equipment causes to the roads.

They said they don't want to deter companies from coming to the area, but they are monitoring them to be sure they're complying with their permits.

"The fact that some of the roads are posted and therefore haulers do need to have permits it tied back to the ultimate goal, not only for them to be able to continue to work in regard to Marcellus Shale, but also to ensure that the roads will continue to be safe and passable, and certainly useable by all of our customers," said Marla Fannin, PennDOT Community Relations Coordinator.

She said there are about 300 miles of roadway in the district that is impacted by Marcellus Shale activity, and they're doing their best to keep an eye on all of it, but they're hoping that this won't become an ongoing problem.