Tract 13 Development Project
The Tract 13 EA to evaluate 6 oil wells on USA minerals has been cancelled. The analysis will be preformed under Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-58 (119 Stat. 594). This analysis and decision will be subject to comment and appeal as identified in the Earth Island policy direction letter of 10/19/2005 and will be mailed to the public in the near future. Agency NEPA procedures do not apply to activities approved via Section 390, therefore the decision will not be tracked under the PALS database.
Background
Pennsylvania General Energy Company, LLC (PGE) is proposing to construct six gas and oil wells within Tract 13 on the ANF. In December 2005, PGE entered into a lease agreement with the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for Parcel Number ES-064-12/05 PAES 53829 ACQ (referred to as Tract 13) in Forest County, Pennsylvania. This lease agreement was entered into with the express intent to develop the parcel as a well field for energy production and was evaluated and shown to meet the United States Forest Service (FS) criteria for that purpose.
Location
Tract 13 is situated within the Marienville Field, and surface ownership of the tract is held solely by the FS. Surface management of the area is provided by the Marienville District of the FS. Tract 13 is located approximately five miles southwest of Marienville on the north and south sides of Forest Road (FR) 213. Tract 13 is a triangle-shaped tract beginning immediately west of a tank battery and existing wells 1667 and 1720. The north point of the tract is occupied by a portion of Salmon Creek and FR145. The project is located within Management Area (MA) 3.0.
Proposed Action
The proposed development consists of installation of six gas and oil extraction wells on the 101.43-acre tract. The proposed wells will be located on the south and west portions of the tract. The development requires installation of less than one mile (0.80) of access roads from FR213 to the well pad locations. The proposed access roads and well pads have been designed to minimize disturbance to and protect surface resources. Distribution pipelines would be buried along proposed access roads. It is PGE’s intent to provide environmental stewardship to the maximum extent possible during the development of Tract 13.
The proposed action would require less than five acres of earth disturbance in the installation phase. The average slopes within the development area range from 2 to 28 percent. Suitable flat or gently sloped areas have been utilized in the design to limit the extent of the disturbance. In general, the disturbed areas will be restored to the original contours, where possible. All disturbed areas will be re-vegetated and mulched using a combination of native species of annual and perennial grass seed mix that promote permanent vegetation. The length of the earth disturbance required to install the wells is estimated to be about four (4) weeks. This limited time of disturbance would further minimize any potential impacts to the resources.
Scoping Documents
Invitation for Public Comments
Decision Documents
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