I was searching to find information on pooling or production units when I came across this web site and I decided to share our experiences with gas wells and hope that some of this information is helpful to someone. In 2007 we signed a lease for our farm for $50 /acre.  At the time we had heard nothing about horizontal drilling and we jumped at the chance for some extra money. Dairy farming is not the industry it used to be and we often wondered how our family was going to keep the farm in the family.  We live and near Oakhurst Tea Room off Rt 31. Most of our neighbors signed a good lease with Keeton group, who then sold to Chief. I think Courtney did a good job with our lease.

In the summer of 2008, my husband found several stakes in his hay field, thinking it was from an areial survey being done by a neighbor, he pulled it out.  Someone later replaced, so we started checking with the neighbors and they also had some stakes put in thier fields. Finally someone with the gas company who was in charge of well pad production stopped and expalined that Chief wanted to drill some exporlatory wells in our areas.  We signed an agreement to put in a well pad and they started working on it in January of 2009. By May the well was finished and they were ready to get it fracked. We got a tour of the drill rig and it is very high tech. The drilling is monitored by cameras and geolgical maps, so they know exactly what if going on thousands of feet below the surface.  The next day we were surprised to find our pictures of the front page of the paper, along with angry comments of 2 neighbors who lived the closet to the drill rig.  They still do not talk to us except for nasty gestures. We try to smile and kill them with kindness.  I heard the drill running and it was not any louder than some of the equippment the guys use to fill silo. 

 Since our tour, Chief has made some good changes on their well pads. They no longer will have any waste water stored on the pad while they are drilling. They do have to put water in the hole they are drilling to prevent clouds of dust from the soil and rock,and everthing they they drill out will also be hauled away right away instead of going into a small storage pit. The pad will be covered with tarps before the put the shale down They spilled some haydarulic fluid on our pad and spent weeks relacing the dirt. It had to be inspected by DEP who tested and retested everything. Chief said we would have the cleanest dirt in Somerset County.

In the summer or 2009 a company conducted seismic testing with geophones and stomper trucks.  They finished in a couple of weeks and were very easy to work with. They had no problems moving their lines so they could get their hay baled.

Now our well is all finished. They had to burn off the gas a couple of times, bu now it is capped with no where to go. There are plans to put in a pipline to connect our well to the  ones in New Lexington and Ursina.  We have since renewed another lease for $50/acre.  We were told that they are going to do more dilling this summer.

The water trucks and other equipment was hard on the road, but they paid to have it repaired. There was a huge increase in taffic on our road but they drove slow and even waited for the cows to cross the road. The drivers were very friendly.

I contacted Chief and they did sell our well and I think all of their  leases to Chevron. The sale will be final the end of June, so I think they finish all of the projects they have planned for this area by then.

I think this site is a good place to share information but Chief always has answered our questions. If we hear lots of rumors I contact them directly.

I don't know if this will help anyone. and I think Chevron will bring more drilling activity to Somerset County which will definetly be a boost to the economy. If the gas companies can reuse their frack water or mine waste water I think they may also help the environment. Their was no problem with any of the wells near the well site.

I hope that all goes well with your gas leases. This gas thing is like playing the lottery. Although we have a well, not all of our acerage is in the production pad. Your neighbor may have more acreage than you as it all depends on the direction they drill. We are hoping for enough money that we don't have top depend on the milk check to pay our bills. My son would like to take oever the farm someday, but a future in the dairy business is very difficult as the price of milk is very unpredictable. Despite the prices in the store farmers only get about $1.50-$1.75 a gallon. Store prices stay up but farm prices do not.  Maybe somday we could farm for fun. We had a good expeirence with Chief and the gas industry in general. There is a lot of misinformation out there so it is important to go to the source and share that with others instead of spreading what is being passed around on the grapevine. If anyone has any questions let us know.