School District Near Pittsburgh Receives $628K Lease Payment
The South Butler School District (Butler County, PA) has just finalized a lease agreement with XTO Energy to lease 167 acres of school-owned land for $628,000, or $3,760 per acre, plus an 18 percent royalty on any gas produced. The deal was approved by the school board back in September (see this MDN story).
The final terms of the deal just adopted have been changed since September. Previously, the district was promised $3,750 per acre that would be paid “should natural gas be extracted.” Under terms of the final agreement, the district has already received a $628,000 payment, $3,760 per acre, up front.
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After a 3 1/2 hour public hearing and a short recess, Binghamton (NY) City Council last night convened in regular session to vote on several matters, including Local Law 11-7, a law “to effect a prohibition of natural gas and petroleum exploration and extraction activities, underground storage of natural gas, and disposal of natural gas or petroleum extraction, exploration and production wastes.” City Council members voted 6-1 in favor of the two-year ban on fracking, joining other cities around the state like Buffalo and Syracuse that have done the same.
New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens continues the delay and stall tactics he’s become known for on the issue of shale gas drilling in the state. The latest Martens delay came this week when he asked an outside consulting firm—Ecology & Environment—to take a closer look at costs fracking would create for local communities.
In a year-end “media gathering” with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the governor recounted his administration’s accomplishments for his first 12 months in office, and then he turned his sights on 2012. At the top of his agenda for next year? Drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales.