Little help from PA on roads

New York may offer more

By TOM KANE

DAMASCUS, PA — What will happen to township roads once gas drilling starts and a steady stream of humongous trailer trucks and drill rigs with 18 wheels start chewing up township roads, not to speak of bridges? What can be done about it?

This was the question Jeff Dexter, chairman of the Damascus Township supervisors, asked at a special training session held by PennDOT on the need to post and bond roads in preparation for the gas drilling onslaughts. He asked it again at the meeting of the supervisors on August 18.

The answer he got, which he repeated at the township meeting was, “Not very much.”

“In order to assure that the roads will be protected during drilling operations, we were told that we have to get an engineer to certify what the conditions of the roads are, and then post the weight limits,” Dexter said.

If you don’t do that correctly, the company has to pay nothing, he said. “The engineer said the engineering would cost around $50,000 for a town like ours with 90 miles of unpaved roads, and that wouldn’t include the cost of putting up signs.”

Then, Dexter and the other township officials who attended with him learned that the law only allows a township to demand a bond of $5,000 per mile from any trucking company.

“That’s all,” Dexter said with amazement. “Only a $5,000-a-mile bond. How can you repair a mile of road for only $5,000? You can’t. It takes a lot more than that. A whole lot more.”

Dexter said the PennDOT officials suggested that the other way to help pay for roads was to build a good relationship with the companies and hope that they will pay for any damage done. “They told us that these companies will be around for a number of years and want to have a good relationship with the local government,” he said.

On the other hand, in New York, State Senator John Bonacic, who represents Sullivan, Delaware and Orange counties, has introduced a bill that would make the gas companies responsible for the damage their trucks and other heavy equipment cause while they explore and drill. Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, who represents the 98th Assembly District, which also includes Orange and Sullivan counties, has introduced a similar bill in the Assembly.

“Local officials have asked for such protection, fearing that the taxpayers at large will be left to fix roads damaged by exploration that will benefit mostly those who sign leases with the companies,” Bonacic said.

One added benefit of Bonacic’s approach is his call for a limited moratorium on drilling while the towns and others document the condition of their roads so they can calculate the damage. This way, they can put the companies on notice that destruction of public property will carry a price.

Such a delay would have the added benefit of slowing the activities of the companies, giving government and property owners alike a chance to study their options and to not make quick choices they might later regret.