The Observer, February 15, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 17
Case considers drilling at Squire Valleevue Farm
The biology department is against it. The graduate students are against it. The people in charge of making it happen haven't decided if it's even going to happen.
"We're not drilling tomorrow," said Lara Kalafatis, vice president for University Relations. "We're just beginning to think about it."
The contested issue is drilling for natural gas at Case's Squire Valleevue Farm. Although the idea is still in the information-gathering stages, letters of opposition have already been sent from biology faculty and graduate students to president Barbara Snyder.
The question of whether or not to drill for gas at the farm has come up a few times before this with little follow-up. This time the circumstances are a bit different. A 2004 bill passed by the Ohio Congress amended the Ohio Revised Code to make the process of creating natural gas wells easier. Several productive wells and new wells have been drilled in the area around the farm in Hunting Valley and Gates Mills.
If drilling is going to happen, it can't wait too long. "If people drill around the area, the probability is that the natural gas will be drained off," said Glenn Nicholls, vice president for Student Affairs. "If it's something that would make sense, we don't want to wait."
Opposition to the potential project is quickly coming in. Biology department chair Joseph Koonce sent a letter to Snyder objecting to the drilling on "strategic, scientific, economic, and ethical grounds." Koonce cites limited direct economic impact and the risks of such a process on the farm's land as important reasons to avoid drilling. Any effect on the land has an effect on the biology department's use of the farm; Koonce wrote that "the Biology Department in cooperation with the Farm Committee has established a network of habitats ranging from open fields, to shrub thickets, and woodlots to provide examples of succession stages of vegetation in Northeastern Ohio."
This part of Ohio and parts further east and north sit on what is called the Clinton sandstone, considered a good place for natural gas deposits to accumulate. "If the farm sits on an area with a lot of gas, it's a chance to generate more revenue to offset costs," said Nicholls. "It's a cost/benefit question." If the well is successful, there is a clear economic benefit for the university. However, Nicholls is aware of the potential risks of drilling in an "environmentally sensitive area."
The amount of revenue to come from such a project is dependent on the well itself, the length of its operation, and other circumstances. The typical well produces a couple hundred million cubic feet of natural gas over its lifetime of 10-20 years. This results in $1-2 million of gross revenue, most of which goes to the drilling company to cover the costs of setting up the well. The university would receive about 12.5 percent of this revenue, according to Nicholls.
If drilling occurs, care will be taken to do it in the area of least impact, away from areas where research and other activities occur. During the initial period of setup, the surface of the drilling area will be disturbed and barriers will be erected to avoid runoff from the drilling process, according to Nicholls. Once drilling is complete, the only indicator of the well will be the pipes that release the gas and the tanks that will purify and store it. Surface restoration will be a big deal for the university.
"On the face of it, there are automatic disqualifiers," said Nicholls. Besides the disruption of the surface, there is a chance that a drilled well will be completely dry. Conditions appear right for a pool of gas below the farm, but nothing will be known for sure until the drilling occurs. In addition, this noisy process takes place 24 hours a day for two weeks straight.
There are many examples of natural gas drilling in the area around campus. Shaker Heights has two drilling areas set up, one of them on the grounds of Shaker Heights Middle School. In most of these nearby cases the bulk of the natural gas is sold; in the Shaker Heights system the school district worked out a deal to purchase as much gas as it wants directly from its wells for $8.50 per thousand cubic feet, a 28 percent discount on the price offered by commercial providers.
Although the decision to drill will ultimately be in the hands of President Snyder and the Board of Trustees, input is being invited from the Farm Committee and those who manage the farm. When more information is collected, the results will be presented to the campus community through open forums and other community interaction, according to Kalafatis. "We're considering the intent of donors and of the university to protect this jewel," said Kalafatis.
"We want people to have strong feelings about the farm," said Nicholls. While many people are telling the committee to hurry up and say yes or no to the drilling, a pragmatic view rules. "Most of the people I've ended up talking to are saying, 'Be careful.'"
