AUBURN - The Cayuga County Legislature is considering the possibility of exploring and drilling for natural gas on county property.
The city of Auburn has been doing something similar for some time, so the county decided to see if there is any gas on its property, said Legislature Chairman Roger Mills, R-Owasco.
The Planning and Economic Development Committee has voted to seek bids for a study of the land and see if it is feasible to have wells drilled and take advantage of the resources, he said.
Mills said Tuesday that he did not know if the request for proposal has been drafted yet. Once the study is completed, the county will have a better understanding of whether or not it is worth it to drill for gas.
“It's hard to tell the significance at this point,” Mills said. “There's no sure thing. They put in wells and see what happens. There is the potential that there could be gas on our property.”
The county is trying to come up with other ways to help support rising energy costs, said David Axton, R-Mentz. Axton is on the Planning and Economic Development committee.
“We are looking to help,” he said. “We can possibly use some of that (gas) to supply our current heating issues.”
If the study concludes that it is beneficial to pursue the drilling for natural gas, the county will not drill everywhere, Axton said. Most likely, there would be gas wells at the county office building as well as on County House Road.
“If it's going to cause an eyesore, we certainly won't put it there,” Axton said. “But if it's something that can be put behind the county office building and it doesn't cause any disruption to anything else but at the same time can help cut our energy costs,” then it is worth looking into.
Raymond Lockwood, R-Fleming, has five gas wells on his property and one more under proposal, he said.
“It's quite an expensive undertaking,” Lockwood said. “There's some risk involved.”
Even if the county decides to drill for natural gas, it doesn't mean that the quality of the gas will be any good, Lockwood said.
However, if the county does find good natural gas on its property, it could save a lot of energy and benefit the environment, Axton said. This is a big issue throughout the country right now and the county is looking at all of its properties to identify any problem areas.
“We want to take a proactive approach at anything we do from here on out,” he said. “Whether it's looking for a new building, whether it's drilling for wells, we want to make sure that it's 100 percent environmentally conscious.”
The study will probably take a few months to complete, Axton said.
“We certainly don't want to rush it, but we want to look at it fairly quickly because energy costs go up every day.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
The Planning and Economic Development Committee has voted to seek bids for a study of the land and see if it is feasible to have wells drilled and take advantage of the resources, he said.
Mills said Tuesday that he did not know if the request for proposal has been drafted yet. Once the study is completed, the county will have a better understanding of whether or not it is worth it to drill for gas.
“It's hard to tell the significance at this point,” Mills said. “There's no sure thing. They put in wells and see what happens. There is the potential that there could be gas on our property.”
The county is trying to come up with other ways to help support rising energy costs, said David Axton, R-Mentz. Axton is on the Planning and Economic Development committee.
“We are looking to help,” he said. “We can possibly use some of that (gas) to supply our current heating issues.”
If the study concludes that it is beneficial to pursue the drilling for natural gas, the county will not drill everywhere, Axton said. Most likely, there would be gas wells at the county office building as well as on County House Road.
“If it's going to cause an eyesore, we certainly won't put it there,” Axton said. “But if it's something that can be put behind the county office building and it doesn't cause any disruption to anything else but at the same time can help cut our energy costs,” then it is worth looking into.
Raymond Lockwood, R-Fleming, has five gas wells on his property and one more under proposal, he said.
“It's quite an expensive undertaking,” Lockwood said. “There's some risk involved.”
Even if the county decides to drill for natural gas, it doesn't mean that the quality of the gas will be any good, Lockwood said.
However, if the county does find good natural gas on its property, it could save a lot of energy and benefit the environment, Axton said. This is a big issue throughout the country right now and the county is looking at all of its properties to identify any problem areas.
“We want to take a proactive approach at anything we do from here on out,” he said. “Whether it's looking for a new building, whether it's drilling for wells, we want to make sure that it's 100 percent environmentally conscious.”
The study will probably take a few months to complete, Axton said.
“We certainly don't want to rush it, but we want to look at it fairly quickly because energy costs go up every day.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
