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Tioga Energy Partners, LLC ECL Article 23 Application for Permit to Drill Using Gelled Propane Hydraulic Fracturing

The applicant, Tioga Energy Partners, LLC (TEP), proposes to drill a stratigraphic well (Snyder E 1), and a natural gas well (Snyder E 1-A) sequentially at the same surface location in the Town of Barton, Tioga County, New York (collectively, "the Project"). No other wells are proposed in this Project. The stratigraphic well would first be drilled vertically to the Utica Shale formation, with a total measured depth of approximately 9,530 feet, to gather geologic information and obtain rock cores of the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale formations. The site preparation and drilling for this well would take approximately 17 days. The Snyder E 1 well would then be plugged back with cement to facilitate the drilling of the natural gas well. Plugging back of the Snyder E 1 to a total measured depth of approximately 3,100 feet would take approximately 2 days.

Next, the Snyder E 1-A natural gas well would use the already constructed upper portion (i.e., conductor casing, surface casing, and part of intermediate casing) of the first well, and it would be drilled horizontally and completed in the Marcellus Shale formation with a total measured depth of approximately 6,600 feet. The drilling of this horizontal well bore would take approximately 8 days. For the completion of this well, the Marcellus Shale formation would be stimulated using Gelled Propane Hydraulic Fracturing, and the well would be flared for approximately 15 days during the flowback phase to test its producibility. The gas that would be flared would be natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation, and not the propane. The propane used in the hydraulic fracturing phase that would be in the flowback from the well would be recovered using a refrigeration unit during the flowback phase, and stored in onsite tanks and then removed from the location. The durations of the Gelled Propane Hydraulic Fracturing phase and flowback phase for the Snyder E 1-A well would be approximately 11 days (with hydraulic fracturing pumping over 5 of the 11 days and only during daylight hours) and 66 days, respectively, for a total of 77 days. If the Snyder E 1-A well is deemed successful by TEP, it would be operated to produce natural gas.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC), as lead agency, has determined that the Project may have a significant adverse impact on the environment and a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (dSEIS) must be prepared. NYS DEC published a notice of the Positive Declaration in the Environmental Notice Bulletin on April 24, 2019. On June 21, 2019 the applicant submitted a draft scope for the dSEIS. NYS DEC made the draft scope available for public comment from July 3 through August 2, 2019.

Over 1,500 public comments were received during the comment period on the draft scope for the dSEIS prepared by TEP for the Project. NYS DEC evaluated these comments, made revisions to the scope, and provided the final scope (see link to the PDF below) to the applicant on September 16, 2019. TEP has been directed to prepare a dSEIS in accordance with this final scope. Once submitted to NYS DEC, the dSEIS will be evaluated for adequacy in terms of scope and content, and once deemed adequate, it will be made available on this page for public review and comment. Please check back for future updates.

Final Scope

Draft Scope

Positive Declaration

SEQR Correspondence

Snyder E 1 Stratigraphic Well (API No 31-107-30000-00-00)

Application Documents

Correspondence

Snyder E 1-A Marcellus Shale Well (API No 31-107-30000-01-00)

Application Documents

TEP Response to Notice of Incomplete Applications (NOIA)

Correspondence

Supporting Documents


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