SEARCY, Ark. (AP) White County, home to much of the exploration in Arkansas' Fayetteville Shale play, plans to bill two of the largest gas companies drilling there for repairs to roads buckling under their heavy equipment.
White County Judge Michael Lincoln has sent letters to Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co., asking them to pay for nearly half a million dollars of road improvements. Lincoln noted the companies already pledged to help repair roads in White County, which has 4,400 miles of county roads the largest system in the state.
"These roads are not only important to the gas industry but important to traveling citizens as well," Lincoln wrote. "Minor surgery needs to be performed to stop the bleeding. If the bleeding is not stopped, we could lose the patient. This would result in great sorrow."
Under Lincoln's plan, Chesapeake would pay $351,100 to fix 28.6 miles, while Southwestern Energy would pay $85,600 for seven miles.
Mark Raines, a spokesman for Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, said the company has agreed to pay for the improvements.
"We will continue to be good corporate citizens," Raines said. "We will be responsive to whatever the judge thinks we need to do."
Southwestern Energy, based in Houston, has paid more than $1 million over time to help repave county roads throughout the Fayetteville Shale, namely in Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Van Buren and White counties, said company spokesman Andy Miller.
"We've already talked to the judge up there" in White County, Miller said Friday. "We meet with these judges monthly and go over our plans for the month and they route us on their roads."
Another gas company, Hallwood Energy of Dallas, is also involved in the plan but not to the extent of the larger two companies, Lincoln said.
White County isn't the only one looking at gas companies to pay for roads. Gov. Mike Beebe has proposed raising the state's severance tax on natural gas to raise more money for highway and road construction as exploration in the Fayetteville Shale continues.
Bryan Holloway, a White County resident, said big rig traffic passing his home has created a dangerous situation.
"It looks like Interstate 40 right now. It might as well be Chesapeake Boulevard," Holloway said. "The way it's going, you would not believe it. There's been dump truck after dump truck after dump truck, even 18-wheelers with hoppers. I don't know what they're building down there but it must be a monster."
