By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
An oil and gas exploration business wants to see if there is some black gold buried under Baldwin Woods, which is part of the Wood County Park District.
Sean Haas, of Reserve Energy Exploration, in Chagrin Falls, presented a proposal Tuesday to the county park commissioners. Haas, who noted Wood County’s long history of oil in the Cygnet and North Baltimore areas, said his company has been doing seismic testing along U.S. 6 with permission of private landowners.
Seismic testing is a process where an image of the subsurface is created. That data is then used to locate the most optimum place to drill for gas or oil.
The company is interested in doing more testing, specifically in the area of Baldwin Woods, a 124-acre preserve, off Euler Road near Weston.
“We understand you probably don’t want to have a lot of oil and gas wells on the property,” Haas said to the park board. He explained the seismic testing does not use explosives, but rather shakes the ground to discover gas or oil.
If interested, the park district could just allow testing, or could actually allow the extraction of product in which case the district could share in royalties, Haas said.
Wood County Park District Director Neil Munger expressed concerns about any type of testing. He referred to Baldwin Woods as a “sensitive natural area.”
The preserve is a mix of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands.
“It’s not something I would encourage or something I would support,” Munger said. “I would not recommend it.”
Haas said the exploration process follows strict protocols and gets all the necessary permits. He said the process is “non-invasive” and should be thought of as “scientific research” that could be of benefit to the community.
No hydraulic fracturing would be done, since that is not required with the shallow limestone in this region, Haas said.
The testing could be done without cutting trees, requires a vehicle the size of a “gator,” and can be completed in one day.
“We’re very outdoor oriented,” Haas said. “We’re not looking to destroy anything at all.”
However, a park district employee asked Haas if he was aware of a recent report by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation that states seismic testing is harmful to fish and wildlife. Haas said he was unaware of the report.
“It shakes the ground,” he said of the testing. “It doesn’t create any tremors or earthquakes.”
If oil or gas are found, the park district could get a portion of the revenue if the well on a neighboring property is drawing from a pool under the park land, Haas said. The landowners in the area would benefit, and they may possibly make some type of donation to the park district.
“We want to be fair,” he said.
Park board commissioner John Calderonello asked Haas to come back to the board with a proposal that would spell out all the options.
