By Leia Jobe/reporter2@trcle.com
Johnson County has received $826,911.44 since May from oil and gas companies for road and bridge repair and has spent $1,468,983.56, according to the county auditor’s office.
Trucks hauling water, equipment and other items related to drilling and pumping natural gas and petroleum from the Barnett Shale damage highways and streets throughout the county. The Barnett Shale, a geological formation that holds the gas and oil, lies under Johnson County.
The companies are not required to reimburse the county for damage, Precinct 2 Commissioner John W. Matthews said, but they are being good neighbors by doing so.
After damage occurs to a road, the commissioners court surveys the road, estimates the damage and sends a letter to the gas companies, County Judge Roger Harmon said. The gas companies then send a check to the court or to a specific precinct to reimburse them for road repair. Every donation must be approved by the Johnson County Commissioners Court, Harmon said.
“Lots of our constituents out there certainly have a lot of concerns about the damages to the roads, but so far the gas companies have been very easy to work with,” Harmon said.
“My personal experience with the majority of the companies is they’ve been very easy to work with and more than willing to repair the roads,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Don Beeson said.
Difficulties
Expenditures not covered by oil and gas company donations are paid for by taxpayer money, Beeson said. The money needs to be spent wisely, he said, but the money is not the biggest problem when it comes to road repair.
“It’s difficult to know when to rebuild the road,” Beeson said.
Completely rebuilding a damaged road could turn out to be futile if another energy company needs to use the same road to access other wells after the road has been repaired.
Rebuilding a road just to have it torn up again the next day would be a waste of taxpayer money, Beeson said.
Work crews in Precinct 4 repair roads daily, and when roads must be completely rebuilt, the crews use a thicker base so the roads will last longer.
“We’re tripling the amount of road base to eight to 10 inches before we put the sealant on it,” Beeson said.
The thicker base is up from the previous average thickness of two to four inches.
Another problem is determining how much damage is caused by which companies to which roads.
“A lot of the damage is not done necessarily by Devon or Chesapeake [two major energy companies operating in the region] but by the subcontractors that they hire to build pads and move equipment,” Beeson said.
“There’s so many different trucks that belong to so many different kinds of companies,” Precinct 1 Commissioner R.C. McFall said.
Many companies want to run water in pipes so they can cut down on the number of trucks on the roads, McFall said.
Sometimes the roads in need of repair are maintained by the state and not the county, Harmon said, so the state is responsible for the repair.
And other factors contribute to delays in road repair.
“Sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate with us,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Mark Carpenter said.
Road work was interrupted this year by significant rainfall, but commissioners have done their best to repair the roads despite wet conditions, they said.
Positives and negatives
Chesapeake officials were not available for comment, but earlier this year Chesapeake representative Tom A. Bettis told the Keene City Council that his company’s goal was to be a good neighbor to the residents of Johnson County.
Thus far, Matthews said, the oil and gas companies have been good neighbors, although there are benefits and challenges to their presence.
But with the increasing presence of the companies in Johnson County, the problems could escalate over the coming years.
“As drilling increases, so will the problems with the roads,” Beeson said.
The presence of oil and gas companies is a double-edged sword, Harmon said: They damage roads but have helped keep tax rates low for residents.
“As long as that works, I think that’s a good thing for our county,” Harmon said.
Increased property values from gas wells have earned Johnson County about $6 million this year, Harmon said.
Appraisal values have increased $800 million in one year, Matthews said.
