FRANKLIN TWP — XTO Energy hosted an informational meeting at The Atrium Monday evening to address any questions or concerns nearby residents had about a proposed well site in Franklin Township.

About 60 residents, all who live within 3,000 feet of the proposed well site, located on James Cratty’s 90.6 acres of farmland on Election House Road, were invited to come to the meeting. About 20 attended.

This is the first proposed well site in Franklin Township, which is likely to be approved in a supervisor’s meeting next month. That’s when a vote will be held on a revised zoning ordinance presented at a previous meeting.

Several XTO staffers, representing each step of the hydraulic fracturing process, from leasing, to engineering, to production and emergency safety, were present to answer questions in an open house -style format. The XTO staff stood in separate areas with posters, providing explanations about the process.

Rob Heinle, an engineering manager with the Appalachia Division of XTO Energy, explained company protocol when it comes to drilling.

“We know we have integrity of the well through (our) pressure testing process,” he said. “Our process is to test before every single stage.”

He said not every company does that kind of testing, but XTO Energy does. Before each step of drilling occurs, this pressure testing ensures the pipeline underground has no leaks. Heinle also said there are several layers of protection of groundwater with containment areas.

Meanwhile, residents slowly filtered through, asking whatever questions they had about the process.

“We moved out here about two years ago because it was nice and peaceful. We just want it to stay that way,” said Jamie Kerr, who attended the meeting with her husband, Dan. They live on Unionville Road, about 1,800 feet from the proposed site.

“We’re concerned about our water, our well,” she said. “We didn’t know a whole lot about the process, so we wanted to make sure it’s going to be safe.”

They felt the meeting didn’t do much for them either way.

“We feel helpless. It’s going up no matter what we do,” Dan Kerr said. “We don’t have enough stake in the game to make a difference.”

Derek Folmer, a land surface supervisor with XTO Energy, works with people who’ve signed leases with the company. He’s dealt with roughly 500 landowners in the county in the past five years, since leases are necessary for everything from well pads, rigs, water pipelines, and even running temporary above-ground lines.

Typically, “We deal with the landowner from the initial planning …. to five, 10 years down the road,” Folmer said.

Locally, one of the biggest concerns for leaseholders about potential pads is regarding harvest.

“We try to work with the farmers as far as harvest time,” he said.

Folmer said that usually involves instructing where to plant, and if a harvest is salvageable within a certain distance.

Kevin Brucha, a regulatory coordinator who works in production, said another concern of leaseholders is their neighbors.

“It can be daunting if your property is selected for a land site,” Brucha said. “The number one thing people always ask me is, ‘How is this going to affect my neighbors?’”

James Cratty, who is leasing the property to XTO Energy, said he’s hoping this will provide a new kind of income for his farm, which has been in the family for six generations. Corn, hay and oats are currently being grown on his farmland.

“What I’m looking at is the future,” he said. “I don’t think farming development is going to be here much longer.”

Another resident, Barbara Michalowski, said the meeting provided a review about what’s going to occur. She lives on Ewing Lane, about 2,000 feet from the proposed site.

“It’s inevitable,” she said. “It’s here.”