Business & Tech

As Industry Grows, Marcellus Shale-Based Companies Call Moon Township Home

Several companies looking to expand into the state's growing natural gas industry have settled in Moon.

John Lucey, executive vice president of Heckmann Water Resources, said his company relocated last year from Texas to Moon Township's Cherrington Office Park so it could stake its claim in the region's growing Marcellus shale industry. 

"It's really been an exciting growth story," said Lucey during testimony yesterday before the state House Republican Policy Committee. "And we don't expect this to stop. We expect to keep growing our business." 

Heckmann, which specializes in the transport and treatment of water used for natural gas and oil drilling, added some 400 employees to its ranks in Pennsylvania since 2011—the year it established itself in the region's Marcellus shale industry.  

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Lucey spoke on behalf of the company during a public hearing at Nova Chemicals in Moon. 

The hearing was one of a dozen state house Republicans have hosted in recent months to tout ways in which the Marcellus shale drilling industry could reinvigorate the state's economy.  

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Business officials, all of whom represented employees or companies involved in the industry, said Marcellus shale drilling could bring about a trickle-down effect to local economies.

State Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Moon, co-chaired the hearing. 

Two of the companies represented, Heckmann and Chester Engineers, have established offices in Moon Township as a result of their expansion into the natural gas industry. Township-based firms including Williams Company and Chevron—both of which are located off Coraopolis Heights Road—were also referenced during the hearing. 

Chester's Jim Protin, director of business development for the mid-Atlantic region, said the company has seen a small hiring boom in the years since it expanded its services to include Marcellus shale industry engineering. 

Protin said he estimates that 70 percent of the Marcellus shale work force reside in Pennsylvania. 

"We're located on the fourth and fifth floors of this building," Protin said. "Just in this building is a microcosm of the Marcellus shale supply chain. You have more employees visiting the cafe over there. More employees visiting the (building's) gym." 

Protin dismissed concerns that drilling could have adverse effects on the state's environment. No environmental organizations were in attendance at the hearing.

"We get frustrated when we see these articles that say the industry is destroying the environment," Protin said. "We work very hard with the companies to ensure that our natural resources are protected."

Lucey said Heckmann will soon open "tens of millions of dollars" of water treatment facilities in the state. 

"We wanted to be in one of the big shale places—Texas, Louisiana, Colorado or Pennsylvania," Lucey said. "(Moon's) been a great headquarters location." 

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