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Officials are considering a proposal to explore for natural gas beneath land at Fort Wayne International Airport.
Fort Wayne-based geologist Chuck Knox approached officials with the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority several months ago about searching for natural gas and possibly oil, Executive Director Tory Richardson said Friday.
Knox, with St. Joe Valley Exploration, believes there might be natural gas beneath the airport’s 3,300 acres in Pleasant Township. That land is leased for hangars, the Indiana Air National Guard and farmland in addition to the airport terminal and runways.
But no one will know whether any gas or oil lies below that property unless they have access to the land for exploration, Richardson said.
Richardson said airport staff is researching the idea and trying to come up with a proposal with St. Joe Valley that could be sent to the board of trustees for consideration. But the matter likely won’t be considered for several more months, Richardson said.
“As long as the opportunity is there … it makes sense to explore the opportunity,” Richardson said.
Richardson wants to know more about how much revenue the airport could see and whether the airport should just work with St. Joe Valley, advertise the work for competitive bids or consider other options. He also needs to determine what effect exploration would have on airport operations, he said.
Knox doesn’t know whether any gas or oil lies under the airport or its fields and whether it can be removed at a profit, he said.
“We just can’t tell,” he said of any potential revenue. “We can’t tell if we’re going to drill. We can’t tell if there’s oil and gas. There’s only one way to tell … to explore, and we’ll learn a little more.”
Knox said at least 2,000 continuous acres are needed to begin exploring for natural gas. He hopes to lease the mineral rights from the airport in order to gain access to one large chunk of land.
He doesn’t expect to find much oil because historically, Indiana is home to a huge natural gas field, and oil is typically found in Ohio, he said.
Permits for oil and gas drilling in Indiana have increased in the past three to four years, said Herschel McDivitt, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ oil and gas division.
The rising cost of crude oil and new technology means exploration here makes sense financially. During the past two to three years, the department has received 450 drilling permit applications a year – a number not seen for at least 20 years, McDivitt said.
But in addition to falling under state regulations, the airport is heavily regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA allows drilling beneath U.S. airports as long as it doesn’t interfere with flight operations, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory, based in Chicago.
Other airports around the country already allow drilling deep beneath their properties. The Oklahoma City airport has been involved in drilling for years, and drilling for natural gas began several years ago below Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas, said FAA spokesman Roland Herwig in Oklahoma. It could be a year, at best, before any drilling could begin at Fort Wayne International, Knox said.
aiacone@jg.net
