Robert Switala, PE
Business Segment Manager, Bergmann Associates
Bergmann Associates, an engineering and consulting firm, demonstrates the tremendous business opportunities in the shale gas industry. Businesses like Bergmann Associates prove time and again that the natural gas industry has the ability to provide good paying jobs and opportunities for anyone.
The Marcellus and Utica Shales are massive economic engines! Study after study confirms this, showing economic growth stimulated from royalties to jobs to taxes. There are many success stories of how the shale gas industry has saved businesses and how businesses have grown through their involvement in this growing industry. Some companies have even been able to carve out specialized niche areas, helping them to stand out amongst similar competition. One such success story is the engineering and consulting firm of Bergmann Associates, where I work.
Bergmann Associates, headquartered in Rochester, New York, with 11 regional offices — including Elmira, Pittsburgh, and Canton — has a strategic footprint located within the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations. It is a 350 person full service engineering and architecture firm that provides civil, environmental and permitting services to both production and midstream development.
Bergmann quickly identified that, although there were ample opportunities in the oil and shale gas industry for civil and environmental consulting firms, there are also a lot of firms competing for the same customers and projects. We soon realized that a better way to break into the market was to not compete head on, but rather to offer niche services that could help differentiate ourselves from our competitors. It was a strategy that has worked well for us.
Bergmann Associates was introduced to Range Resources in 2011. During our initial meetings with Range, it became evident they already had a stable of good partners who were providing very similar engineering, consulting and permitting services with which they were pleased. So our discussion centered on current issues Range was having with getting projects designed or permitted. That is when Range mentioned the need for Sound Impact Assessments.
Bergmann Associates happens to have nationally renowned noise specialists who have performed environmental noise studies on a wide range of projects. This sparked a strong interest from Range Resources, and we were given the chance to prepare a Sound Impact Assessment on a future well site.
We worked with Range Resources to accurately predict the sound levels generated by their rotary air drilling rig, walking drilling rig and hydraulic fracturing operations. The predicted sound levels were determined at adjacent receptors, including residential structures within a 2,000 foot radius from the well. The results on the initial project were positive, and Bergmann Associates has since provided studies for almost 20 new well pad locations. We have been selected as the primary Sound Impact Assessment consultant for Range for all future projects.
Through the development of these reports, Range Resources is able to comply with local noise ordinances and also can be a good neighbor and good steward to the surrounding environment. Also, the data allow Range to plan and develop ways to mitigate any sound impacts should they be required at a specific location.
Bergmann is especially proud of the way we use technology. Our work in the shale gas industry is all about client responsiveness and efficient workflow while on project sites. There is a constant need for real time information regarding topography, property boundaries, sensitive and environmental features that used to be conveyed on hard copy plans and cumbersome paperwork.
We have transitioned to the use of tablet computers to be used in the field to avoid the need and limitations of traditional paperwork
and plans. Through GPS technology we are able view and place our real-time position in the field relative to any number of active features — including aerial photographs, topography, parcel boundaries, natural resources (e.g., wetlands, rivers) and soil types. We are able to locate accurate points with the tablet to create real time adjustments in the field.
Production and midstream projects both demand innovative solutions to meet constantly changing criteria. Bergmann’s system has allowed us to respond to the fluid nature of the natural gas industry projects. Through the use of tablets in the field we are able to complete projects more efficiently, and with less overall costs. This provides Bergmann a competitive edge against our competitors as we can operate faster and smarter through the use of technology. We would not have this opportunity, though, but for the development of the Marcellus Shale and that’s the point.
This is just one example where opportunity provided by the Marcellus Shale play, combined with vision and ingenuity, has allowed a firm to prosper. Bergmann Associates found a specific niche within the oil and natural gas industry and has been able to grow, employ people and contribute to better communities. Many other companies have also found success serving the shale gas industry and we can find similar stories all across the Appalachian Basin where the Marcellus and Utica shale have indeed become the engines of economic growth.
