Community

Coterra’s goal is to minimize our impact on the communities in which we operate. We are always looking to connect with our neighbors. When we are entering a new area or changing our operations significantly, we meet with the community to share a timeline and key attributes of our operations and to listen to community ideas and concerns.

We drill and complete multiple horizontal wells from a single surface location, and we have also increased the length of our horizontal wells. Both of these actions have decreased our surface impact. A smaller footprint has a positive impact on the communities in which we operate by creating less traffic on the roads, fewer tank batteries, fewer well sites and more efficient field management. Coterra also performs road construction and maintenance in its areas of operation.

In addition, we care for all the living creatures in our areas of operation. In the event we find an injured animal on our operations, we contact the appropriate wildlife rehabilitation center and local authorities as required.

We set out to create a more accessible healthcare system for residents after discovering residents had to drive almost an hour to get primary or emergency care. Together with the community and various other partners, we raised $4.4 million to build the Endless Mountains Healthcare System (EMHS). EMHS opened its doors in 2013 and replaced an outdated facility that was not able to meet the needs of NEPA residents. The state-of-the-art facility has 24 beds, operating rooms with endless amounts of natural light, an updated lab, a separate emergency entrance, and most importantly better privacy for patients.

Building a strong workforce is a pivotal part of our community engagement efforts. We recognized that accessible education opportunities were a barrier standing in the way of residents finding good careers with family-sustaining wages. In the past decade, we have invested over $3 million in education programs in NEPA that produce graduates who will work directly or indirectly with the oil and gas industry.

In 2010, Coterra worked with local partners to construct the Lackawanna School of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The school offers nationally recognized programs and gives students classroom and hands-on learning opportunities. It has gained so much success over the years that the school is moving to a new, larger facility that can support a bigger petroleum and natural gas program, as well as other programs such as business and human services. Another educational initiative that Coterra took on was the Commercial Driver’s License school at the Susquehanna County Career & Technology Center (SCCTC). Coterra and several local businesses joined together in 2019 to construct the building and driving course on the SCCTC campus. This was an effort to combat the severe shortage of licensed commercial drivers in our operating area and across the country. Coterra took the lead in organizing and financially supporting the entire project, including donating a top-of-the-line driving simulator. The school began its first round of day and night classes in June 2020. Graduates have been successfully securing new jobs with family-sustaining wages at local companies, including Coterra’s wholly owned subsidiary, GasSearch Drilling Services (GDS).

Not only does Coterra make every effort to help with the basic needs of our community members, we are also dedicated to preserving and expanding the area’s culture and rich history. In Pennsylvania, we work closely with the Dietrich Theater as it is a favorite spot among our employees and landowners. It has been around since 1936 and continues to serve as an economic driver in the area by offering movies, classes, and speakers.

A second historic treasure in NEPA that we have been working with for over a decade is the Dennis Farm. The land was first settled in 1793 by the family of Prince Perkins, a free African American, and we truly value the 200 years of documented history they bring to the region. Their focus on culture, education, and storytelling creates a remarkable atmosphere that has since helped them secure a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Coterra also saw the Dennis Farm as the perfect home to host the first Semiquincentennial Bell as part of the America250PA campaign to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America.

We’re also active in Texas and Oklahoma. We fund the “Free Sundays” program for the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, TX, allowing the community free access to art, science, history and culture. We also sponsor the Coterra Science on a Sphere (SOAS) at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, TX, an interactive installment which assists in STEM education with partner schools in the area and allows visitors to learn about the Earth and other planets in a hands-on way. In Oklahoma, we sponsor programming for A Gathering Place for Tulsa, which provides a recreational, civic and cultural destination for Tulsa’s diverse community. We specifically help to fund health and wellness activities, arts and culture exhibitions and performances, and nature and outdoor educational lectures and classes.