Chesapeake Energy's plan to drill for natural gas under Brooke High School should not create any problems for the more than 1,000 students who attend there each day, County Superintendent Kathy Kidder-Wilkerson said.

The lease agreement Brooke County Schools officials signed with Chesapeake will pay the district $661,500 in lease money, based on a rate of $3,500 per acre on 189 acres. The district also will receive 18 percent of production royalties once Chesapeake gets the gas flowing from the Marcellus Shale underlying the high school.

Chesapeake is proceeding to drill many wells in Brooke County, in addition to Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel counties. Along with drilling operations come truck traffic as well as potential environmental concerns from the drilling and fracking operations.