Twin Rivers Exploration seeks narrower tile buffer, expanded road access for seismic survey; supervisors pause decision

Twin Rivers Exploration asked the Wright County Board of Supervisors on April 21 to amend a county road-use permit so the company can complete seismic surveys aimed at locating natural hydrogen. Company representatives asked the board to reduce a 250-foot setback from subsurface drainage tiles to a 50-foot buffer — or to a performance standard of 0.5 peak particle velocity (PPV) measured by on-site monitors — and to expand road miles covered by the permit from about 240 to roughly 370 miles, including some paved roads.

The company said seismic imaging is necessary before drilling and that without the change in setback the survey would leave large data gaps and force trucks onto private fields. Kyle Handy, land negotiator for Twin Rivers Exploration, told the board the company will carry a $2 million insurance policy, provide a full indemnity to the county, log every vibration shot with GPS and place PPV monitors near tiles and other structures. “The PPV measurements are also located with GPS, and we’ll show you the measurements we have at our time,” Handy said.

County staff and drainage officials said they want more review. Courtney Morris, identified in the meeting as drainage administrator, and Adam (county engineer) described a field demonstration held with three engineering firms and county representatives; Twin Rivers and a drainage contractor also put camera equipment inside tiles and tested buried clay tile under a vibrating truck. Company consultant Bill Manske of Manske Drainage said crews installed historic clay tile at shallow depth, ran a vibration test, then inspected the tile and found no visible damage. “They weren’t cracked, they weren’t broke, they weren’t anything,” Manske said of the test tiles.

Trustees and several residents pressed for caution. A drainage trustee and a longtime resident said many district tiles are old, vary widely in depth and some are already cracked, arguing that vibrations could accelerate failures and lead to costly future repairs. “When you start vibrating anything, you’re going to have something,” one trustee said, noting examples of 16-inch district tile more than a century old.

Twin Rivers officials proposed operational limits and oversight intended to reduce risk: limiting most work to gravel shoulders, using PPV monitors and third‑party monitors available to the county, issuing landowner notices at least two weeks before operations, and staffing the project with landowner liaisons. The company also said the truck “shoots” a seismic point about every 90 feet and typically passes a single property in only a few hours; it estimated a full 370-mile program would take several weeks to complete.

Supervisors declined to change the permit at the meeting. Supervisor Dean Klooz read an email and indicated he was “firm on the 250-foot setback.” At one point Klooz offered a motion to maintain the 250-foot restriction but was told the item was not before the board as an action item. The board asked Twin Rivers to provide a KMZ file of the revised route maps and invited the company to return. County officials asked for time to consult the county attorney and the county’s insurers. Twin Rivers agreed to come back with additional materials and to meet again in roughly two to three weeks.

The discussion also covered longer-term implications if exploration leads to drilling. Twin Rivers said a producing hydrogen well pad would be similar in footprint to conventional gas operations — a temporary 5‑acre drilling pad reduced to roughly 1.5 acres for a long-term wellhead — and that collecting multiple wells could involve localized pipeline gathering lines near road rights-of-way.

The supervisors did not adopt any ordinance or change the existing permit at the meeting and set no deadline for a final decision. Twin Rivers will return with maps and additional documentation; county staff will consult legal and insurance advisers before the board revisits the request.