WELLSBURG, W.Va. -- Chesapeake Energy has won permission to drill horizontally for natural gas under property owned by the Brooke County school district.

Administrators told WTOV-TV that all safety precautions will be taken, and most residents won't know when drilling is under way.

Superintendent Kathy Kidder-Wilkerson says Chesapeake is still in the early planning stages. But Chesapeake has agreed that it won't situate the well pad near any school.

The superintendent says the district will get about $600,000 under the deal, and it will spend that money on grants and school improvements.

Last year, students at a Brooke middle school lost out on a $30,000 grant from Chesapeake after Wellsburg City Council banned drilling within a mile of its borders. It later rescinded the ban.

The grant went to a Follansbee school.

WELLSBURG, W.Va. -- Chesapeake Energy has won permission to drill horizontally for natural gas under property owned by the Brooke County school district.

Administrators told WTOV-TV that all safety precautions will be taken, and most residents won't know when drilling is under way.

Superintendent Kathy Kidder-Wilkerson says Chesapeake is still in the early planning stages. But Chesapeake has agreed that it won't situate the well pad near any school.

The superintendent says the district will get about $600,000 under the deal, and it will spend that money on grants and school improvements.

Last year, students at a Brooke middle school lost out on a $30,000 grant from Chesapeake after Wellsburg City Council banned drilling within a mile of its borders. It later rescinded the ban.

The grant went to a Follansbee school.