BY KYLE BARNETT

Staff Reporter

RESERVE – The St. John Parish school system may be the beneficiary of unexpected funding if seismic tests uncover mineral wealth under a number of the schools properties.

In a recent meeting, the St. John School Board authorized Lafayette based Merlin Oil and Gas, Inc. to perform tests on numerous school properties in a search for oil and other minerals.

The deal promises $25 an acre, for a total of almost $9000, for non-invasive testing purposes and could promise royalties to the school system if minerals are found in the area.

Landman Trey Ellison, a contractor for Merlin Oil & Gas, said the tests will begin in the latter half of March and will mainly take place at Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School and on the site of the former Woodlawn school.

Additional tests will be conducted on portions of the school system’s section 18 swampland.

“They didn’t know where it was,” said Ellison. “We identified for them on a map they were actually pretty pleased with that.”

In a St. John Parish Council meeting last week Merlin was granted the right to conduct seismic tests on parish owned property by exploding dynamite underground and recording the vibrations with sensitive microphones.

In contrast, the School Board owned properties are too close to population centers for dynamite tests. Instead, they will be using vibration trucks located on Highways 51 and 628 to vibrate the earth.

At Lake Pontchartrain Elementary a long cord will be laid over the school grounds to record the vibrations.  

Ellison said the one inch diameter cord is completely safe and can be chewed on by dogs and run over by vehicles.

According to Ellison the cord does not have a charge, thus it cannot harm children in its vicinity.

Ellison said the testing at the school properties is part of a much bigger plan that envelopes 100 square miles of St. John and St. Charles parishes.