Allegheny Township Police Department was gifted $25,000 from gas drilling company CNX Resources Corporation, which is growing its drilling footprint in the region, said township supervisors Chairman Jamie Morabito.

The money will help offset the costs of a new police vehicle the department plans to buy later this year, Morabito said.

“Some of our police vehicles have 170,000 miles on them,” Morabito said. “Our vehicles haven’t been rotated a number of years and, now, we’re playing catch up with trying to get old equipment replaced.”

Right now, the the township and police department are looking at vehicles, which with modifications like adding a light bar on top, interior lights and computers, is expected to cost around $72,000, Morabito said.

“It’s going to be a huge benefit because it’s going to be a cost savings because the vehicles are constantly breaking down and in the shop with higher bills,” Morabito said.

Morabito said the township’s fleet currently consists of hybrid vehicles that have both gasoline and electric capabilities. He wants to transition back to all gasoline vehicles, which, he said, are cheaper to maintain.

CNX currently has one gas lease in the Willowbrook Road area of the township and is working on another to drill Utica Shale gas wells in the next few years, Morabito said.

A gas lease is a precursor to future work in an area, said Brian Aiello, CNX vice president of external affairs.

Utica shale, stretching from Ohio through Pennsylvania and New York into Canada, is one of the country’s largest reserves of natural gas and oil but is even deeper than the more well-known Marcellus shale layer, often being as deep as 14,000 feet below the surface, about 4,000 to 6,000 feet deeper than Marcellus shale, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Aiello said the Canonsburg-based company looks forward to “deepening its partnership in the township in coming years.”

“The county is key to our future plans, and local partnerships and support for each community’s hyper localized needs is an important focus for CNX across Westmoreland County and the broader region,” Aiello said.

It also has drilling operations in nearby Washington and Bell Townships.