For one Mon Valley municipality, drilling for natural gas into the Marcellus Shale will create dozens of new jobs.

Export-based Dura-Bond Industries will open a 55,000-square-foot pipe-coating facility along the Monongahela River in Duquesne. It will serve to complement the company's existing coating facility in nearby McKeesport.

Jason Norris, Dura-Bond vice president of commercial operations, said the company chose the RIDC Duquesne City Center site due to its proximity to rail lines and access to the river.

"There is not a whole lot of flat and stabilized ground in southwestern Pennsylvania," Mr. Norris said. "We looked at a few sites, but none could offer the access ... rail and barge access fits the bill."

Mr. Norris said the site is in the process of being cleared. The facility is expected to be open by mid-2011.

Once opened, the facility will create between 75 and 85 new jobs in the Mon Valley, a fact that is not lost on Duquesne Mayor Phil Krivacek.

"Well, anytime you can bring in a company that will create new jobs in the region is a definite plus," said the mayor. "I think this a good thing for not only Duquesne, but for the entire region."

Mr. Norris said the added interest in deep-well drilling into the Marcellus Shale, a layer of rock deep under the Earth's surface that contains billions of gallons of natural gas, has helped spur the development of a new Dura-Bond facility in Duquesne.

"No doubt that the discovery of what the Marcellus Shale can produce has been a positive for us," Mr. Norris said.

Fifty years after its founding, Dura-Bond controls three wholly owned companies:

• Dura-Bond Steel Inc., in Export, fabricates structural steel for marine and highway markets.

• Dura-Bond Pipe LLC, in Steelton, manufactures steel pipe measuring 24 to 42 inches in diameter.

• Dura-Bond Coating Inc., Export, specializes in applying fusion bond epoxy to steel pipe between 4 and 36 inches in diameter.

Products that will be coated and stored at the Duquesne facility will be used to transmit gas from the well head to larger lines that are used to move the product to storage facilities.

Mr. Norris added the Duquesne facility will serve as a coating, staging and access point for the company as it assists gas companies involved with deep-well drilling into the Marcellus Shale, which is taking place throughout Western and Central Pennsylvania.

"We will be able to get our products out to market more efficiently," Mr. Norris said.

The vice president of commercial operations said Dura-Bond is doing its part to ensure its products will not affect the environment negatively during the drilling process.

"We want to see that everything is performed in a correct manner when it comes to this process," Mr. Norris said. "We are good stewards of the environment and will continue to be. It is imperative that the needs for job and energy production can meet with the needs of the environment. Our coatings and procedures are environmentally friendly."