DeSoto Sheriff Adds Hydratrek to Fleet

MANSFIELD – It's a given the oil and gas activity in DeSoto Parish has created a few challenges when it comes to emergency response to well locations. Many sites are off the beaten path, thus harder to reach.

Because of that and many other reasons DeSoto Parish Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle has added a unique piece of equipment capable of land and water rescues, searches and any other use that can be found for it. The Hydratrek is an amphibious six-wheel vehicle with rubber tracks, propellers and diesel motor that makes a seamless move from dusty roads to swampy bottoms to full-blown lakes.

"It's a specialized tool. It's not something we'll use every day," Arbuckle said.

He got the idea to buy one months ago after seeing a demonstration. The estimated $100,000 price tag was the biggest drawback to purchasing one then.

EXCO was the first of a number of oil and gas companies working in the Haynesville Shale to express interest in donating funds towards the sheriff's office for an equipment purchase. Arbuckle asked the company to wait until he determined his needs.

When the Hydratrek entered the picture, Arbuckle sent photographs to the oil and gas companies and invited representatives to a demonstration. EXCO gave the first $15,000, and the rest of the companies – Chesapeake Energy, EnCana, Shell, BP and Enterprise Products Partners - added $10,000 each. That left the sheriff's office paying $22,000 toward the final cost of $97,000.

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