Despite its parent company filing for bankruptcy in June, Methane Energy Corp., a subsidiary of the Portland-based Torrent Energy Corp., is continuing development of five methane gas wells south of Coos Bay.

People around town might have noticed the activity. A fleet of 17 semi-trucks and drilling rigs rolled into North Bend on Tuesday. They will be here through the weekend while the workers conduct testing on the wells, Methane Energy’s spokesman, Loran Wiese, said.

Twenty-eight workers with the Montana-based Sanjel Corporation are staying at the Comfort Inn near Pony Village Mall in North Bend.

The wells have been drilled and the project will determine how much gas is within the wells, and the probability of extracting more. The testing will take 30 to 90 days.

“Depending upon the amount, that will determine the next step, to get this gas to market using the county (pipe)line,” Wiese said.

Wiese said some of the natural gas could be used for local markets and the rest of it could be sold on the open market.

“This is the final step in completing natural gas coal bed methane wells,” Wiese said.

As part of the process, workers are cleaning the base of the coal seams. They inject nitrogen and sand into the cracks in the coal, propping open pores in the coal for testing.

“The goal of an operation like this is to open the coal ‘cleats’ but not fracture the rock above and below it, because if the rock is fractured, it makes it harder to capture the methane,” Bill Mason, senior hydrogeologist with the state Department of Environmental Quality, wrote in an e-mail.

Mason said groundwater contamination should not be an issue with the Westport area wells because they are so deep — the coal beds are between 1,500 to 2,000 feet below the surface. Once pollutants are removed, the methane company has a permit to dispose of salty wastewater into the nearby Davis Slough, which mixes with saltwater through tides. Cement seals within the wells are sufficient to prevent anything from going into or out of the wells, he said.

“These, however, are very deep and very dry coals,” he said Wednesday. “From everything I’ve looked at, there is no threat to groundwater at this time.”

Even though the company filed bankruptcy, Wiese said new investment from YA Global Investments, a financial advisory firm, has enabled the company to continue developing the wells.

“This is being handled through the reorganization phase of Chapter 11,” Wiese said.