Protect PT turns to judge in effort to halt fracking in Penn Township
A citizens' group has asked a Westmoreland County judge to halt development of four hydraulic fracturing well pads in Penn Township.
The appeals are against the Penn Township Zoning Hearing Board, but the real target is Apex Energy, said Gillian Graber, executive director of Protect PT, a group of residents from Penn Township and other communities near the proposed drilling sites.
“They were basically holding the township hostage,” Graber said of Apex, which has one active well pad in the township and has proposed seven more.
The zoning hearing board rejected three of the proposals last year. Apex, based in Pine, Allegheny County, then sued the township for more than $300 million, arguing the denials were unlawful.
The township settled in December. The rejections were reversed, the lawsuit was dropped, and Apex agreed to several stipulations, including air and sound quality monitoring during construction.
After the settlement, the zoning hearing board approved the remaining four wells. Those four rulings are the subject of Protect PT's appeals.
The lawsuit pressured the township and the zoning hearing board into rubber-stamping the proposals, Graber said.
“It was kind of in the bag from the beginning, where the zoning hearing board was just going through the motions of hearing the testimony and had to approve them,” she said.
Protect PT is working with nonprofit law firm Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services to bring the appeals.
“We are confident in Protect PT's position. We are pursuing these appeals because Protect PT is concerned about the increasing number of well pads being proposed and developed in Penn Township, and this is one way to bring to light the potential harms related to that continued development,” said Ryan Hamilton, a lawyer with Fair Shake.
The appeals are based on three main arguments:
• Plans for the well pads would require storing more toxic wastewater than is allowed under Penn Township ordinance.
• Plans do not call for pollution monitoring stringent enough to protect residents' rights to “clean air and pure water,” as defined by the state constitution and township ordinance.
• The wells would have an “adverse, abnormal or detrimental impact on the public interest” if built, the appeals state.
“I think we have a pretty good chance because I think we have a good legal argument,” Graber said.
Representatives from Apex and the zoning hearing board could not be reached for comment.
President Judge Richard E. McCormick Jr. has not scheduled any hearings on the matter.
In addition to the four wells it is appealing, Protect PT plans to fight the remaining three wells at the state level as Apex seeks the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection permits it needs to begin drilling, Graber said.
Traditional gas drilling has been occurring in Penn Township for decades. But horizontal fracking, which uses high-pressure fluid to extract gas from deep underground, has become a divisive topic in recent years. Township meetings are regularly filled with residents decrying the proposed wells.
While many fear what fracking will mean for the environment and quality of life, others stand to profit. Apex leased land-use rights from dozens of local property owners.
“Who is resisting? Is it the landowners who stand to make a lot of money, or is it people with 12-foot yards?” asked Christine Gornick, who owns a farm in the township and leases land to Apex.
She didn't want to disclose how much she makes but said she, and others like her, “stand to gain a lot.”
“You cannot stop progress. You might slow it down a bit by going to court, but you cannot stop it,” she said.
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646 or jtierney@tribweb.com.
