Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Moms Clean Air Force To DEP: Families In Washington County Are Already Living In The Middle Of Major Natural Gas Industrial Sites - Do Not Expand The Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant And Make It Worse

 This testimony was presented by Rachel Meyer, Moms Clean Air Force and Western Pennsylvania resident, at a March 11 hearing by the DEP Office of Environmental Justice on an Air Quality Permit for the expansion of the MarkWest Energy's Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant in Smith Township, Washington County.

My name is Rachel Meyer and I am the Ohio River Valley Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, a national community of over 1.5 million parents and caregivers united to protect our children’s health from air pollution and climate change. 

Today I represent our more than 105,000 PA members.

My family and I live in Independence Township in Beaver County. 

The Falcon Pipeline carrying ethane from the Harmon Creek facility passes through our township on the way to Shell’s ethane cracker plant where the ethane is again processed in a highly polluting facility to make plastic. 

Families’ and children’s health is already at risk because of the pollution from MarkWest’s Harmon Creek facility. 

As petrochemical facilities such as Harmon Creek propose to expand, so do the negative health impacts for Pennsylvanians in many communities connected by the harmful infrastructure of this industry.

Perhaps nowhere is this more clear than the area immediately surrounding Harmon Creek. Within a square mile of MarkWest’s expansion, there are two unconventional well pads, two compressor stations, and another gas plant which is also seeking expansion. (See Google Earth image.) 

There are families stuck in the middle of this. Tragically, children are uniquely vulnerable to the negative consequences of the industry’s pollution. 

Pollutants listed in the Harmon Creek draft air quality plan approval such as volatile organic compounds can increase the risk of health impacts such as developmental problems, asthma, and cancer. 

The proposed operations have the potential to cause additional harm to their health and cognitive development. 

Only about a mile and a half away, where we are tonight, is where 986 Burgettstown School District students spend a large proportion of their time in their schools and on the sports fields.

Technically, the Harmon Creek expansion should not even be permitted as a minor source. 

This plan approval would authorize a huge addition with potential emissions that can exceed major source thresholds. 

The volatile organic compounds are already projected to be 49 tons per year - one ton away from the 50 tons per year threshold required to be a major source. 

Parents have legitimate concerns because the controls that would make this a synthetic minor source are not sufficient to ensure emissions will not exceed those thresholds. 

As Mark West Liberty, the owner of the Harmon Creek gas plant, plays games with numbers to avoid paying for pollution controls, it will be children in the community who pay with their health.

Furthermore, DEP should not allow Harmon Creek to expand to add yet another, third cryogenic plant at this site when they have not demonstrated compliance for the two plants they have. 

This is evidenced by their history of noncompliance, malfunctions, flaring and black emissions.

At Moms Clean Air Force, we stand with children's health and against the expansion of the Harmon Creek facility and the harm it will cause.

I would also like to state that while I appreciate the DEP exercising its discretion to facilitate enhanced public participation, the environmental justice meeting and the hearing should be on different days as many of us asked for. 

Time between the meeting and hearing is needed for the public to be able to incorporate what they learn from the meeting into their comments. 

Click Here for a copy of the testimony.


Rachel Meyer, Moms Clean Air Force, can be contacted by sending email to: rmeyer@momscleanairforce.org


Resource Links - Harmon Creek Hearing:

-- Community Speaks Out Against Expansion Of Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant In Washington County  [PaEN] 

-- Washington County Resident To DEP: Harmon Creek Natural Gas Plant Expansion Will Result In A Huge Increase In Air Pollution, It Should Be Required To Have A Major Air Quality Permit, It Is Not A ‘Minor’ Source  [PaEN] 

-- Moms Clean Air Force To DEP: Families In Washington County Are Already Living In The Middle Of Major Natural Gas Industrial Sites - Do Not Expand The Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant And Make It Worse  [PaEN]

-- Fact Sheet: How Oil and Gas Operations Impact Your Baby’s Health

-- DEP: Shell Petrochemical Plant Pays Additional $2,671,044.75 In Civil Penalties For 12-Month Air Quality Violations After May 2023 Consent Order  [PaEN] 

-- Shell Falcon Pipeline LP Pleads No Contest To Criminal Charges For Violating The State Clean Streams Law In Allegheny, Beaver, Washington Counties; Will Pay $300,000 In Penalties  [PaEN] 

-- 3 Days That Shook Washington County: Natural Gas Plant Explosion; Pipeline Leak Of 1.1 Million Cubic Feet Of Gas; 10,000 Gallon Spill At Compressor Station  [PaEN] 

-- PA Shale Gas & Public Health Conference Attended By Nearly 480 People Featured Health Experts, Scientists, Advocacy Groups On Health, Environmental Impacts Of Shale Gas Development  [PaEN]

Resource Links - Health:

-- Frackland Video Tour, with Lois Bower-Bjornson, Clean Air Council

-- Part I - Environmental Impacts: State Dept. Of Health, Penn State Medical Webinars On Caring For Persons Living & Working In Communities With Oil & Natural Gas Extraction  [PaEN]

-- Part II - Health Impacts: State Dept. Of Health, Penn State Medical Webinars On Caring For Persons Living & Working In Communities With Oil & Natural Gas Extraction  [PaEN]

-- University Of Pittsburgh School Of Public Health Studies Find Shale Gas Wells Can Make Asthma Worse; Children Have An Increased Chance Of Developing Lymphoma Cancer; Slightly Lower Birth Weights  [PaEN]

-- State Dept. Of Health Apologizes For Not Listening To Communities Suffering Health Impacts From Shale Gas Development; New Health Study Results ‘Just The Tip Of The Iceberg’  [PaEN] 

-- Physicians For Social Responsibility PA’s Dr. Ned Ketyer Shares Summary Of Studies Of Shale Gas Development Impacts On Human Health [PaEN]

-- State Health Plan Identified Oil & Gas Development As Health Risk Last Year; Environmental Health Indicators Map Is Now Available To Show Potential Risks Near You [PaEN]

-- 9th Compendium Of Studies On Health & Environmental Harms From Natural Gas Development Released - ‘The Rapidly Expanding Body Of Evidence Compiled Here Is Massive, Troubling And Cries Out For Decisive Action’ [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: Body Of Evidence Is 'Large, Growing,’ ‘Consistent’ And 'Compelling' That Shale Gas Development Is Having A Negative Impact On Public Health; PA Must Act  [PaEN]

-- DEP Determines Rulemaking Petition Submitted By Environmental, Health Groups To Adopt More Protective Setbacks From Shale Gas Wells Is An Action The Environmental Quality Board Has Statutory Authority To Take [PaEN]

-- Cecil Township Supervisors In Washington County Adopt 2,500 Setback From Shale Gas Well Pads From Homes, Businesses, 5,000 Foot Setback From Hospitals, Schools  [PaEN]

-- Range Resources And MarkWest Liberty Midstream File Legal Challenges To The 2,500 Foot Shale Gas Facility Setback Ordinance Adopted By Cecil Township, Washington County  [PaEN] 

-- The Energy Age Blog: Range Resources & MarkWest Liberty Midstream File Legal Challenges Against 2,500 Foot Shale Gas Setback Ordinance In Cecil Twp., Washington County

-- Cecil Township Supervisors Direct Solicitor To Prepare Ordinance Increasing Setbacks From Shale Gas Well Pads By At Least 2,500 Feet; Another Hearing, Vote Expected Nov. 4   [9.9.24]   [Hearing Summary]

-- House Committee Hearing On Increasing Safety Setbacks Zones Around Natural Gas Facilities Heard About First-Hand Citizen Experiences On Health Impacts, From Physicians On Health Studies And The Gas Industry On Job Impacts  [PaEN]

-- Sen. Yaw, Republican Chair Of Senate Environmental Committee, Calls Bill To Reduce Shale Gas Industry Impacts On Health, Environment ‘Stupid’  [PaEN] 

-- Senators Santarsiero, Comitta Introduce SB 581 Increasing Setback Safety Zones From Natural Gas Drilling Sites, Other Infrastructure, Based On Latest Science  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: Setback Distances And The Regulations We Need To Protect Public Health From Oil & Gas Facilities  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- PA American Water Identifies Water Source For New Public Water System To Replace Water Wells Contaminated By Shale Gas Fracking 20 Years Ago In Dimock Twp., Susquehanna County  [PaEN]

-- Community Speaks Out Against Expansion Of Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant In Washington County  [PaEN] 

-- Washington County Resident To DEP: Harmon Creek Natural Gas Plant Expansion Will Result In A Huge Increase In Air Pollution, It Should Be Required To Have A Major Air Quality Permit, It Is Not A ‘Minor’ Source  [PaEN] 

-- Moms Clean Air Force To DEP: Families In Washington County Are Already Living In The Middle Of Major Natural Gas Industrial Sites - Do Not Expand The Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant And Make It Worse  [PaEN]

-- Republican Herald Editorial: One-Sided Discussions On Issues Don’t Promote True Progress, EPA Visit Was Not A 'Roundtable Discussion,' But A 'Rally' For Natural Gas In Delaware River Basin  [PaEN]

-- Gov. Shapiro Marks Milestone Of Plugging 300 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Over 2 Years; New Technology Finding More Abandoned Wells  [PaEN] 

-- PA Council Of Trout Unlimited: Millions In Trout Unlimited Watershed Projects Improve The Environment, Local Economies Across The US; Federal Funding Freeze, Office Closures, Staff Cuts 'Sacrificing Our National Conservation Legacy'  [PaEN]

-- Gov. Shapiro Launches Legislative Push for 'Lightning Plan’ To Build More Energy Projects, Speed Up Permitting, Lower Costs, Create Jobs For Pennsylvanians  [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Geothermal Might Have The Answer For Pennsylvania's Clean Energy Needs - By John Walliser, PA Environmental Council & Kevin Sunday, McNees Wallace & Nurick   [PaEN] 

-- EPA Pulls Back Regulations Setting Methane Emission Limits, Regulating Wastewater From Oil & Gas Operations, Risk Management Rule At Petrochemical Plants  [PaEN] 

-- EPA Launches Biggest Deregulation Action For Industry In US History, 'Driving A Dagger Straight Into The Heart Of The Climate Change Religion,’ Unleashing The American Energy Industry  [PaEN] 

-- Clean Air Council: EPA To Reverse Life-Saving Finding Carbon Pollution Is Endangering Public Health By Driving Climate Change  [PaEN]

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation: EPA Deregulation Bombshell A Blow To The Chesapeake Bay  [PaEN] 

-- Evangelical Environmental Network: EPA Announces Plan To Put Pollution Before Our Health  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- Scranton Times: PA American To Provide Clean Drinking Water In Dimock To Replace Fracking-Contaminated Private Wells  [PDF of Article]

-- WVIA: PA American Water: Dimock Twp. Residents Will Have Drinkable Water By 2026

-- Post-Gazette: Chester, Delaware County Leading The Fight For Environmental Justice [LNG Export Facility]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: New Federal Administration Considers Strategies To Overturn Delaware River Basin Commission Fracking Ban  [PDF of Article]

-- WHYY: Bucks County Residents Continue To Press For Shutdown Of Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline; Bucks County District Attorney Referred Incident To State Attorney General’s Office

-- Observer- Reporter: Project Aims To Increase Geothermal Energy Use In State  [PDF of Article

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Anti-Drilling Trout Unlimited Crying Over $180 Million In Frozen Federal Funds  [PDF of Article

-- US EIA Forecasts Natural Gas Prices Up 11% In 2025, Another 8% In 2026 Over Last Forecasts As LNG Demand Grows

-- Marcellus Drilling News: NYMEX Natural Gas Price Hits 2-Year High Of $4.491/MMBtu  [PDF of Article]

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: America Needs The Energy Pennsylvania Can Supply - By American Petroleum Institute

-- Financial Times: US DOE Secretary Says US Shale Can ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ At Low Oil, Gas Prices; Industry Says No

-- Barron’s: Williams Pipeline CEO Not Willing To Move Ahead With PA-NY Constitution Pipeline Even With President’s Blessing As Long As NY, New England Governors Oppose

-- Reuters: President’s Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum To Raise Costs For US Oil, Gas Firms, Experts Say

-- Grist: Federal Pipeline Safety Agency Withdraws Proposed Rules To Prevent Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Releases In Response To President’s Executive Order

-- Reuters: US DOE Secretary Says Global Warming A Side Effect Of Modern Economy; Vows to End Climate Policies To Promote Fossil Fuels At Oil/Gas Industry Conference  

[Posted: March 12, 2025]  PA Environment Digest

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