On July 2, Protect PT-- the party that brought the original appeal of the Drakulic permits to the EHB-- filed an appeal on the same EHB decision with Commonwealth Court because it allowed the permits for the two wells to remain in force. Read more here.
CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex Energy LLC elected not to drill the Drakulic wells while the EHB appeal was pending.
CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex Energy LLC said despite the fact the Board concluded that "Protect PT did not demonstrate any failure by the Department" to follow the law and its obligations under the Environmental Rights Amendment, it granted Protect PT additional "relief" by adding conditions to the permits.
The conditions added to the permit by the Board involved a federal court Consent Judgment between Penn Township and CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex.
CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex pointed out neither Protect PT nor DEP are parties to the federal consent order and Penn Township was not a party to the Environmental Hearing Board's proceeding, adding that the federal court retains jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the federal consent order.
CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex said, "the Board revised the permits to convey both interpretation and enforcement rights of certain provisions of the settlement approved by consent order to the Department, including provisions which are the province of the Township to enforce both under the Consent Order and its delegated authority under the MPC [Municipalities Planning Code]."
They also argued, "The Board’s apparent act of using the Environmental Rights Amendment to further condition WCAA Upstream’s permits validly issued by the Department violates WCAA Upstream’s fundamental and guaranteed rights to procedural and substantive due process recognized under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Commonwealth’s Constitution."
"WCAA Upstream’s due process rights were further violated when the Board rewrote the permit without warning and a fair opportunity for briefing and argument on that issue."
Click Here for a copy of the CNX Resources (WCAA Upstream, LLC/Apex Energy LLC) appeal.
What The EHB Said
The Environmental Hearing Board said in its decision that both DEP and the permitee-- CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex-- relied on several provisions in the Consent Judgment as support for their claims DEP did not error in issuing the shale gas well permits. [page 98 of EHB decision]
The Board pointed to the air monitoring provisions and others related to "noise, light, dust and truck traffic by requiring sound walls and noise monitoring during construction, drilling and completion; light shields and other equipment to mitigate light sources at the site; and measures to minimize truck traffic, including coordination with the local school district to minimize traffic during school bus stop times."
The Board also said-- "The Department’s lead permit reviewer, Andrea Mullen, testified that she considered the Consent Judgment in her review of the permit applications and determined that many of the objections the Department had received from Protect PT and other objectors were addressed by the Consent Judgment."
The Board explained-- "we understand that the Department could have included the terms of the Consent Judgment in the permits, but it elected not to do so – not because they were unnecessary, but because the Department felt they were addressed elsewhere.
“While we understand the Department’s reasoning, we nevertheless believe it would be prudent for the Department to include the aforesaid conditions of the Consent Judgment in the permits in order to ensure compliance with them."
The Board said-- "while the Stipulation between Penn Township and Permittee provides that Permittee’s acceptance of the conditions of the Consent Judgment ensures that “Apex [CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex] will be considered to have satisfied all requirements to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Penn Township residents and Article I, Section 27 [the Environmental Rights Amendment],” the Board’s role is to determine if the Department has met the requirements of Article I, Section 27.
“In order to comply with its duties under Article I, Section 27, the Department must, at a minimum, ensure that Permittee’s operation at the Drakulic site does not “create a public nuisance or adversely affect public health, safety, welfare or the environment.”
"We believe that the mitigation measures discussed above ensure that this requirement is met, and, therefore, it is prudent for them to be contained within the permit.
"Moreover, these are terms that Permittee [CNX/WCAA Upstream/Apex] has already agreed to and indicates it intends to comply with at the Drakulic site."
"The Department and Permittee have presented no reason for not including the terms of the Consent Judgment in the permits, other than the risk of being repetitive.
“As stated above, we do not see this as a compelling reason, particularly where both the Department and Permittee relied on the Consent Judgment in their assurances to the Board that issues of air quality, truck traffic, noise and light pollution were fully addressed."
Click Here for a copy of the EHB decision.
(Photo: TribLive.com)
Resource Link:
-- Protect PT Will Appeal EHB Decision To Allow CNX Resources To Drill Shale Gas Wells Just Hundreds Of Feet From Homes In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County [PaEN]
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - June 28 to July 4 - 30+ Days Of Cleanup Continues At Shale Gas Pad; Failure To Comply With Plugging Order For 67 Months; Failure To Install E&S Controls For 68 Months [PaEN]
-- DEP: Active Wastewater Spill Remediation Efforts Have Continued For 30+ Days At The Seneca Resources Vandergrift Shale Gas Well Pad In Charleston Twp., Tioga County [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - July 5 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 65 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 5 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies Request To End Appeal Of Catalyst Energy, Inc. Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permit In McKean County [PaEN]
-- CNX Resources Challenges Environmental Hearing Board Authority To Add Conditions To Permits For Shale Gas Wells At The Drakulic Well Pad In Penn Twp., Westmoreland County [PaEN]
-- Warren Times Editorial: Pennsylvania Needs A New Plan For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells; Increasing Bond Amounts Only Part Of Solution [PaEN]
-- Penn State Extension Adds McKean County Workshop To Promote $100/Well Bounty To Find Previously Unknown Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners; Workshops Set In Clarion, Crawford, Mercer Counties [PaEN]
-- Guest Essay: The Real Story Behind The Act 13 Shale Gas Drilling Impact Fee - It's Not Funding, It's Cleanup Money - By Mary Jo Simmen-Gray, Hempfield, Westmoreland County Resident [PaEN]
-- Environmental Integrity Project: DEP Made Changes To Permit For MarkWest Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant In Washington County To Reduce Air Emissions, Improve Accountability [PaEN]
-- Environmental Health Project To Launch Compounds Of Concern Online Tool During July 16 Webinar [PaEN]
-- PA Interfaith Power & Light Launches New Faith & Fossil Fuels Initiative; Invites Congregations, Individuals To Share Your Lived Experiences With Pollution [PaEN]
-- PUC Approves $750,000 Penalty Against UGI Utilities For 2020 Natural Gas Main Eruption In Monroe County Killing 1 Person [PaEN]
-- PUC Seeks $395,000 Penalty Against UGI Utilities For 2022 Natural Gas House Explosion In Suburban Harrisburg; $50,000 Penalty Against Contractor [PaEN]
-- PJM Interconnection Grid Operator Issues Hot Weather Alert For July 6 In Its Western Region, July 7 In Its Mid-Atlantic & Southern Regions, Including Areas In PA [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: Commonwealth Court Rules Elizabeth Twp., In Allegheny County Violated Its Own Zoning Ordinance To Allow Shale Gas Well Pad, Pipeline To Be Built In A Residential Area
-- Observer-Reporter: EQT Shale Gas Driller Sues Morgan Twp., Greene County In Federal Court Over Limits On Heavy Equipment Hauling On Local Roads To Prevent Damage [PDF of Article]
-- PennLive: PUC Files Complaints Against UGI, Plumber For 2022 Dauphin County House Explosion
-- MCall - Anthony Salamone: UGI Fined For Christmas Day 2020 Natural Gas Leak That Killed 1 Person
-- KYW: Deadly Explosion In Philadelphia’s Nicetown Neighborhood Could Be Natural Gas-Fueled, Source Says
-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: Natural Gas Leak Results In Power Being Cut To Much Of Downtown Wilkes-Barre, Turning Off Street Lights Throughout The City
-- Spotlight PA: Costs Of Amazon’s $20 Billion Promise To Build Data Centers In PA Unknown: Impact On Electricity Supply, Power Costs To Consumers, Tax Revenue Forfeit
-- TribLive Guest Essay: Summer’s Triple Threat - Energy Bills Rising, Grids Straining, Help Shrinking - By Destenie Nock, Peoples Energy Analytics
-- Reuters: US Energy Firms Eye New Northeast Natural Gas Pipelines, Buoyed By President, Demand Outlook
-- Bloomberg: Electronic Warfare During Iran Strikes Crashes Global Shipping’s Navigation System, Including Oil, LNG Natural Gas Ships
[Posted: July 3, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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