PA Environment Digest Blog: Protect PT: CNX Appeals EHB Decision Requiring DEP To Enforce Local Environmental Protection Settlement At The Drakulic Shale Gas Well Pad In Westmoreland County

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Protect PT: CNX Appeals EHB Decision Requiring DEP To Enforce Local Environmental Protection Settlement At The Drakulic Shale Gas Well Pad In Westmoreland County

Both Protect PT and WCAA Upstream, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of CNX Resources, have appealed a June 3, 2025 Environmental Hearing Board decision that would allow WCAA Upstream to drill two shale gas wells just hundreds of feet from homes in Penn Township, Westmoreland County.

The two appeals challenge different aspects of the permit decision.

Protect PT has appealed the Drill and Operate permits, citing dangers to local residents.

These dangers include the lack of an evacuation plan for nearly 1,000 people living within a half mile and approximately 3,000 people living within a mile of the well, the proximity of the wells to both a daycare center and the Heritage Trail, and the likelihood of harmful chemical exposure to the local community through air and water, including an increased likelihood of transmission of harmful and unknown chemicals from the fracked wells to private water wells and existing conventional oil and gas wells.

Drakulic Well Pad Background

In 2014, Apex Energy (PA), LLC, acquired in 2025 by WCAA Upstream, LLC, applied for a permit to build an unconventional gas well pad in Penn Township.

Apex subsequently withdrew this application because Penn Township was in the process of updating its ordinance for unconventional well operations.

In 2016, Apex reapplied for the Drakulic well site along with six other site applications.

The township then held hearings for the Draftina, Beattie, and White sites.

Quest Well Pad Experience

Due to residents’ previous experience with Apex’s operations at the Quest well site in 2015 which caused silica dust, noise, light and air pollution to harm residents for months during operation, the Zoning Hearing Board denied Apex’s permits.

The Board found that “the Applicant (Apex) has failed to adequately demonstrate that the drill site operations will not violate the environmental rights of the citizens as required by Section 190-641(D)(9).”

Driller Sues Township For $300 Million

Apex then sued Penn Township for $300 million in federal court.

As a result, Penn Township entered into a Federal Consent Judgment in 2016 giving Apex the ability to get all seven sites approved.

This Consent Judgment allowed the development of the sites, but placed conditions on the development to mitigate noise, dust, and light pollution, minimize truck traffic, require coordination with the school district to avoid heavy truck traffic during school bus hours, and require third-party noise and air quality monitoring.

After obtaining the Consent Judgment, Apex obtained Drill and Operate permits from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2020.

Permit Appeals

Protect PT appealed those permits to the EHB. On June 3, 2025, the EHB denied Protect PT’s appeal and upheld the DEP’s issuance of the Drill and Operate Permits.

The EHB added certain conditions in the 2016 Federal Consent Judgment as conditions of the permits.

WCAA Upstream appealed the EHB’s decision to add conditions because it would allow a party other than Penn Township to enforce compliance with the conditions in the Consent Judgment. [Read more here.]

Now CNX, through WCAA Upstream’s appeal to Commonwealth Court, objects to DEP oversight of its activities at the Drakulic well pad even though oversight from the DEP will increase transparency and regulate health and pollution impacts on Penn Township residents.

“This appeal belies CNX’s promise of transparency and calls into question their intention to abide by the conditions of the 2016 Federal Consent Judgment,” said Gillian Graber, Executive Director of Protect PT, who lives within a half mile of the proposed Drakulic well site.

Dr. Larry Irr is a retired chemist with a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh who testified during Protect PT’s Environmental Hearing Board appeal of these permits in 2025.

Dr. Irr, who lives less than a half mile from the proposed drilling site, said, “The EHB’s decision to include the Consent Judgment conditions into the subject permits is of paramount importance to protect the health and safety of the thousands of people in our community.

“Excessive noise, dust, light, and poor air quality, among other things, would have an adverse effect on the health of the citizens of our community.

“Relying on Penn Township officials to ensure that the conditions of the Consent Judgment are met is problematic. They could be subject to huge lawsuits if they tried to enforce the Consent Judgment conditions and the energy company objected.”

(Photo: Quest shale gas well pad showing silica dust, light and air pollution by Gillian Graber.)

Resource Links - Drakulic Well Pad:

-- 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]

-- 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 - July 19 to 25 - More Criminal Charges; Weeks Long Wastewater Cleanups Continue; 27 More Abandoned Conventional Wells [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - July 26 [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Water Quality Permits For Daylighting 5.33 Miles Of 4 Texas Eastern Natural Gas Pipelines To Allow For Longwall Coal Mining In Greene County [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 78 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 26 PA Bulletin [PaEN]