May 12, 2014 3 min read

Robinson Township officials erred by delaying and ultimately denying separate applications over whether to permit Marcellus Shale drilling on two properties in late 2012, a Washington County judge ruled Monday.

The order by Judge John DiSalle automatically approves and permits the two Range Resources well pads first planned nearly two years ago in Robinson because township officials delayed their decision for a longer period than municipal planning code allows.

Range claimed when it sued the township Jan. 28, 2013, that Robinson supervisors deliberately refused to make decisions on the applications to drill on a 167-acre property owned by Michelle Parees and Robert Frame, and on an 84-acre parcel owned by Rodger and Susan Kendall.

A conditional-use hearing to drill on the Parees and Frame property off of Midway Candor Road was held Nov. 20, 2012, but a decision on the application was delayed multiple times by township supervisors. A hearing for the Kendall property along Valley View Road was scheduled for Dec. 10, 2012, but that, too, was delayed several times.

Both applications eventually were denied Feb. 14, 2013, but DiSalle ruled that too much time had elapsed since the close of the conditional-use hearings. He added that Range Resources did not agree to delays that would gave township officials longer than 45 days to make a decision.

“The Court can find no authority for the position that the municipality could extend the statutory time limit merely by scheduling an additional day or days of hearings without the agreement of the applicant,” DiSalle wrote. “The additional days of hearings were scheduled on the Board’s own motion, and not at the request of the Plaintiff or an objecting party.”

Rodger Kendall, who was elected to the township’s board of supervisors last fall, was not a party in the lawsuit but was pleased with the decision. He was unsure how the township would proceed, because he has recused himself from any legal discussions with municipal officials involving the lawsuit.

“That’s good news to me and all of the other leaseholders that are involved with those two well pads,” Kendall said. “I’m happy and excited that a decision was finally made.”

DiSalle also ruled that the Imperial Tank Pad application filed by Range also was wrongly delayed. However, DiSalle gave the township time to continue its review of that application “in good faith and in accordance with the law,” since it was filed just three weeks before Range’s lawsuit.

Alan Shuckrow, who was hired earlier this year to become Robinson Township’s new solicitor, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the ruling.