DEP date with Cecil to change
The state Department of Environmental Protection has requested a new date for a private conference with Cecil Township supervisors regarding a controversial Marcellus Shale water impoundment.
The DEP’s oil and gas representatives would not have been able to attend the conference planned July 29 at the DEP’s regional headquarters in Pittsburgh, according to DEP community relations coordinator John Poister.
The Worstell impoundment, operated by Range Resources, has been a contentious issue since January, when the township mailed a letter to the DEP stating Range did not obtain proper approvals for the original use and construction of the impoundment. Township supervisors have questioned whether the impoundment is servicing more gas wells than Range originally applied for, and whether the property should be restored to its natural state.
Township supervisors and DEP representatives will agree on a new conference date, but not everyone agrees on the nature of the conference pertaining to the impoundment on Swihart Road.
The DEP, which said it would not attend a public meeting hosted by the township, sent an email to the township last month that said it would be willing to host a meeting open to supervisors, officials and “other guests that have a direct interest,” according to supervisors Vice Chairman Andy Schrader.
Schrader said many residents who live near the impoundment have concerns about the amount of traffic along the road. He said a counter on the road has shown that a truck travels in or out of the impoundment property every 18 minutes.
While Poister said that the DEP is willing to answer any questions that township supervisors may have, he added that the conversation was never intended to be public.
“We aren’t calling it a meeting,” Poister said. “It’s a conference, and it will be limited to our oil and gas people, a representative from our legal office, the supervisors from Cecil, the township manager and their solicitor.”
Township Manager Don Gennuso indicated at a board meeting July 1 that the meeting would be limited to 10 seats, including supervisors and DEP representatives, unless prior notice was given to the DEP. Poister said the lack of space at the DEP’s facility influenced the decision to close the conference to the public.
“We did not want to get into a situation where we were letting some people in and kicking other people out,” Poister said.
A conference typically involves some training that agency personnel receive from a state or federal authorities, according to Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Melewsky said that while a conference is permitted to be private under the state Sunshine Act, there is no reason that it cannot be made public.
“What’s important is that they explain why they’re not having it publicly, and I think lack of space is not a good excuse,” Melewsky said. “I don’t think crowd size should be an issue. Public participation is a good thing. The fact that many people are interested is a positive, not a negative.”
Melewsky said that by law, a conference must not involve any deliberation of agency business.
Schrader also objected to a private conference and said he might not attend if he is unable to persuade DEP officials to change their minds.
“They need to have a public meeting so they can get all the questions answered from everyone,” Schrader said. “I think there’s some issues that we’re going to bring up, and (the DEP is) going to have a hard time with the questions we ask.”
Schrader said DEP representatives held a public meeting regarding a natural gas compressor station in Smith Township earlier this year, and he questioned why Cecil Township was not given the same opportunity.
This meeting was held in Smith Township’s VFW hall instead of its municipal building in order to accommodate a larger crowd, according to comments made by Poister in April.
Poister said the DEP is hoping to reschedule the Worstell impoundment conference for a day during the first week of August.