Jul 11, 2014 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – A company that wants to construct a water filling station on Route 188, just west of Jefferson, for tanker trucks serving the natural gas industry has filed an appeal with the Greene County Court seeking to overturn a decision by the local zoning hearing board denying a special exception for the project.

Bell’s Bridge LLP requested the special exception to develop the 2.43-acre site for a water filling station that would be leased to EQT for five years and used exclusively by EQT for water tanker trucks serving its Marcellus Shale natural gas wells.

The area is zoned single family residential. However, mineral extraction support services are permitted in that zone under the zoning ordinance with the granting of a special exception.

At a hearing June 24, the Jefferson-Morgan Multi-Municipal Zoning Hearing Board denied the special exception after hearing concerns from nearby property owners, including Jefferson-Morgan School District, about traffic on the road.

Those who opposed the plan cited safety concerns from increased truck traffic on the road as well as the establishment of a truck filling station in an area within 300 yards of the school, where sight distances for trucks entering and exiting the highway would be limited.

Bell’s Bridge sought the special exception with the condition EQT be granted a highway entrance permit for the site from the state Department of Transportation.

At the hearing, an EQT representative maintained sight distances on the road at the site would meet PennDOT requirements and indicated the station actually would reduce truck traffic through Jefferson.

EQT currently is filing its water tanker trucks at the Monongahela River in Fredericktown and the trucks use Route 188 to reach wells mainly are west of Jefferson, the representative said. The station would negate the need for the same trucks having to pass through Jefferson and in front of the school.

The proposed station would be capable of filling 17 trucks an hour and would operate 24 hours a day, though heavy use would be intermittent and occur only when the company needed the water at a well site in the area, the representative said.

In its petition, filed Thursday with the court, Bell’s Bridge cites participation in the hearing by David Knight, a zoning hearing board member whose property, in addition, adjoins the proposed filing station site.

Knight did not excuse himself from the proceeding and was the first person to speak against the proposal, the petition said.

“Participation by David F. Knight in the debate while sitting on the Hearing Board was improper and in violation of the public’s and appellant’s right to an impartial tribunal,” the petition said.

The petition also noted many objections expressed by residents involved hypothetical situations, “what would happen” if motorists failed to abide by the traffic laws by not observing the posted speed limit or using cellphones while driving.

Other objections involve traffic congestion at the school at the start and end of the school day, it said. However, when an EQT representative asked if a moratorium on trucks using the site during certain school hours would help the district, the school official said no, the petition said.

“Despite the fact that traffic would not be increased due to the presence of the water filling station and despite the reduction of truck traffic through Jefferson and past the Jefferson-Morgan schools, the request for a special exception was denied in a 6-1 vote,” the petition said.

Bell’s Bridge asks the court to find the requested special exception to be in accordance with the zoning ordinance or to order the zoning hearing board to vacate its decision and schedule the case for a new hearing.