Jun 16, 2014 3 min read

JEFFERSON – A group of residents is concerned about the increase in truck traffic that could result should a water filling station for tanker trucks serving the drilling industry be allowed to open on property on Route 188 just west of Jefferson.

Bell’s Bridge LLP proposed to develop the property, which was earlier prepared as a recreational vehicle park, for a station to fill water tanker trucks serving EQT’s natural gas wells.

The idea, however, has not gone over well with some property owners. Close to 100 people signed petitions opposing the plan, said Richard Knight, an adjoining property owner who helped circulate the petition.

“Our big thing is safety,” Knight said. “The increase in truck traffic on that road and the safety of that,” he said. The road is already busy, Knight said, quoting a state traffic survey that indicated about 4,300 vehicles pass that area each day.

The entrance to the property is within 300 yards of Jefferson-Morgan High School and vehicles exiting the site have a restricted line of sight because of the grade, he said.

The station, in addition, would result in an increase in noise from idling trucks and a decrease in nearby property values, Knight said. The area is zoned rural residential and a tanker filling station would surely alter the character of the community.

“There has to be a better spot for (a commercial water station), that would not have as much impact on nearby residents,” Knight said.

Gary Filbey, the property owner and a partner in Bells Bridge, said tanker trucks already are using the highway and he doesn’t believe the station will increase traffic on the road.

It may help lessen the number of tanker trucks through Jefferson, he said. Tankers trucks serving EQT wells east of Jefferson will no longer have to go through town to get water, he explained.

In regard to sight distance, Filbey said, he earlier received a road entry permit from the state Department of Transportation for the property when he proposed using it as a recreational vehicle park.

That permit since expired but in order to qualify for it, he said he had to show there was adequate sight distance for vehicles entering the highway at that location. A new permit will be obtained before the station opens.

Noise from the station also should be minimal, Filbey said. Tri-axles trucks brought dirt to the site when it was being developed and it didn’t cause excessive noise, he said. “Nobody complained then,” he said.

Filbey, who lives next door to the site, also said he wouldn’t allow anything to be built at the property that would trouble his wife, who has pulmonary fibrosis and needs a lung transplant.

“If it’s going to affect my wife and her condition I wouldn’t do it,” he said, adding income from the station would help him pay for some of the medications his wife must take not covered by insurance.

Filbey said EQT has assured him the operation will be run safely and properly and signs will be posted prohibiting air brakes and warning of a truck highway entrance.

A hearing on a special exception for the station will be held June 24 before the Jefferson-Morgan Multi-Municipal Zoning Hearing Board. Filbey said a representative of EQT will also be in attendance to answer questions.