Jun 24, 2014 3 min read

JEFFERSON – Plans to develop a water filling station for tanker trucks serving the natural gas well drilling industry on Route 188 just west of Jefferson failed to receive approval Tuesday from the Jefferson-Morgan Multi-Municipal Zoning Hearing Board.

Bell’s Bridge LLP had requested a special exception to develop the 2.45-acre site for a water filling station that would be leased to EQT and used exclusively by EQT for water tanker trucks serving the company’s Marcellus Shale natural gas wells.

A group of residents attending the hearing opposed the plan, citing safety concerns from increased truck traffic on Route 188 as well as a truck filling station at that location, which is within 300 yards of Jefferson-Morgan High School and in an area, they claimed, where sight distance for trucks entering and exiting the highway is limited.

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

Todd Klaner, an EQT engineer, told the board he reviewed PennDOT requirements for the entrance permit and plans for the water filling station would meet all sight distance requirements.

The 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, he said.

One board member, David Knight, who also owns property adjoining the site, expressed his opposition almost immediately, saying he believed Bell’s Bridge was proposing an industrial operation in a residential area.

Zoning was adopted to prevent that from happening, he said.

Other residents spoke of the traffic problems the station would create.

Debbie Phillips, who lives on Route 188 about three-quarters of a mile west of the site, said there already is a problem with trucks speeding on the road.

“I’m scared. I’m nervous,” she said. “I want a guarantee there’s not going to be an increase in truck traffic on that road.”

Donna Furnier, superintendent of Jefferson-Morgan School District, also said the district is concerned about the safety of its students, employees and those who come to the school because of the traffic on Route 188.

The district currently has problems, she said, with people leaving the school pulling out onto the highway and restrictions on the station’s use during school hours would not be effective because school facilities are often used at night and on weekends for various events and activities, she said.

Alan Rafail, a driving instructor at the school who also lives on Route 188 west of the site, said he often sees vehicles passing illegally in the area near Wilson Forest Products, just west of the proposed station.

Rafail also spoke of students he teaches who have yet to gain experience on the highway who, if the station were permitted, would have to share the roadway with large tanker trucks.

Attorney David Pollock, who is a partner in Bell’s Bridge with Gary Filbey, the property owner, noted that those who cited problems with traffic all spoke of instances in which drivers fail to abide by the law. If everyone followed the law, this station would not pose a safety concern, he said.

Residents Richard Knight and Jim Stockdale also presented the board with petitions opposing the station signed by about 150 residents and argued the proposed use of a commercial filling station would alter the character of the surrounding community.