Drilling pad OK’d in Smith
Smith Township supervisors Monday unanimously approved the conditional use plan for a Range Resources natural gas drilling pad at 346 Joffre-Cherry Valley Road.
The Mocek well pad would be situated on a 163-acre plot owned by John Mocek Jr., which is four miles from Fort Cherry High School and 1,700 feet from Smith Township ballfield and Raccoon Creek. The 3-0 vote came after a public hearing Thursday on the pad, which would be the 14th drill pad in the township, according to Supervisor Anthony Gianfrancesco.
The conditions attached to the preliminary approval include control of light and noise during and after construction, and mandates to mitigate either if they exceed ordinance allowances. Range Resources and its contractors must also coordinate with first responders and school district officials to organize emergency response plans and traffic flow with bus transit.
In other business, a representative with Pittsburgh-based Environmental Integrity Project, Lisa Graves-Marcucci, alleged the board was violating the Pennsylvania Municipal Code by having engineers and other staff communicate with gas drilling applicants outside of public hearings. Marcucci submitted several documents and letters to the board, including a complaint detailing difficulties in obtaining public records because copies of them were kept with Solicitor Gary Sweat and not housed in the municipal building.