Nov 24, 2016 2 min read

MarkWest’s plans to build a compressor station in Cecil Township will go before a state appellate court for a second time as the natural gas processor challenges conditions placed on the township’s approval of its application.

The attorneys who represent MarkWest filed a notice of appeal Oct. 31 in Commonwealth Court following a ruling by Washington County Judge John F. DiSalle in which the judge called conditions the township’s zoning hearing board imposed when it approved the application reasonable.

According to background in the 22-page ruling, MarkWest submitted an “application for special exception” with the township six years ago to construct a compressor station in Cecil Township’s light-industrial district. The property is about a half-mile north of the intersection of Route 980 and Route 50. It is adjacent to residential districts, but the facility would be constructed at least 1,000 feet away from residents’ homes.

The zoning hearing board rejected the application the following year. Washington County Court affirmed that decision, but Commonwealth Court reversed it in 2014 and ordered the lower court to remand the matter to the hearing board, which was to grant the application.

The board granted the application but imposed 26 conditions on its approval last year, prompting MarkWest again to appeal the decision in county court.

A number of residents who claim the facility would affect their property are appealing a court decision earlier this year denying them a bid to intervene in the case.

Among the conditions DiSalle deemed reasonable was a requirement that MarkWest perform a baseline air qualty test at the site and then retest the air annually. Another was that MarkWest use electric compressor engines – which release fewer emissions, according to testimony – at the site instead of ones running on natural gas. unless the company can show electricity is unavailable, in which case the zoning hearing board would consider allowing natural gas engines there.