Oct 26, 2016 3 min read

About 20 parents and activists sought to pressure Mt. Pleasant Township supervisors Wednesday, alleging a natural gas driller violated a condition of a permit for a well pad near Fort Cherry Schools – an assertion township officials rejected.

Several parents spoke during the board of supervisors monthly meeting, saying trucks belonging to a subcontractor working for Range Resources interfered with school bus traffic during students’ morning commute earlier this month. Township supervisors granted a permit for a well pad at the Yonkers site – about 3/4 mile from the district campus, 110 Fort Cherry Road – Sept. 28.

Less than a month later, some argue Carmel Stabilization Group’s trucks, arriving early Oct. 12 to work on Baker Road near the planned well pad, pushed buses to the side of the road and equipment piled on Fort Cherry Road blocked the entrance to the two district school buildings, breaching a “total blackout” on heavy truck traffic during the schools’ pickup and dropoff times and other scheduled events the township imposed as a condition of approval.

Township solicitor Tom McDermott denied the incident constituted a violation, saying the “total blackout along the school routes is during the active drilling phase,” according to officials’ interpretation of the language. He went on to call events that morning “a minor first-day glitch and not a violation” of the conditions of the permit.

He said the work on Baker Road was a “fortification” on the narrow country road prior to active drilling operations.

“If we can have some perspective, no child was in danger,” he said. “This is the same construction that would be going on if this was on a regular road-improvement schedule.”

Along with parents, members of environmental groups who attended the meeting interpreted the conditions differently. District mother Jane Worthington, of Robinson Township, asserted the language “pretty much covers everybody all the time” as she understood the condition.

Cathy Lodge, a Robinson Township mother of six whose three youngest attend Fort Cherry schools, said before the meeting there “should be no hiccups on day one of construction.”

“Range has been in the community for more than 10 years,” Lodge said.

Also in attendance was Gillian Graber, of Trafford, Westmoreland County. Outreach coordinator for the advocacy group Protect Our Children, which opposes drilling near schools, Graber was among those who weren’t allowed to speak because Gary Farner, chairman of the board of supervisors, said public comment was limited to township residents and district parents.

“We’re just asking the township to issue a notice of violation because Range violated the conditions of the permit,” Graber said.

The planned Yonkers well pad is the third of its kind just beyond the boundaries of the district campus.

When asked earlier Wednesday about some locals’ plans to ask township officials to cite the driller, Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella noted in an email the district received $400,000 through a lease of oil and gas rights with the driller.

“We share the community’s desire to safely and responsibly develop natural gas with the least possible inconveniences or issues,” his statement read, in part. “While many have expressed support, some have not and every voice matters and everyone’s issues should be respected and addressed.”