Apr 11, 2015 2 min read

I would like to outline some concerns in response to the March 14 article, “MarkWest holds off rezoning request.”

I was happy to see MarkWest withdraw its request for industrial rezoning, but I don’t think this will be the last we hear of this issue.

First of all, in 2014, the current supervisors in Robinson Township changed the zoning to allow industrial compressors in non-industrial areas. So the compressor station that MarkWest wanted to build could already have been built without rezoning, as it was a “permitted use.” So why did they need rezoning in the first place? Were they planning a gas processing complex like the one in Houston, the largest in the Northeast? An industrial complex of this scale should have community input.

Secondly, why choose a site closer to McDonald and Midway when Robinson Township already has 700 acres of underutilized land zoned for industrial use located along Routes 22 and 980?

Since this is an election year, I hope the abrupt withdrawal of the request was not a political move to keep this from becoming a larger issue. Will the rezoning move forward later in the year after the election? We will have to see, but it is my hope that any responsible company operating in this community would be more transparent and seek significant community input before a facility of this nature is built.

A compressor station is one thing, but a large processing complex similar to that in Houston is another. All one has to do is ask any of the Houston residents that have been evacuated at least three times.

Nathan Holmes

Bulger