On December 2, PA General Energy Company sued Grant Township, Indiana County (population 700)  in federal court-- for a second time-- to overturn the community’s law banning shale gas drilling waste injection wells.

The law, drafted with assistance from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), includes language recognizing the rights of local ecosystems and was democratically adopted by over 70 percent of Township voters in 2015.

Jon Perry, Chairman of the Grant Township Board of Supervisors, said, “So here we go again. PGE throwing another lawsuit at us to try to bring us to heel, when our community has overwhelmingly said ‘hell no’ multiple times. PGE tried but couldn't sell this well during this time of economic ruin, and so instead has delivered our community a Christmas present that blames our valid local law for its problems and is suing us again.”

CELDF said injection wells can threaten drinking water, cause earthquakes, and have been shut down in states such as Ohio and California.

The Department of Environmental Protection also sued Grant Township in 2017, making last week’s filing the third lawsuit to be filed against the Township for trying to protect its drinking water.

In September, CELDF filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed. Read more here.  In March of 2020, DEP revoked the injection well permit after Commonwealth Court ruled Grant Township could use Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment to defend its ordinance banning injection wells. Read more here.

PGE is also appealing DEP’s decision to revoke the permit, and its filings have revealed that the company has been trying to sell the well.

Meanwhile, less than two months ago, in October, a conventional gas well that PGE operates in the Township failed, and has now been shut down and plugged, according to CELDF. Dozens of dump containers were filled with contaminated soil and hauled away.

At no point did the DEP or PGE notify Grant Township officials of this, according to CELDF. That site is less than a mile from the proposed injection well.

Chad Nicholson, CELDF organizer in Pennsylvania, said, “The fossil fuel industry is terrified the tactics taken in Grant Township are spreading. This community continues to act as a lighthouse in a raging storm made up of oil and gas corporations, state permitting agencies, and enabling courts that have crashed down on them for over five years. Yet they remain standing, protecting their own community. They serve as both a warning signal to other communities, as well as a beacon of hope and courage to those who wish to fight back. We at CELDF are proud to continue to stand with them in their fight to protect their water and their community.”

PGE’s actions come as the fossil fuel industry and sympathetic state legislators continue to ratchet up their opposition to Rights of Nature nationwide.

On December 1, the American Petroleum Institute filed a brief in opposition to a federal civil rights case brought by CELDF, in defense of local Ohio communities’ right to vote on qualified Rights of Nature laws.

Also on December 1, a bill (House Bill 54), to try to ban Rights of Nature in the courts, was introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives, continuing a national trend.

For more information, visit the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund website.  Questions about this action should be directed to Chad Nicholson, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, by sending email to: chad@celdf.org or call 207-541-3649.

Related Articles - Grant Twp:

-- Grant Twp., Indiana County Moves To Dismiss Lawsuit Against It By DEP Over Drilling Waste Injection Well

-- DEP Revokes Drilling Waste Injection Well Permit In Grant Twp., Indiana County After Environmental Rights Amendment Court Ruling

-- Court: Indiana County Twp. Has Right To Defend Its Prohibition Of A Drilling Wastewater Injection Well Using The Environmental Rights Amendment

-- Drilling Company, Environmental Group Appeal Indiana County Drilling Waste Injection Well Permit

-- DEP Approves 2 Underground Drilling Waste Injection Wells In Elk, Indiana Counties

Conservation Leadership This Week:

-- Bay Journal: Landowners, Turkey Hill Dairy, Trout Unlimited, Lancaster Clean Water Partners, Conservation Districts, NFWF, Chesapeake Conservancy, Others Partner On Precision Conservation In PA

-- Christina Smith & Berks Nature Permanently Protect 70 Acres Of Farm, Forest, Watershed Lands In Berks County

-- Paul & Cynthia Black, Bob & Shelley Casciato And French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust Protect 54 Acres In Chester County

-- Tim & Aurora Hughes, Saly Glassman & Ira Berman Partnered With Wissahickon Trails

To Protect 31 Acres Of Watershed Land In Montgomery County

-- Pittsburgh Mayor, Western PA Energy Consortium Win U.S. Conference Of Mayors Climate Protection Award

-- Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Sulfur Dioxide Pollution In Indiana, Armstrong Counties

-- Groups Challenge PennDOT, FHA Vehicles-First Erie Bayfront Parkway Project

-- EPA Recognizes Excellence & Innovation in Clean Water Infrastructure Projects, Including Temple University Green Roof Project

-- PA, MD, VA Student Leaders Draft New Chesapeake Bay Outdoor Bill Of Rights

-- PA Environmental Council - The Next 50: The Only Constant Is Change

-- Curtis Institute Of Music In Philadelphia Kicks Off 3-Year Energy Efficiency Project

-- Sustainable Pittsburgh: Support Local, Sustainable Businesses This Holiday Season

-- Andrew Johnson, William Penn Foundation’s Director Of Watershed Programs, To Retire In 2021

[Posted: December 15, 2020]

12/21/2020