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Commonwealth Court Rules PUC Is ‘Obligated’ To Conduct An Environmental Review Of Projects By The Environmental Rights Amendment In Case Involving A PECO Natural Gas Pumping Station In Delaware County

On March 9, Commonwealth Court issued a ruling overturning the Public Utility Commission’s 2022 order allowing PECO to construct a natural gas pumping station to serve retail customers in Marple Township, Delaware County and remanded the case back to the Commission for further review in line with the decision.

The Court concluded the PUC was “obligated to consider the environmental impacts of placing [a building] at [a] proposed location,” [Court’s emphasis] as raised by Marple Township.

The Township and citizens raised concerns about the pumping station related to potential explosions, noise and natural gas emissions.

PECO describes the project as a “gas reliability station” that “will be the receiving point that will add to the supply of natural gas in the area.” In plain words it’s a natural gas pumping station. Read more here.

The Court went on to say, “The source of the Commission’s responsibility to conduct this type of review in a Section 619 proceeding is not the MPC [Municipalities Planning Code] itself or another statute; rather, it is Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which is better known as the Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA).”

“In other words,” the Court said, “A Section 619 proceeding is constitutionally inadequate unless the Commission completes an appropriately thorough environmental review of a building siting proposal and, in addition, factors the results into its ultimate determination regarding the reasonable necessity of the proposed siting.

“Here, however, the Commission sidestepped this obligation and, though it stated that it would defer to other agencies’ determinations regarding environmental issues, failed to identify any such outside agency determinations [Court’s emphasis] that pertained to explosion impact radius, noise, or heater emissions.

“The Commission’s “deference” in this context thus appears to have been nothing more than illusory and its environmental review substantively nonexistent. This failure renders the Decision entirely deficient from a constitutional standpoint.”

“Accordingly, we vacate the Commission’s Decision and remand this matter to the Commission, with instructions that it issue an Amended Decision regarding the PECO Petition, which must incorporate the results of a constitutionally sound environmental impact review as to the proposed siting on the Property of the Fiber Building and the Station Building.”

Click Here for a copy of the ruling.

Project Background

PECO initiated the Marple Township natural gas “reliability” project in the Spring of 2019, entered into a sale agreement with the property owner at 2090 Sproul Road in June 2020 and began doing road work and pipeline construction to facilitate a connection between its liquefied natural gas facility in West Conshohocken and the property.

In November 2020 Marple Township’s Zoning Board denied PECO’s application for the project and in February 2021 PECO filed a petition with the Public Utility Commission saying the entire project was exempt from the Township’s Zoning Ordinance.

PECO asked the Commission to rule the proposed location was reasonably necessary for the convenience and welfare of the public.

The PUC granted the PECO petition in March 2022 and Marple Township appealed that decision to Commonwealth Court in May 2022 resulting in this ruling.

This summary was taken from the Court ruling. Read more here.

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 11 to 17; Fracking 2 Wells Interfered With Another Shale Gas Well In Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 18 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 62 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 18 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater [PaEN]

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’ [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts [PaEN]

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-- Commonwealth Court Rules PUC Is ‘Obligated’ To Conduct An Environmental Review Of Projects By The Environmental Rights Amendment In Case Involving A PECO Natural Gas Pumping Station In Delaware County [PaEN]

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