Dec 12, 2013 2 min read

MarkWest Energy may start work on a compressor station soon.

“They want to move dirt as early as January,” said Donegal Supervisor Doug Teagarden.

The township supervisors cleared the way – partly – Wednesday night, when they conditionally approved MarkWest’s request by a 2-0 vote. Teagarden and Ed Stout voted; Dave Ealy was absent.

Teagarden said, however, that the condition is that MarkWest must get approval from Washington County before the project can begin. If the county says yes, the company can roll with what he called ” a multimillion-dollar endeavor.”

A MarkWest spokesperson could not be reached.

MarkWest, a midstream oil and gas processing firm based in Denver, wants to build on 10 acres off Township Route 903, also known as Old National Pike. Teagarden said the company wants to erect as many as 10 compressors on the site, which is in an isolated area near Tollgate Farm and Interstate 70.

Company officials proposed the project to the township a month ago, but supervisors requested more information and that other conditions be met before voting.

Teagarden said adjacent landowners, representatives of the Morgan and Hunter properties, had initial concerns about traffic, but they have been allayed – and they expressed no objections at Wednesday’s meeting.

“The site is kind of out of the way,” Teagarden said. “Neighbors wouldn’t be affected by the sound (of the work).”

This certainly isn’t the first project proposed or undertaken in Donegal since the Marcellus Shale boom accelerated about five years ago. A pipeline that eventually will connect Houston and Moundsville, W.Va., is currently under construction in the township.

“The gas and oil industry has had a positive impact here,” Teagarden said. “People have concerns about water and aesthetics, but we can do little as a municipality to regulate that. The industry has had more of a local impact than I’ve seen in 30 years.”