S. Strabane Twp. to monitor well sites under construction
An employee of South Strabane Township is devoting some time during the day – every day – to monitor operations at two well pads under construction.
Township supervisors voted Tuesday to authorize an employee to pay daily visits to a Range Resources site on Kopper Kettle Road and a Rice Energy site on Rankin Road. The action was in response to a resident’s complaints about the lack of construction signs on Kopper Kettle Road and trucks that were causing a hazard by driving down the road in reverse.
Township manager John Stickle said Range Resources already addressed those concerns, but the township still plans to keep an eye on their operations to ensure the conditions are being followed.
The board approved Range’s conditional-use application for the Baumel well pad at 129 Kopper Kettle Road last November. Supervisors attached 46 conditions to its use, including sound limitations and parking restrictions.
Ashley Moninger, who lives on Kopper Kettle Road, said Range remedied some of the issues she addressed, but ignored others. She said she asked for a sound barrier to be installed, but Range refused.
“They are adamant in telling me ‘no’ about it,” she said.
She also complained about gravel and debris on the road and said there are no employees directing traffic near the construction. A Range employee who handles local government relations did not return a call seeking comment.
Stickle said Range installed drains along the side of the road and placed stone on top of it, which explains why gravel is being tracked onto the road by trucks. He said the issue may need to be addressed on an “ongoing basis.”
He said Range is in the process of constructing an access road to the well pad and already completed resurfacing work to improve Kopper Kettle Road.
After visiting the well site Wednesday, Stickle said he did not notice any violations of the township’s conditions.
“I don’t expect to have problems, because they’re aware of the conditions, and each company has had other well pad sites in other locations,” he said, “so it’s not like this is the first time they are drilling a well.”