Murrysville council, Olympus Energy continue working out possible fracking well conditions

A vote on Murrysville’s first fracking well will be postponed one more month, after council members and company officials were unable to agree on the list of conditions imposed on the drilling firm.

Truck access to the Titan well pad site, transportation of water to the site, and the time frame during which Olympus Energy can drill six proposed wells are the primary points of contention.

Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison began the discussion at a recent council meeting by noting that, without Olympus granting an additional time extension, council had until Dec. 18 to finalize conditions and vote on a site plan and conditional use application for the project, located off Bollinger Road.

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Morrison said. “I think we’re pretty close.”

Two hours later, Olympus granted an extension until Jan. 31.

TRUCKING CONVOYS

Olympus officials have proposed road improvements along the potential convoy route — Silvis, Hilty and Bollinger roads — and their attorney, Pierce Richards of K&L Gates in Pittsburgh, said his client was surprised by a request that road widening be limited to 20 feet.

“We thought we had agreed on a list of road improvements,” Richardson said. “The request came up rather late in the process and our thinking was that the convoy plan was there to address those situations.”

Morrison disagreed.

“Throughout the process we alerted Olympus that there were places that were only 18 to 20 feet wide,” he said.

Municipal consulting attorney Bill Sittig said Murrysville’s focus when it comes to traffic “is that when a resident is on that roadway, no matter what you’re doing during those convoy times, they can safely pass.”

Sittig added that as Olympus makes improvements to the roads, the municipality should not get involved in discussions between the driller and residents as to the location of rights-of-way.

“I think we’ve looked into the crystal ball as much as we can,” Sittig said. “We have to reach a solution that’s safe. We just don’t know what it is; we’ll have to work it out.”

MOVING WATER

Olympus officials also objected to a condition banning water truck traffic as well as a maximum daily number of truck trips.

“This says trucking water is prohibited,” Richardson said of the condition. “We’ve testified that even with a water line (to the site), that won’t work. So some of this is about what’s within the scope of the municipality’s power to dictate.”

Olympus officials submitted a letter of intent to pipe water in through a contract with the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County, but that contract is not in place.

“That requires some really fixed information … and we don’t know what the time frame is,” Richardson said. “We don’t know what conditions will be imposed, we don’t know if there will be an appeal of those conditions or how long that will take. It’s our intention to do a water line. We really can’t go beyond that today.”

Sittig said the condition was more about trucks generally than water trucks specifically.

“On sand trucks alone, our traffic consultant said intersections will be blocked a significant portion of the time,” Sittig said. “But you can’t pipe in sand. You can pipe in water. You gave us a study; our expert rejected it. He sand convoys with sand are bad enough.”

Olympus officials suggested a condition that they be allowed to bring no more than 20% of water to the site by truck. Sittig said that percentage is meaningless without a total.

“That needs to be quantified,” he said.

TIME TO DRILL

Both municipal staff and Olympus officials will try and reach an agreement on the time frame during which the company can drill the six wells it has proposed.

Sittig said residents should be able to get an answer as to when there will be an end to construction and well drilling.

“I absolutely get the concern about making sure residents know there is an ending,” said Jennifer Hoffman, Olympus vice president for environmental health, safety and regulatory compliance. “But if you take 360 days total, the impact is the same regardless of whether it’s over three years or 18 months.”

“But not to the municipality,” Councilwoman Toni Brockway said. “You should be able to give a ballpark number.”

Councilwoman Jamie Lee-Korns tossed out two years as a way to begin a discussion.

“There are so many business-related concerns that can change your plans,” Hoffman said.

Sittig said Murrysville officials need a time frame after which Olympus would have to request another conditional use.

“If they decide two years from now to drill the other wells, things may have changed. The ordinance may have changed,” Sittig said. “If they don’t drill those wells within the time frame, they can come back for another conditional use.“

Olympus officials granted a one-month extension on a final vote through the end of January.

“Take comfort,” Morrison joked to Olympus officials. “It took us eight years to put the ordinance together.”

Council’s final meeting of the year is set for 7 p.m., Dec. 18 at the municipal building, 4100 Sardis Road. Meetings are broadcast on Comcast local access Channel 19 and streamed at Murrysville.com.