Plum fracking injection well battle continues as company appeals rejection

The years-long battle over a second injection well in Plum will continue.

That’s because oil company Penneco Environmental Solutions filed an appeal in Allegheny County Court on Friday to the Plum Zoning Hearing Board’s rejection of the well last month.

The Delmont-based firm has been attempting to convert a natural gas well into an injection well to dispose of waste fluids, known as brine, from oil and natural gas operations since 2021.

In 2022, the zoning hearing board gave its initial approval for the second injection well, saying it had no power to regulate such wells and that a decision to reject the plans would be overturned in court.

An Allegheny County judge agreed with the ruling.

But a state Commonwealth Court panel later ordered the board to reconsider the necessity of the expansion and to consider whether additional requirements protecting public health, safety and welfare apply.

The second well required the zoning variance because it’s situated about 350 feet from a property line. Borough regulations require such a well to have a setback of at least 500 feet from the nearest property line.

But in an about-face last month, the board said Penneco had failed to comply with several ordinances and had not provided sufficient evidence to grant the variance.

In its appeal before the Allegheny County Court, Penneco said the board had not found “any detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood” that might result from a second well other than additional nearby truck traffic.

The company also noted that its current injection well had been operating for four years without any “regulatory enforcement action.”

“Penneco appeals the ZHB’s decision because it constitutes an error of law and an abuse of discretion, and because the decision is arbitrary, capricious, and not supported by substantial evidence,” the appeal reads.

The company’s Chief Operating Officer Ben Wallace said he’s confident the appeal will prove successful, saying the board was “guilty of overreach” after the well became a political issue in the borough.

By way of the first well, Wallace said millions of gallons of brine have already been injected at the site.

The addition of a second well, he said, would add a “trivial” amount more.

Dylan Basescu, a staff attorney for Protect PT, an environmental advocacy group that worked with the borough during the hearing process, said the appeal was no surprise.

His organization, which bills itself as fighting for the health and safety of residents in Penn-Trafford and surrounding communities, is “completely ready” for the case, Basescu said.

Plum Solicitor Dayne Dice said he believes the board made the correct decision, and the borough will continue to focus on the proposed well’s distance from nearby property lines.

Whatever the result in county court, Dice said the case is almost guaranteed to end up before Commonwealth Court judges once more.

“I think either side is going to push it as far as they can,” Dice said.

The solicitor said he would not be surprised if the case eventually ends up before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.