West Deer approves Leto compressor station despite resident pushback

West Deer residents opposed to a gas compressor station in the Bairdford section of the township say they’re “exploring options” after supervisors approved the project last week.

Supervisors on Nov. 15 approved the compressor station on the Leto well pad property, located off Oak Road. Hyperion Midstream, a subsidiary of Olympus Energy, plans to build and operate a natural gas compressor station on the property. The land is zoned for industrial use.

“The Leto compressor station does not comply with West Deer Township ordinance requirements because it is too close to buildings,” said Jo Resciniti, spokeswoman for the group Concerned Residents of West Deer, or CROWD.

“CROWD is reviewing the board’s decision and exploring options,” she said.

Supervisors held public hearings on the project Sept. 26 and Oct. 4. At the hearings, Ryan Dailey, an engineer and project manager with Civil and Environmental Consultants, testified that the nearest building to the compressor station is a Dollar General store. The distance from the edge of the compressor station pad to the edge of the Dollar General store building is 1,204 feet, Dailey said.

West Deer’s zoning ordinance requires a 1,200-foot setback from the edge of a compressor station pad to the nearest existing buildings.

According to township documents, Dailey testified that the Leto compressor station will be accessed via Oak Road and the Leto well pad, which will be built on the same property. The Leto well pad access road is 1,500 feet long from its connection with Oak Road. Access to the compressor station from the back side of the well pad will be a 260-foot-long gravel road.

The Leto compressor station pad will be 220-by-180 feet, Dailey said.

The compressor station building is a preengineered 60-foot-wide, 97-foot-long, 35-foot-high metal building that fully encloses both compressor units, according to testimony from Jeremy Burden, vice president of engineering and construction for Hyperion.

Burden testified the Leto compressor station will allow Hyperion to continuously flow natural gas into the Eastern Gas transmission system. Ancillary equipment, such as dehydration equipment used to remove water from a natural gas stream would also be located at the site.

Those at the hearings who were opposed to the compressor station, documents say, expressed concerns about noise, traffic and safety. Another read a statement on behalf of the CROWD group, and sought for the board to issue conditional approval of the compressor station contingent on the outcome of the legal process on the Leto well pad appeal.

Supervisors approved the Leto well pad in June. CROWD and other neighbors have appealed that decision in court.

CROWD’s statement also requested that the board require the compressor station to generate no noise detectable by the human ear above the ambient level at residential property lines.

The board wrote in its findings that objectors didn’t meet their burden, as it wasn’t enough to express general concerns about potential impacts of the compressor station, nor was it enough to present evidence of alleged adverse impacts from oil and gas development.

It also said, while the general health and safety impacts raised by objectors are important, they are not within the jurisdiction of the township or the board.

“While the board is sympathetic to the understandable concerns residents have about the proposed compressor station, CROWD and the Individual Objectors failed to meet their burden,” the board’s findings said.