Murrysville council sets public hearing date for injection well ordinance
Murrysville council will hold a public hearing in July to take community input on its proposed injection well ordinance.
Injection wells accept the wastewater, brine and byproducts of unconventional drilling operations, releasing the fluid into porous underground rock formations.
In much the same way as the fracking ordinance Murrysville put in place several years ago, injection wells are a legal land use that must be accommodated by communities with a zoning ordinance, according to Murrysville Community Development Director Jim Morrison.
“We didn’t have one, so we worked with planning and zoning to develop one,” Morrison said during a recent council discussion.
The proposed ordinance would permit injection wells in the business (B) zoning district.
Morrison said staff opted for the business district, rather than the larger overlay district where fracking wells are permitted, because of the nature of the use.
“This is different from a Marcellus well, which is an industrial use for a limited period of time. This is a constant industrial use,” Morrison said. “You have deliveries, day after day, of fluids to this site.”
The ordinance requires local groundwater testing in advance of operations to establish a baseline, and additional post-drilling testing.
Morrison said a significant percentage of B-zoned land would meet a minimum requirement of 5 acres for a well site. Setback requirements largely mirror the fracking ordinance — well pads cannot be closer than 250 feet from a property line, and must be 750 feet from any protected structure that has not signed a setback waiver.
“We also wanted to maintain some buffers from the existing B-district, a little more than 50 properties,” Morrison said.
The proposed injection well ordinance also mirrors its fracking counterpart with regard to screening requirements and site development.
The public hearing will take place at the start of council’s July 19 meeting, set for 7 p.m. at the municipal building, 4100 Sardis Road.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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