While it is unlikely Universal Well Services Inc., will be
granted the wetland relocation permit they have been pursuing for
nearly a year – and at the cost of about $60,000 -ð they may soon
be granted a permit which would still allow them to make the 9-acre
parcel they own on Rutherford Run a viable business location.
Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the
state Department of Environmental Protection braved the wintry
weather Thursday morning to join Michael Kloecker, Universal’s
manager of corporate development, on site at the location near the
intersection of Rutherford Run and High Street to have a meeting of
the minds on the possibilities for the plot.
Universal’s permit application as it stood Thursday, which
includes the relocation of a portion of the Rutherford Run stream,
will almost certainly not be approved as is, Kloecker said.
‘They are not going to allow us to relocate the stream (or)
impact the wetlands there,” Kloecker told The Era Thursday
afternoon.
Kloecker said after talking recently with DEP officials in
Meadville, where Universal is also based, he was hopeful the plan
would be approved as is.
“The impression I was left with was that the wetlands that were
there could be relocated someplace else and what had to be
determined was the replacement ratio,” Kloecker said. That turned
out not to be the case on Thursday, however.
Universal originally proposed mitigating the stream, or moving
it and then restoring it at its new location, but to do that,
construction would have to proceed through what the DEP deems
“high-quality wetlands.” And that simply will not fly with the
regulatory agencies, Kloecker said.
Another sticking point for the DEP and U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers representatives regarding Universal’s original plan
seemed to be the company’s intent to “channelize” the stream, or
build up the embankments on either side.
The government agents also pointed out that the relative
avoidance alternative analysis will show there are other possible,
more suitable locations for Universal to do the type of work they
are proposing, citing the Lafferty Hollow Industrial Park, for
one.
Kloecker tried to explain to the representatives, and again to
The Era later that day, that the company’s main problem with that
alternative is the access road to the industrial park travels
through a residential area. The dirt and noise that goes along with
their business is already an issue at their Olean Road shop in
Foster Township, he said. Running their equipment on that road
would put them “back to square one.”
After more than two hours of trudging through the snow and mud,
however, the pertinent parties were able to reach an agreement that
could result in an approved permit application before the end of
the month, Kloecker said.
“We did come up with a plan … we’re going to submit that plan,”
Kloecker said. “We’re not moving the stream, not impacting the
wetlands and it allows us to fill in about two-and-a-half
acres.”
While it is not a perfect plan for Universal, it will get the
job done.
“The problem with that is we will end up with a significantly
smaller footprint,” he went on to say -ð3/4 of an acre less, to be
specific, “but we’re going to make it as usable as possible.”
