The hotly contested Seneca Resources injection well in Highland Township has been given the green light, despite Highland Township’s home rule charter that purports to prevent it.
On Monday, the state Department of Environmental Protection approved Seneca’s permit application for an injection well. A memo from Brian Babb, professional geologist manager with the DEP, available on the DEP’s website, notes that while the permit is subject to all applicable laws, “the Home Rule Charter is not legally enforceable and therefore would not be an applicable law.”
A second well in Indiana County, to be operated by Pennsylvania General Energy Co., was approved for a permit as well.
“After a thorough review, DEP determined that both applications meet all regulations, are sufficient to protect surface water and water supplies, and would abate pollution,” said Acting DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.
This step gives the all-clear for Seneca to begin preparation work at the Highland Township site, Seneca spokesman Rob Boulware said.
“We will look at what’s required before we can move forward or start doing anything,” he said, explaining the DEP has added some special conditions to the permit to monitor seismic activity.
“This project began in earnest in 2012 and has been subject to lengthy and intense scrutiny by all interested parties,” Boulware said. “As the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) did before it, the DEP carefully considered Seneca’s application and confirmed through its approval that the project met all lawful regulations. Seneca looks forward to implementing this project.”
While the DEP approval doesn’t mean produced water will start being pumped into the injection well immediately, it does mean that Seneca will be allowed to move forward in spite of the allegedly illegal portion of the township’s home rule charter.
“After all the conditions of both permits are met, we would be allowed to move forward as of right now,” Boulware said.
Seneca is still embroiled in a federal lawsuit with Highland over the charter, alleging it is illegal and cannot be enforced. Highland Township’s current board of supervisors have agreed, but cannot rescind the charter, as it was approved by voters in a referendum in the November general election.
According to the website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the repeal of a home rule charter would follow the same procedure as the adoption of one, through a government study commission and an election. However, the site did not indicate what would happen should a charter be declared unconstitutional or, in the case of Highland Township, a municipality concede that a charter is illegal.
In a release sent out Monday by the DEP, agency representatives spelled out the additional requirements attached to the two permits.
“Due to concerns about seismic activity related to underground injection control wells that has occurred in other states, DEP has applied special conditions to both Seneca’s and PGE’s permits to ensure early detection if even minor seismic events occur,” the release stated.
“These conditions include:
Installation of a seismometer and continuous recorder with operating, calibration, service, and maintenance information at the disposal well site; and the contact information for the responsible person in charge of conducting seismic monitoring activities.
Verification that data is captured at the disposal well site and provided to the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Network in real time.
Description of installation to allow for optimal seismic event identification and location.
Submission of a tectonic seismic event contingency plan that includes monitoring, reporting and mitigation provisions.
Provision for updating the seismic monitoring and mitigation plan, retaining seismic event data and equipment records, and submitting reports on the use of monitoring equipment.”
The DEP indicated the two wells are “permitted at much lower pressures, and in formations farther from the ‘basement’ rock that is more prone to activity, than the wells in other states that have been linked to seismic activity.”
Currently, Highland Township is a party to at least three federal actions regarding this injection well. The first was brought by Seneca when Highland passed a citizens’ bill of rights, which purported to outlaw injection wells. A federal court said it was illegal, and the township supervisors entered into an agreement with Seneca to repeal it. The case is on appeal currently, as several groups have attempted to intervene on behalf of the township’s citizens and ecosystem.
A second suit was brought late last year by Seneca, this time challenging the home rule charter that had been adopted by referendum in the general election. While the township supervisors have acknowledged that Seneca is correct in the suit, they have told the federal judge they cannot repeal the charter and asked the judge to hold them financially harmless for it.
A suit was also brought against Highland Township earlier this year by its insurance company. The suit alleged that the firm shouldn’t have to pay to defend the township against legal action because the township already knew Seneca was planning to sue and allegedly lied about it on its application for insurance.
More information about the DEP’s permit and Seneca’s well is available on the DEP’s website under http://www.dep.pa.gov/Business/Energy/OilandGasPrograms/OilandGasMgmt/Pages/Underground-Injection-Wells.aspx
