As soon as the plans for the townhall to inform and update Cyclone residents about the appeal process concerning the injection well approval granted to Catalyst Energy are solidified, and more information becomes available it will be reported to readers across the region.

For now, it is important to note that between the calls the Johnsons made and what Tammy Bleggi, the field representative for McKean, Potter, and Cameron counties for U.S. Senator Cris Dush, R-Pa., was able to work out with the DEP, the due date for appeals is Feb. 22, not Feb. 10.

A Notice of Appeal form and the Board’s rules of practice and procedure may be obtained online at http://ehb.courtapps.com or by contacting the Secretary to the Board at (717) 787-3483. The Notice of Appeal form and the Board’s rules are also available in braille and on audiotape from the Secretary to the Board.

Dennis and Cindy Johnson, 30-plus year residents of Cyclone, were on the phone almost immediately to find out about the appeal process, and by Thursday night, had a firm understanding of what they needed to do to get the rural community together.

“We had a Zoom meeting and are planning to have a townhall next week, hopefully at the fire hall,” the Johnsons said. Dennis Johnson had already spoken with Bleggi, and was on his way to getting the forms ready to take to the congressmen’s Smethport office.

Bleggi added that Dush, “is not against injection wells but he wants his constituents to know that his office is here to help them find the right forms and agencies. He also thinks it is important that the integrity of the company putting in the wells maintain responsible standards because that is important to his constituents.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued approval for Catalyst Energy Inc.’s well permit, number 37-083-46237-00-01, on Jan. 11. The department was not required to notify the residents of Cyclone in Keating Township, McKean County, of the approval.

Residents who had attended a meeting at the Hilltop Fire Department on Sept. 26, 2023 and listed an email address at sign-in, were eventually notified — 12 days after the permit was approved.

Kimberly Yeakle of the Northwest Regional Office at DEP that they could appeal if they were “aggrieved by this action… within 30 days of receipt of notice of this action unless the appropriate statute provides a different time.” And this wording caused a discrepancy in the policy and a possible loss of time to file an appeal for residents because it was unclear whether the 30 days began at the approval of the permit or upon receipt of Yeakle’s email.

McKean County Commissioner Marty Wilder issued the following statement, noting the matter is technically outside the scope of a county issue, “You know, the whole notification process is ridiculous. I’m sure the state officials — and before that, the federal government — have been following the letter of the law but that has left an awful lot of people in Cyclone out in the cold. From what I understand, the residents have several legitimate concerns — 30 trucks a day in the road to deliver this waste, decrease in property values, possible contamination of their water supply in a region which is covered by unplugged wells. And the fluid itself is frack waste — this is not your father’s brine from secondary recovery. It is filled with contaminants from frack chemicals used as well as any waste brought to the surface — a toxic mix,” Wilder’s statement read.

And recently, that “toxic mix” will no longer be a mystery, thanks to a recent rule the governor’s administration placed to require more transparency regarding the chemicals used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing before they are used on-site. Governor Josh Shapiro released the following statement on Friday, “As Attorney General and now as Governor, I have listened to Pennsylvanians concerned about their health and safety – and I am delivering on the promise I made to them to secure these protections.”

In a press release from the governor’s office, “Regulations require well operators to prepare and develop a site-specific Preparedness, Prevention, and Contingency (PPC) plan prior to storing, using, or generating regulated substances on a well site. The PPC plan requires disclosure of “regulated substances,” as defined in 25 Pa. Code § 78a.1. Substances recorded include those from the drilling, alteration, production, plugging, or other activity associated with a gas well or transporting those regulated substances to, on, or from a well site.