Murrysville holds public hearing for 2nd fracking well on Plum border

Dec. 9—Work on a second fracking site in Murrysville could begin next summer if officials OK the project.

Olympus Energy already owns and operates the Titan well pad off Bollinger Road. The company is proposing an eight-well pad off Logans Ferry Road near the northern tip of Murrysville. Olympus is seeking approval for both the well pad and the excavating and grading involved with the project.

A public hearing on the project was held this week.

During the hearing, Olympus attorney Blaine Lucas said the project would be subject to a list of 25 conditions.

"Those conditions have been developed largely to mirror the Titan well pad conditions," Lucas said.

The project is proposed for a 147-acre property split between Murrysville and Plum that includes the highest point in Allegheny County.

Project engineer and site designer Ryan Dailey said Olympus had discussed the project with Plum officials, and "since the operations associated with the pad are in Murrysville, (Plum) will just require us to get a grading permit."

Access to the property, owned by Mills Associates — the company started by the late Larry Mills of Plum — would be along Logans Ferry Road, near the existing Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County's access road.

Dailey said trucks headed to the property from the south would come up William Penn Highway, then travel routes 286 and 380 to reach Logans Ferry Road. From the north, they would use Route 380.

Construction would take place during spring and summer 2023, Dailey said. An initial round of drilling would take place between December 2023 and February 2024, with completions to follow in April 2024. A second round of drilling would take place in spring 2025, for a total of eight wells, Lucas said.

"Anything beyond that would require us to come back for council's approval," he said.

Dailey said Olympus had secured waivers for two nearby agricultural buildings owned by the Mills family. Tim Fitchett, an attorney from Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services representing citizens group Protect P-T, said he believes the property containing the farm buildings is not eligible for a waiver under Murrysville's existing setback ordinance.

Noise consultant Tage Rosendahl, a regional manager with Acoustical Control, said the ambient noise level at the site during a 72-hour period in April was 48.51 dB.

"That is already louder than Murrysville's noise ordinance permits," Rosendahl said, adding that sound projections estimate that various phases of the project would register between 41 and 47.3 decibels based on sound monitoring data. Olympus also is requesting a 10-decibel waiver from Murrysville's noise ordinance. A similar waiver was granted for the Titan well pad project.

Fitchett pointed out that the study does not account for the noise from truck traffic, which is among the more-frequent complaints from fracking opponents. It also does not take earth-borne vibrations into account.

Keith Miller, a civil designer with Stahl Sheaffer Engineering, said his company's traffic impact study was based on the completions stage of the project — using it as the "worst-case scenario," he said — and would result in an additional 11 entry and exit trips per hour during peak times.

The study also indicated the intersection of routes 380 and 286 is in need of a traffic signal, which Miller said Olympus was willing to provide. If they are able to secure the necessary highway occupancy permits from the state Department of Transportation, that signal would be put in place prior to the completion stage, in early 2024.

The project is contingent on Olympus' ability to pipe in fresh water. Dailey said they are working on a water line route that would come through Plum to the site via an existing Allegheny River withdrawal site. In addition, Olympus subsidiary Hyperion Midstream is requesting a conditional-use permit from Plum in order to pipe gas from the site to an existing Eastern Gas transmission pipeline.

Council could vote on the applications at its final meeting of the year, set for 7 p.m. Dec. 21 at the municipal building, 4100 Sardis Road. Meetings are broadcast live on Comcast local access Channel 19 and livestreamed at Murrysville.com on the Channel 19 page.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .