Protect PT offers advice on environmental hazards

By Christine Haines

chaines@yourmvi.com

As residents and elected officials in Rostraver Township continue to battle environmental issues related to the Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill, Protect PT, a nonprofit environmental  group serving Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, has been hosting a series of Zoom workshops to teach residents how to better protect themselves against environmental hazards, particularly those related to the oil and gas well industry.

The community impacts may be at the well sites, along the routes traveled by trucks handling waste from the sites or at disposal sites.

“Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill and others have been taking oil and gas waste for the past 10 years,” said Protect PT executive director Gillian Graber.

He said such sites are subject to state, federal and local regulations, many of which revolve around the federal Clean Air or Clean Water acts.

“There are additional state regulations that may be in place, as well as local ordinances,” Graber said.

Most notable at the local level are zoning maps and ordinances, which regulate what activities may take place in each location in the community. The location of oil and gas wells may be found through the search tool www.fractracker.org. 

Graber said when new oil or gas wells are proposed in a community, residents may participate in local hearings, which should be advertised.

“There is a difference between participating under public comment and participating as a party to the proceedings,” Graber said.

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