Elizabeth Township OKs parcel subdivisions for EQT’s well pads

The move was necessary because of an appeals court ruling in June.

On Monday, Elizabeth Township commissioners approved a subdivision of parcels request from EQT Production Company, formerly Olympus Energy, to utilize land for continued use of its township well pads.

A three-judge state appeals court ruled unanimously in June that Elizabeth Township violated its own zoning law when it allowed the construction of a gas well pad in a rural residential area.

According to the ruling, the township should not have approved the construction of a “principal structure” well pad, along with a related natural gas pipeline, gravel access road and interconnect pad. The Heracles well was built in a part of the township zoned “rural residential.”

The township’s zoning law “prohibits the [well pad and related infrastructure], as principal structures, from being located on the proposed lots as the lots contain existing single-family dwellings,” the judges found.

During a planning commission public hearing Sept. 3, attorney Blaine Lucas representing EQT said Olympus originally applied for conditional use of the well pad. This subdivision plan is approved by the county planning department and the township engineers.

Since the commonwealth ruled the township violated its own zoning law, they can continue to use the well pad if the parcels around it are subdivided and away from family dwellings, Lucas said.

“The facility has been built and is operational. EQT this summer purchased the assets of Olympus, so now the application is in EQT’s name,” Lucas said. “The township and EQT disagree with that ruling and are continuing to pursue the appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.”

Township solicitor Matt Racunas asked the township engineers during the planning meeting if the new parcels are compliant with the new zoning ordinance and the subdivision redevelopment ordinance, which they stated they are.

Racunas also asked Lucas if the Commonwealth Court’s decision was related to anything other than the violations the township had, to which Lucas said no.

“It’s been applied for as a simple subdivision,” Racunas said. “The uses are obviously part of the underlying story, but the application itself is just a simple subdivision.”

The background

Since 1859, it is estimated that approximately 300,000 to 760,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled across Pennsylvania, according to the Elizabeth Township website.

Permitting requirements were not implemented until the mid-1900s, which means there are likely hundreds of thousands of wells that were never reported located across the oil and gas producing regions of the commonwealth.

It’s been five years since the 43rd Statewide Grand Jury recommended expanding no-drill zones in Pennsylvania from the required 500 feet to 2,500 feet.

On May 3, 2022, court records state that Olympus filed a conditional use application with the township seeking to develop and operate an unconventional natural gas well pad on an approximately 187-acre lot.

From September to November 2022, the board held a series of public hearings regarding company applications, according to court documents.

The well pad was approved by Elizabeth Township’s Board of Commissioners in January 2023. State records indicate that several wells were drilled on the pad starting in September 2023.

In the January 2023 decision, the board granted Olympus Energy LLC’s and Hyperion Midstream LLC’s applications for conditional use under Chapter 27 of the Code of the Township of Elizabeth.

Well pads should be around 3,281 feet from any building and from any drinking water well, 5,280 feet from any building serving vulnerable populations such as schools or hospitals and 750 feet from any surface water, according to the Clean Air Council of Pennsylvania.

The subdivision of parcels involves land owned by the Lombardo family, which was voted on to be divided into three lots, and the Everly family, who conveyed portions of two of their parcels over to the new Lombardo lot. The properties exist in a R-1 zoning district.

Ryan Dailey, senior project manager at Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc., presented the survey of the site at the planning commission meeting. He said the subdivision plan creates a new parcel that contains the well pad, the interconnect pad, the access road and stormwater management.

“There are currently three tax parcels that comprise this plan,” Dailey said. “There is the larger part of the property, which is on the western side near Route 51, and there are two parcels on the eastern side by the Everly family near Scenery Drive. The well pad sits on the Lombardo property.”

In this subdivision plan and on the Lombardo property, Parcel A is 88 acres and Parcel B is 64 acres. The Everly family has parcels C and D, which are 61 acres and 31 acres respectively.

Parcel E would contain the well pad and is about 35 acres. It will remain in the Lombardo family name, so there will be a transfer of property, about 9 acres, and no other improvements but just creations of new parcels, according to Dailey.

Public issues

Many residents have been against the continued use of the well pad from the start, asking the planning commission and commissioners to look at this subdivision on a broader scale and cited the Commonwealth ruling.

Some stated that this subdivision approval is a way to go around the Commonwealth ruling, They also have concerns about how close the well pad is to Elizabeth Forward High School, cited health concerns and urged those voting to study all aspects of the proposal.

During both Monday’s and the planning commission meetings’ public comment section, several residents raised their continued concerns about using the well pad.

Joelle Whiteman of Protect Elizabeth Township asked commissioners to deny the subdivision and consolidation application, stating that there are serious issues that cannot be overlooked.

Protect Elizabeth Township, which has challenged the well pad approval in court, is a local grassroots community organization focused on advocating for protection of residents’ rights while striving to help build a better community.

Whiteman cited Section 301 of the township’s Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, stating that no subdivision can be approved without full compliance with township’s ordinances. She said EQT or the plans do not comply with the township’s zoning ordinance.

The subdivision also does not meet Section 602 (C) of the township’s zoning ordinance, according to Whiteman, as well as Sections 602 (D) (E) (F), which list the yardage requirements.

“Zoning compliance must be demonstrated now, not later and that includes the well pad and interconnect,” Whiteman said. “Streets and driveways are included as impervious surfaces under the zoning ordinance, but they haven’t shown any calculations. During the planning commission meeting, the engineer said he raised zoning concerns, but we haven’t seen the details.”

Protect Elizabeth Township president Scott Taylor continued on for Whiteman and said Section 303 (A) of the township zoning ordinance prohibits the facility as it is not listed for use in a R-1 district. He also cited other code and zoning violations that said subdividing the lot “does not cure that illegality.”

“We have to understand that the Commonwealth Court ruled that the two principal structures on one parcel was egregious enough of a violation that they did not even need to look at the other legal issues we raised for them to overturn the conditional use approval,” Taylor said. “This isn’t a technical oversight – it’s a failure to meet the basic requirements or your subdivision and zoning ordinances.”

Resident Eric Piper said Monday he spent a lot of time in hearings for the well pad two years ago, and stated that putting fracking near a high school was not the right thing to do.

Piper added that this is going to be a “big mess” for a well pad that is going to be there for 40 to 50 years, and that there is a perception out in the community that they are being “underhanded” by township officials.

“You want your communities to trust what you are doing and if this township really wants to grow and build and add residents, we need A players and A spots, not Bs and Cs players,” Piper said. “Do with it what you will.”

Final standings

During the planning commission meeting, after hesitation on a motion to approve the subdivision, planning commission member Emil Burak motioned for approval and Mark Patrick seconded.

Commissioner Chris Thoma motioned for approval at the regular meeting Monday and Commissioner Kyle Walk seconded.

Planning commission members, except for Dave Macioce, who was absent, voted unanimously, as did township commissioners.

Planning commission member Tara Kite said there is more around this work.

“Its hard to look at this and hard to understand how it all came to be. It is, as (Taylor) pointed out, a very unusual lot, but if the Lombardos and the Everleys have agreed to make the sale, then I have no other questions about it.”