Environmental group will host workshop in Penn Township

An environmental advocacy group will host a workshop in Penn Township to teach residents how to navigate the Department of Environmental Protection's online databases that track oil and gas activity.

Protect Our Children will host the workshop at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Penn Area Library.

“With an influx of gas production in Westmoreland County, we must train citizens to keep an eye out for new permits coming through and start engaging in the state regulatory process,” Gillian Graber, an outreach coordinator for the group, said in a news release. “We know our communities better than the state, and we can make sure the state does a thorough review of every application that comes across their desks. The best way to make sure that happens is by citizen enrollment.”

A spokesman for DEP declined to comment.

The agency tracks changes in permit applications of oil and gas producers online, posts production reports and catalogs each report by date and county. The latest production report published was in February.

Graber is executive director of Protect PT, a citizens group based in Penn Township. The group plans to legally challenge the township's mineral extraction overlay that permits unconventional drilling.

The ordinance, which allows unconventional drilling through 60 percent of the township, mandates a 600-foot setback from any occupied structure. The group thinks it should be at least 1 mile.

If the ordinance is upheld at an upcoming zoning hearing board meeting, Protect PT has said it will take the challenge to court. The organization already has challenged four proposed well pads in court.

The township has one operating fracking well pad owned by Apex Energy. An additional eight wells are proposed — seven by Apex and one by Huntley & Huntley Inc.

Protect Our Children is composed of members from Protect PT, Mountain Watershed Association, Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council and concerned citizens that are “dedicated to protecting school children from the health risks of shale gas drilling and infrastructure.”

Dillon Carr is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1298, dcarr@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dillonswriting. Jacob Tierney contributed.