Legal Advocacy
Our Legal Advocacy in Southwest PA
Protect PT advocates for the constitutional rights of Pennsylvania residents to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment. Members participate in appeals to public officials and government agencies charged with protecting your health and environmental rights.
​
Find more information about each case below.
Pictured from left to right: Community Advocate, Jim Cirilano; Executive Director, Gillian Graber; Protect PT's attorney Lisa Johnson, Esq.; and HazMat Specialist, Sil Caggiano
Guardian Compressor Station
In January 2024, Olympus, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hyperion Midstream (Hyperion) filed for a special exception zoning permit for the Guardian Compressor Station (Guardian). Guardian is located between the Aphrodite pad and the Poseidon pad, between Pleasant Valley Road and Ramalley Road, near the Valley Landfill. A compressor station is associated with pipelines for the produced gas. It compresses the gas for transmission through the pipeline. Protect PT is challenging the application for the permit and seeks to disallow this development. Thus far, Protect PT called an expert on the matter of radiation that will be emitted into the air and water of Penn Township, an expert on the matter of the sound and the audio disturbances that will be inflicted on the residents of Penn Township, an expert on the health impact of this development, and an expert on the complete lack of an emergency response plan for the residents of Penn Township in the event of an accident at the compressor station.
Currently, Protect PT is appealing a decision of the Penn Township Zoning Hearing Board allowing the placement of the Guardian Compressor Station near homes, schools, and other sensitive public gathering places. This case is currently anticipating a motion to dismiss by Hyperion on the idea that Protect PT's members don't have standing in court to challenge the compressor station impacting their community.
Pictured from left to right: Community Advocate, Jim Cirilano and Protect PT's attorney Lisa Johnson, Esq. at the April 2024 Compressor Station Hearing
Pictured: June 2024's packed Compressor Station Hearing with our Environmental Consultant, Makenzie White, as an Expert Witness.
Pictured: Our Environmental Consultant, Makenzie White, serving as an expert witness at the June Compressor Station Hearing.
Westmorland Sanitary Landfill
Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill (WSL) has been the subject of three Consent Decrees with the DEP in the past three years. The latest decree dealt specifically with the leachate problem that exists at the landfill. Leachate is the water that naturally drains out of landfills as a result of rain falling on the landfill and the liquid contents of the refuse leaking out and flowing away from the site. In the case of WSL, this leachate is radioactive and contains multiple hazardous chemicals because WSL accepted drill cuttings and other unconventional gas well waste into the landfill. The leachate is therefore highly toxic and radioactive and cannot be sent to any wastewater treatment plant. WSL and the DEP proposed to install an “evaporator” at the landfill in order to eliminate the leachate. The proposed evaporator would take the liquid, along with all of the suspended solids, and heat it to the point where the liquid would evaporate, leaving the solids behind. The DEP issued an air permit to WSL to install this new and relatively untested technology. In late 2024, WSL withdrew their application for the evaporator air permit and the case was dismissed.
Ultimately, Protect PT is seeking to shut down the landfill, and require its clean-up, perhaps as a designated superfund site. Neighbors surrounding the landfill are experiencing myriad health impacts, as well as the nuisance of air, water, and noise pollution. The WSL is going to be a very long-term project.
Sedat 4A Injection Well
In 2019, Penneco established the Sadat 3a injection well in Plum Borough. At that time, the Plum Borough zoning ordinance did not address injection wells, and there was no applicable provision in the ordinance that could cover injection wells. Nevertheless, when Penneco applied for the zoning permit, the Plum Borough Zoning Hearing Board denied the application and refused to issue the permit. Penneco appealed and eventually the Commonwealth Court ruled in Penneco’s favor and Penneco was issued a permit for the injection well, Sadat 3a.
​Subsequent to the installation of Sadat 3a, Plum Borough amended its zoning ordinance to provide for injection wells. This ordinance would have prohibited Penneco’s placement of an injection well on the parcel where 3a was located, and imposed further restrictions on injection wells in Plum Borough. Nevertheless, Penneco applied for a second permit for a second injection well on the same parcel of land where Sadat 3a was located. Penneco argued that the new Sadat 4a injection well was a “natural expansion of a non-conforming use” and that it should be entitled to a permit. Protect PT and the Borough itself argued that the new well was harmful to the health and well being of the community, that the well was not a natural expansion but a new development prohibited by the current zoning ordinance, and finally that Penneco was in violation of the setback requirements of the original zoning ordinance. The Zoning Hearing Board announced that their hands were tied and that they had to approve the application and grant the permit. Protect PT and the Borough appealed this decision to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, where Judge James affirmed the ZHB decision. Protect PT and the Borough appealed that decision to the Commonwealth Court, and the Commonwealth Court reversed sending the matter back to the Zoning Hearing Board for further hearings, or clarification in its findings of fact and conclusions of law.
On September 23, 2024, the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County issued an order that returned the Sadat 4a injection well permit back to the Plum Borough Zoning Hearing Board. The Court ordered the Zoning Hearing Board to clarify its original Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. The Commonwealth Court explained in its opinion that the Zoning Hearing Board was free to deny the injection well permit, if it found that Penneco did not meet the required standards. The Zoning Hearing Board had the option to draw its conclusions from the transcript of original hearing held in 2022, or to conduct another hearing on the matter. The Board decided to conduct another hearing, which took place in March of 2025.
Drakulic Well Pad
Drill and Operate Permits:
Apex Energy, LLC (Apex) obtained special exception zoning permits for a total of 7 well pads in Penn Township. Drakulic is one of those well pads and is located on 1st Street in Penn Township, adjacent to Trafford PA. Apex initially applied for the D&O permits in 2021, but because the permits expire in one year if drilling does not occur, those first permits expired and Apex was required to refile its application. Protect PT has appealed those second set of permits.
The Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), the adjudicative body that hears appeals from permits granted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), held hearings in January of 2025 on the PA DEP’s issuance of drilling and operating permits for fracking wells by Apex Energy (PA), LLC at the Drakulic Well Pad.​​ Protect PT is objecting to well permits for Apex's 1H and 7H well. This case is in post-trial briefing right now, and a decision by the EHB is expected some time around the late spring.
Slickville Pipeline
Protect PT, along with Three Rivers Waterkeeper, is objecting to a permit to construct a produced water pipeline that will impact 54 wetlands, 43 streams, and 2 ponds across three townships in Westmoreland County. This case is currently in the process of initial discovery between Protect PT, Three Rivers Waterkeeper, CNX Midstream, and the DEP.
Aphrodite Well Pad
Drill and Operate Permits:
Olympus Energy, LLC (Olympus) received approval from Penn Township for its Aphrodite Well Pad off Pleasant Valley Road and Ramalley Road, near the Valley Landfill. After receiving approval from the Township, Olympus applied for Drill and Operate (D&O) permits from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Protect PT appealed the grant of the D&O permits to the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), on the basis of violations of the Environmental Protection Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution, Article 1, Section 27 (ERA). Protect PT alleged that because of the introduction of PFAS and PFOA type chemicals, the release of radioactive materials (TNORMs) into the township and the failure of the Commonwealth to adequately regulate those activities, the grant of the D&Os violated the ERA. This case will soon see motions and arguments before trial on which claims can go to trial.
The Well Pad Placement:
Olympus had applied for the Aphrodite Well Pad in January 2022 and the hearings concluded in June, 2022, findings of fact and conclusions of law were issued in August 2022 and the Aphrodite pad was granted the permit by Penn Township. Olympus then applied to the DEP for an erosion and sedimentation permit. Protect PT objected, pointing out to the DEP that the proposed pad interfered with an intermittent stream. Olympus then moved the pad to avoid the stream, and applied to Penn Township for a land disturbance agreement. Protect PT appealed this to the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, arguing that Olympus could not change the location of the well pad without another hearing before the Zoning Hearing Board (ZHB). The matter was heard by Judge Smail on May 1, 2024 and we await a decision.
Standing Appeal:
Protect PT is appealing a decision of the Westmoreland County Court of Common pleas that Protect PT's members don't have standing in court to challenge the wells impacting their community. Patricia Wendell, a member of Protect PT in Penn Township, is harmed by the Aphrodite wells and Protect PT is helping her get relief in court. This case is currently anticipating briefing by Protect PT in April.
The OG71b Permit Allowing the Burial of Radioactive Waste in Penn Township:
In June of 2024, the DEP granted Olympus’ request to be permitted to bury radioactive drill cuttings on the Aphrodite pad instead of hauling them away for proper disposal. The permit that Olympus requested is called an “OG71b” and it is issued by the DEP without a hearing on the matter. Protect PT appealed the grant of this permit to the EHB contending that Olympus is not entitled to such a permit, and that burying radioactive waste is dangerous and improper.
​
This case is currently considering a motion to dismiss because Olympus changed its application for its OG-71 approval to be based on disposal methods from the Metis well site, instead of the methods used at the Calliope well site. These methods are similarly unsafe, but Olympus is trying to stall the legal process and avoid public scrutiny of the safety failures at the Calliope well site. In the meantime, Protect PT has appealed the new alternative waste disposal method approval but this case is stayed pending the result of the motion to dismiss in the previous cae.
Draftina Well Pad
Expiration of the Special Exception Approval:
Apex obtained a special exception zoning permit from Penn Township as part of the Federal Court action, which resulted in a Consent Order and Apex receiving special exception zoning permits for the well pads called Draftina, Drakulic, and Beattie in 2016. The special exception zoning permits, by the terms of the Penn Township Ordinance, expire, without notice, after two years if there is not substantial completion of the proposed use. In March 2024, Apex and the township entered into a Land Disturbance Agreement whereby Apex proposed to begin the development of the Draftina well pad. This would mean that the development was only beginning nearly eight years after the issuance of the special exception zoning permit. Protect PT appealed the Land Disturbance Agreement to the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County. This case is currently awaiting a schedule for briefing before the Commonwealth Court.
Drill and Operate Permit Appeal:
Protect PT has also appealed the DEP’s issuance of Drill and Operate permits for Draftina. Protect PT is objecting to well permits for Apex's 2H, 3H, 4H, 7H, 9H, 11H, and 13H wells because these wells are close to sensitive public gathering places, the permits do not consider the cumulative impact of nearby wells and compressor stations, the permits do not consider federal New Source Performance Standard regulations on air emissions, the permits include an exemption from hazardous and radioactive pollutants, which violates the Environmental Rights Amendment, and the permits do not restrict PFAS and PFOAS contamination. One of the wells also drills under Turtle Creek and could pollute this critical public waterway.
Metis Well Pad
The DEP issued several D&O permits for the Metis well pad. The first set of D&Os were issued in 2023. Protect PT appealed the first set of D&Os to the EHB and, during the pendency of the appeal, Olympus drilled the wells anyway. Olympus then moved to dismiss the appeal as moot because the wells had been drilled. The EHB granted Olympus’ motion and dismissed the appeal. The DEP issued a second set of D&Os in early 2024, and Protect PT appealed that set to the EHB. Olympus went ahead and drilled those wells during the pendency of the appeal, and once again moved to dismiss the appeal as moot. Protect PT opposed the motion, arguing that this pattern of drilling during the pendency of appeals was unfair, and represented a situation which was capable of repetition. The EHB agreed and denied Olympus’ motion to dismiss.
Hermes Well Pad
On Dec. 7, 2022, the Murrysville Council held a Conditional Use hearing for the proposed Hermes well pad. The hearing was advertised as an opportunity for public comment. In fact, the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) requires a public hearing to be held in accordance with strict requirements, including equal time for citizen objectors to be heard. Yet during the hearing, the Council refused to allow public comment to take place, directly violating the MPC. Council did not give residents and Protect PT equal time to present their case-in-chief. Protect PT asked for a continuance which was denied by the Council. We will continue fighting for public health and environmental justice in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.
Gaia Well Pad
On or about Friday, August 27, 2021, a truck hauling well cuttings from the Gaia pad spilled the contents of its load on the access road and the adjoining township road, Denmark Manor Road. Protect PT went to the site with another individual who is experienced in the use of radiation detectors and discovered a higher-than-normal reading for ground-level radiation, Samples were taken and sent to a testing laboratory in Massachusetts. The results have not yet been received (the lab works pro bono for us, so testing is often delayed). Protect PT continues its efforts to hold Olympus accountable for this accident. The DEP has not cited Olympus for this spill, but subsequent to Protect PT’s activism, did cite Olympus for a similar spill at their Metis pad.
For additional updates on our legal work, visit our blog page or contact our Community Advocate, Jim Cirilano.