Over the past year, West Deer’s Board of Supervisors have gutted several protective measures from the draft Oil & Gas Ordinance that are critical to protect the community.
Send a message to demand that the West Deer Board of Supervisors reinstate protections for the community!
Changes the Supervisors have made include:
- Reducing setback distance, meaning fracking infrastructure could be built closer to homes.
- Removing all mention of baseline testing before construction, which would make it much harder to study any health or pollution impacts over time.
- Allowing oil & gas infrastructure as "permitted use" in 7 out of 11 zoning districts, which would get rid of the public hearing process for any oil & gas infrastructure application submitted to the Township.
- All of these changes mean that oil & gas infrastructure could be built close to homes, without residents even being aware of plans until construction begins, and the community would have no voice about oil & gas impact on our safety, quality of life, and property values.
This is unacceptable. We need an amendment to the Ordinance that restores these critical protections.
Petition to Township Supervisors:
1. Oil and Gas Infrastructure should be a CONDITIONAL USE, not Permitted. Permitted use would allow pipelines and other industrial equipment in residential areas, near to your home, with NO public review or input from the residents or even the Township!
2. NO DRILLING in Residential (R2 and R3) areas. The current ordinance could force residents to accept a gas well pad on a neighbor’s property just 50’ from their property line with no recourse.
3. RESTORE SETBACKS of 1,000 feet from the edge of a well site, including for temporary or permanent facilities.
4. Add BASELINE TESTING of Air, Water, and Soil quality, as well as independent sound and traffic studies, paid for by the oil and gas companies at the time of the application.
