Dallas Twp. OKs gas pipeline agreement

By Sarah Hite shite@timesleader.comStaff Writer

DALLAS TWP. – Two of the three township supervisors signed an agreement Tuesday evening with Williams Field Services LLC regarding a natural gas pipeline and metering station.

Supervisors Frank Wagner and Phil Walter signed the deal, which took about two and a half months to reach. Supervisor Glenn Howell recused himself from voting on natural gas issues within the township because he has signed an easement with a natural gas company.

The agreement includes restrictions on setbacks for the pipeline, removing equipment from the metering station, a deed restriction to prohibit any future developments on the planned site and a clause that would restrict the company from constructing, managing or operating any “natural gas extraction and gathering activities within a 1.75 mile radius from the Dallas School District campus.”

Township Solicitor Thomas Brennan said the zoning hearing board will still need to address the metering station, but according to the agreement, Williams will not locate any communications tower, mercaptan tank, flare, odorant building, condensate tank, “or any building not required for the metering of natural gas… .”

He also said the company has agreed to comply with a curative amendment for future natural gas activities, to be proposed in September.

In early May, township officials voted to deem its zoning ordinance inadequate for dealing with natural gas activities, and now an amendment to address the issues will be added to its current zoning ordinance.

The deal also featured an agreement between the township and Williams that land development and subdivision approval was necessary for the pipeline project. Williams received conditional approval from the planning commission last week.

Resident Diane Dreier asked whether the decision could be postponed until the public had a chance to review and offer comments on the agreement.

Brennan said the process had taken a lot of time already to finalize, and he has already discussed many of the points at prior meetings. He said the “threat of litigation” was also a factor.

Resident Michael Bednar said this was the first time he had heard of the pending construction and was concerned about the possible environmental effects.

“…Even if you had been here, we have done as much as a township can possibly do given the state of state law and given state of our existing ordinance,” said Brennan.

Williams has already begun to construct its 33 �-mile Springville Gathering Line in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties. About five miles of the gathering line would run through the township and it will tap into the Transco interstate pipeline at a site off Hildebrandt Road about 1,300 feet from the Dallas schools.

A 3,200-foot access road will be constructed off Lower Demunds Road.

The company was granted approval from the Wyoming County Planning Commission last month to construct a temporary metering site in Northmoreland Township, off Schoolhouse Road.

Williams spokesperson Helen Humphreys said plans to construct a site in Northmoreland Township are still scheduled for the pipeline to become operational by October.

She could not speculate on where metering station equipment for the Dallas Township site would be located.

“We would prefer to have just one metering site,” she said.

Brennan also said negotiations are underway for an agreement to be reached with Chief Gathering LLC, another gas company looking to build a metering station and pipeline in the area.

He said the agreement with Chief will not be exactly the same as the one made with Williams.