West Deer residents express concerns about proposed fracking at Sunday meeting

About 25 to 30 residents of West Deer gathered Sunday at Deer Lakes Park to discuss concerns over fracking projects proposed by Olympus Energy, a company headquartered at Southpointe in Cecil Township.

Of particular concern is a proposed site — the Leto Well Pad — off Middle Road Extension behind a Dollar General store.

“Our meeting is primarily focused on residents living nearby who will be most impacted by the proposed development,” said Tim Resciniti of Concerned Residents of West Deer, or CROWD.

Resciniti said a hearing on Olympus’ application to frack in the area is set for June. He said CROWD is not taking a position against fracking but believes certain safety requirements should be upheld.

“Our ordinance requires a 650-foot setback from houses, and (the Olympus plan) doesn’t meet that,” Resciniti said. “We’re talking about light pollution, noise that would go on 24 hours a day for months at a time, traffic. Your house would become unlivable. We want residents to know what the impacts might be.”

According to Resciniti, the site in West Deer would take up 17.3 acres. He also said he is worried about the company’s safety record.

“Olympus Energy has a disproportionate amount of (state Department of Environmental Protection) violations compared to other operators like Range Resources and EQT,” Resciniti said. “Why would the company have so many more violations than your typical operator?”

West Deer supervisors voted unanimously against a similar Olympus Energy project in December. The company has gone to court in Allegheny County to appeal the decision.

An Olympus spokesperson reached by the Tribune-Review on Sunday night declined to comment.

One of the concerned citizens who addressed the crowd was West Deer resident Mary Kay Kalivoda.

“People may have sold their drilling rights, but they didn’t give up their rights to clean water. They didn’t give up their rights to clean air,” Kalivoda said. “We’re not against fracking, but we are against people bringing a heavy industrial site to a residential area.”