Marcellus Outreach Butler
Connect with us
  • Home
  • Get Involved
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Write Letters to the Editor
    • Contact Elected Officials
    • Track Permit Activity
    • Local Groups
    • PAF Farmers Letter to Governor Wolf
  • Concerned?
    • Krendale Neighbors
    • Emergency Contacts for Gasfield Residents
    • File a Complaint or Report an Incident
    • Property Values
    • Before You Sign a Lease
    • Water Testing
  • Fracking Impacts
    • Toxic Chemicals
    • Human Health Impacts
    • First Person Experiences
    • The Impact of Act 13 (HB 1950)
  • Resources
    • MOB Generated Info >
      • Butler Water Supply at Risk
      • Bat Signal
      • Spill Baby Spill
    • Books >
      • Fracking
      • Climate Change
    • Films
    • Websites
  • Membership & Giving
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Blog

Zoned R-1 (Single Family Residential)

6/6/2014

 
On April 21, with little fanfare and zero media coverage, the Butler Township Board of Commissioners approved the construction of a Marcellus Shale well pad in a residential area. Details of the drilling site off Schaffner Road in an area zoned R-1 (Single Family Residential) may be found on the township website in the Planning Committee meeting minutes for Apr. 1.

Prior to the passage of Act 13 in Feb. 2012, Butler Township ordinances allowed drilling in agricultural and manufacturing zones only. After Act 13 was passed, the commissioners drafted a letter of support for those municipalities mounting a legal challenge to the zoning prohibitions of Act 13. In December 2013 that challenge was successful, and the PA Supreme Court restored to municipalities their right to zone drilling.

But now that the zoning powers which they once supported have been restored, the Butler Township commissioners seem no longer interested in zoning safeguards with regard to drilling. The current drilling ordinance, adopted in Dec. 2012 to comply with the original version of Act 13, permits drilling in all zones.

I wonder if any other Butler Township residents find this trend disturbing. Or perhaps they have bought into the industry's claims that shale-gas drilling is safe and tightly regulated and there is nothing to worry about. Myself and others have been sharing factual reports to the contrary for years now; if readers aren't yet convinced that this process needs at the very least to be kept out of residential areas, they probably never will be.

Then again, perhaps many township residents have leased their residential properties and so wish for the township's drilling ordinance to remain as it is. But drilling in a residential zone can have costs beyond environmental, health and safety factors. At least one local bank has stated that it would be "very hesitant" to issue a mortgage to a property if a well pad was within close proximity to that property.  Other local banks may have similar policies.  Thus the ordinance allowing residential drilling could potentially put a number of residential properties at risk of being unsellable due to an inability to procure the requisite financing for purchase.

In addition, many area banks will not grant mortgages to leased properties with the clause “Lease has priority over mortgage” or similar language contained in the lease. A search on the Butler County Deeds and Records website has turned up a number of residential leases with such language in Butler Township. This could ultimately have a great negative impact on the township's future growth for the reasons mentioned above. Leaseholders should check with their banks or lending institutions for details and to verify this information.

Finally, there may be those Butler Township residents who are concerned about residential drilling but don't know what they can do, or feel there is nothing they can do, to stop it. These people may be surprised to know that the power of law is on their side. Besides restoring zoning powers, the state Supreme Court's ruling on Act 13 has placed the rights to clean air and enjoyment of property, among other rights, on equal footing with the right to financial gain from one's mineral rights. One can still do the latter, but not at the expense of the former. Furthermore, a lawyer consulted about Butler Township's drilling ordinance stated that a zoning ordinance that allows drilling everywhere is in violation of the state constitution.  He said that municipal officials must by law enact zoning that protects the interests of all residents, not just leaseholders.

A couple years ago I attended a Butler Township commissioners' meeting and was surprised to see a large number of people there to protest a sports complex that had been proposed for their residential neighborhood. The level of organization was remarkable. The complaints and concerns – noise, bright lights, safety, property values – were the same as those I'd heard expressed in meetings elsewhere when shale-gas wells were being discussed. Could that level of organization and concern be brought to bear in the matter of residential well pads in Butler Township?

For those of us who are concerned about drilling in residential areas, the law is on our side. What is lacking is the organization and mobilization of concerned residents. Could we perhaps remedy that situation? Soon? Before the next residential drilling site is approved by Butler Township commissioners?  

j.p.m.

    Authors

    Blog posts written by members of Marcellus Outreach Butler.

    Archives

    April 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All
    13
    Act
    Act 13
    Action
    Activism
    Air Pollution
    Alternative Energy
    Aquifer
    Banking
    Birth Defects
    Butler Township
    Cement Casings
    Chainsaw
    Challenge
    Chemicals Used
    Children
    Children's Health
    Civil Disobedience
    Civil Rights
    Clean Air Act
    Clean Air Council
    Clean Energy
    Clean Water Act
    Climate Change
    Commomwealth Court
    Concerned Health Professionals Of New York
    Constitution
    Constitution Pipeline
    Contaminated Water
    County Commissioners
    Court
    Cutting Trees For Pipelines
    Deception
    Definition
    Delaware Riverkeeper Network
    Dep
    Doctor
    Drilling Ban
    EMA
    Emergency Management
    Eminent Domain
    Energy Revolution
    Environment
    Environmental Impacts
    Environmental Regulations
    Evacuation
    Farmers
    Farmers Against Fracking
    Farms
    Farm Show
    Flaring
    Flowback
    Forest Stewardship Program
    Fracking
    Franklin Township
    Gas Industry Lies
    Gas Lease
    Gerhart
    Geyer Wellpad
    Governor Tom Wolf
    Grandparents
    Groundwater Contamination Cases
    Halliburtan Loophole
    Health
    Health & Safety
    Health Study
    Holleran
    Holleran-Zeffer
    Hormone-disrupting
    House Bill 1950
    Impact Fees
    Jackson Township
    James Cromwell
    Lake Arthur
    Law
    Law Suit
    Lawyer
    Legislation
    Long Term Effects
    Long-term Effects
    Maggie Henry
    Maple Farm
    Maple Sugaring
    Margaret Flower
    Mars Parent Group
    Mars School Board
    Mars Schools
    M.D.
    Middlesex Planning Commission
    Middlesex Township
    Moraine State Park
    Mortgage
    Municipal Water
    Nonviolent Direct Action
    Pa Constitution
    Pediatrician
    Pennsylvanians Against Fracking
    Pipeline
    Property Value
    Proposed Processing Plant
    Protest
    Radiation
    Rally
    Real Estate
    Renewable Energy
    Rep. Brian Ellis
    Residential Drilling
    Resist
    Rex Energy
    Rights Of The People
    Sacrifice Zone
    Safety
    School
    Seneca Valley School
    Sen. White
    Solar
    Stephen Cleghorn
    Stop The Frack Attack
    Supreme Court Ruling
    Sustainable
    Tar Sands
    Tourism
    Unconventional
    Vehicle Acidents
    Violations
    Water
    Water Testing
    Well Casings
    Well Integrity
    Wendell Berry
    Woodlands
    XTO
    Zoning

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.