DEP grants permit to PennEnergy to draw water from Big Sewickley Creek

Following a nearly three-year process of identifying deficiencies and submitting amended water management plans, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection granted a permit for fracking company PennEnergy Resources to draw millions of gallons of water from the Big Sewickley Creek.

The permit allows the Cranberry company to place and maintain seven floating water intakes and just under a mile of 12-inch high-density polyethylene pipe to carry up to 1.5 million gallons of water per day to its B50 well pad in Economy, for use in fracking operations.

The company’s initial filing for the state water obstruction and encroachment permit was in July 2021.

Since then, PennEnergy has been required to submit a dozen amended water management plans, after DEP officials repeatedly identified deficiencies in the plan and denied the permit in October 2021, noting that the application “was administratively incomplete and fails to demonstrate that PennEnergy’s proposal (for) withdrawal will not adversely impact a public natural resource,” in a DEP summary of the permit process.

PennEnergy spokesperson Amanda Peterson the DEP’s permitting process is rigorous.

“It’s not uncommon for additional information to be requested after the initial application is submitted,” Peterson said. “This permit review is one of the longest we have worked through.”

Members of the Big Sewickley Creek Watershed Association have raised concerns throughout the permitting process that drawing so much water from the creek could be harmful to wildlife because the creek already experiences low levels during dry periods.

“Hundreds of community members spoke out against this, our state representative didn’t want this, yet the decision was still made to grant the permit,” said association president Katie Stanley. “Why don’t the people who live near, recreate in, and care about this creek get a say in a decision that impacts them and the wildlife they care about?”

Association officials said any water drawn from the creek could permanently affect the existing habitat.

“This is a much better version of the plan than what was submitted in 2021,” said association member Rose Reilly, a retired biologist from Economy. “But we’re very concerned about all aquatic life in the creek.”

Association members raised specific concern for the southern redbelly dace, a state-endangered species of minnow that Reilly said has only been observed in 20 places throughout Pennsylvania, including Big Sewickley Creek and its North Fork tributary.

“Any withdrawals from the creek — not just during the summer low-flow season — are potentially harmful to the fish’s life cycle,” Reilly said.

The water drawn from the creeks would be used for hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a technique used to extract oil and gas from bedrock by injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand or gravel and chemicals.

In its Oct. 13, 2021, letter denying PennEnergy’s application, DEP officials noted, among other things, that the company failed to provide enough information about how the reduction in water levels caused by the withdrawal will affect the threatened fish species or the wetlands that have been identified in the area.

Big Sewickley Creek is a trout-stocked stream, and in accordance with state law, no work can take place there between Feb. 15 and June 1 without approval by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

The DEP permit also specifies that water intake for the fracking operation cannot be located near a public water intake. The intake must have a mesh screen size no larger than 2 millimeters, in order to minimize its impact on wildlife.