Upper Burrell approves 5th well pad in township

A proposed well pad site off Merwin Road in Upper Burrell won the approval of township supervisors Wednesday.

Olympus Energy of Cecil Township proposed the Artemis well pad at 931 Merwin Road, on property owned by Harry and Bonnie Edgar.

Artemis marks the fifth well pad in the township, and all sites were proposed by Olympus.

After Olympus representatives gave testimony for the project during a public hearing, the township supervisors unanimously approved the plan.

“They have met all the stipulations that we asked them to,” said Supervisor Chairman Ross Walker. “There’s no reason not to approve it.”

None of the 40 people who attended the hearing sought “party status,” which would have given them the ability to appeal a decision by the supervisors.

Olympus Vice President of Operations Manny Johnson said construction of the well pad will begin in October 2024, drilling in February 2026 and fracking in August 2026.

Twelve wells are anticipated to be drilled.

The closest building to the well pad is a commercial building on the Edgar property 965 feet away, testified Ryan Dailey, project manager with Civil & Environmental Consultants. The closest residence is about 1,100 feet away from the well pad. State laws require a 500-foot setback.

The well pad at Artemis will be 500 feet by 260 feet, Dailey said. There also will be a 150-by-150-foot interconnect pad and a 2,600-foot access road on site.

About 1,100 feet of two 16-inch steel gas pipelines will be built linking the well pad to the interconnect pad. Olympus also will apply for utility line and temporary road crossing permits for the project.

The site is currently wooded. Access roads exist for shallow gas wells. Fewer than 21 acres will be disturbed, Dailey said.

Olympus will have 20-foot-tall temporary lighting on-site, Dailey said. Those lights will be pointed downward and inward, and will comply with dark sky regulations. Sound walls 24 feet tall will surround the site.

The primary haul route will be from Route 380, to Route 366 to Merwin Road, Dailey said. A secondary haul route will be from Route 380, to Route 780 to Merwin Road. All those roads are state roads, he said.

Township documents showed that CEC is aware of an active road slide on Merwin Road between Greensburg Road and the Artemis site; the company indicated it will coordinate with PennDOT to fix the slide before drilling.

Tage Rosendahl of Acoustical Control conducted a sound impact assessment for the project. He said the maximum predicted sound levels during vertical drilling was 43.6 decibels; horizontal drilling, 41 decibels; and completions, 52.1. That testing was with 24-foot-tall sound walls on all sides and was below allowable limits, he said.

The Upper Burrell Planning Commission on Oct. 17 recommended approval of Artemis, contingent on items raised by township-appointed engineering firm Bankson Engineers. A Tuesday letter from Bankson confirmed that the engineers had reviewed Olympus’ reply to them, and Bankson recommended project approval.

Walker said he was satisfied with Olympus’ presentation. He said he didn’t anticipate a problem at the hearing because the other four well pads in the township are operating smoothly.

The other well pads in Upper Burrell are Zeus, along Guyer Road; Calliope, off White Cloud Road; Selene, along Seventh Street Road; and Hephaestus, on private property in the 400 block of Merwin Road.