West Deer to take comments on well pad proposal Tuesday

West Deer residents will get to weigh in on a proposed well pad project in the Gibsonia section of the township.

Supervisors set a 6 p.m. Tuesday hearing date to take comments on the proposed Caro Brandon deep well project. The deep well would be located at 6075 Rittman Road, on property zoned rural estate.

The hearing will be held in St. Victor Church, Our Lady of the Lakes Parish, 531 Bairdford Road.

The project is proposed by Range Resources of Canonsburg.

Currently, the property consists of a partially wooded rural estate with agricultural use. The well site would be developed with 18 oil and gas wells over multiple years, according to a project narrative. The well pad would be about 315 feet by 575 feet in size and be accessed through a new 765-foot gravel road.

An accessory pad would be 200 feet by 310 feet and also be accessible by a new gravel road. The accessory pad’s purpose is to stage equipment, store fluids and queue trucks.

The first 50 feet of both access roads would be paved, according to project plans. A total of 18 acres would be disturbed by the project.

The company anticipates site construction to begin in late summer of next year, with drilling to commence in February 2026.

A Range Resources spokesman didn’t return requests for comment.

If approved, Caro Brandon would be the third well pad in West Deer.

Olympus Energy of Cecil Township intends to start construction next summer on the Tyche well pad at 201 Bairdford Road. That project was approved by township supervisors in December.

Olympus also won approval from the township last summer for the Leto well pad off Oak Road behind a Dollar General store. A group of residents challenged that approval legally, and an Allegheny County judge in June sided with the township in affirming the well pad’s approval. Those residents, according to court records, have appealed that decision to the Commonwealth Court.

Olympus also had sought approval for another well pad, named Dionysus, but that plan was rejected by the township in 2021 and the company dropped its court challenge last year.