Vicki Austin says her West Deer neighborhood can get pretty loud.
Austin’s home is about 850 feet from EQT’s Leto fracking well, near the heart of the West Deer community of Bairdford. EQT took over the well from Olympus Energy LLC last year.
“It’s like living in an industrial site,” Austin said about her home’s proximity to the well.
The noise is below the township ordinance’s declared maximum decibel level, she said, but the fact that the well operates 24/7 makes the noise constant.
The well was drilled last fall, and fracking operations began this year, Austin said.
She’s worried the noise will get worse if the Allegheny County Health Department approves EQT’s air quality permit request to install a tri-ethylene glycol dehydrator at the site. Such dehydrators are used in the oil and gas industry to remove water from gas.
“The dehydrator brings a whole other level of pollution to an already high-level pollutant-producing site,” said Marcia Brissett, another West Deer resident.
Various concerns
Noise is not the only concern Austin has about the project.
According to the legal ad published for EQT’s request, the dehydrator could create more than 70 tons of chemical emissions annually. The emissions are projected to include nearly 40 tons of volatile organic compounds, more than 18 tons of carbon monoxide, around 8 tons of nitrogen oxides, almost 4 tons of hazardous air pollutants and just over 1 ton of particulate matter.
Allegheny County Health Department officials acknowledge that the 70-ton figure sounds concerning, but point out it probably won’t be that much.
“It is important to understand that this estimate reflects a conservative, worst-case scenario known as the ‘maximum potential to emit,’ ” department officials said in a statement to TribLive. “Actual emissions are expected to be significantly lower during normal operations.”
Public opinion about the permit approval was heard at a health department public hearing this week.
Austin is a member of the Concerned Residents of West Deer (CROWD), a local advocacy group, and spoke about her concerns at the hearing.
“Is this going to affect my soil? Myself? My pets?” she asked.
She was joined by other residents and representatives from the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), the Environmental Integrity Project and Protect PT.
Brissett said these efforts are the latest in the group’s work to spread awareness about the realities of oil and gas unconventional well drilling, also known as fracking.
Like Austin, Brissett is a member of CROWD. The group was formed in late 2020 after Olympus Energy attempted to build a fracking well pad, called Dionysus, in the township.
The township supervisors unanimously denied the project in December 2021 after community opposition emerged regarding safety, health and setback requirements.
In addition to opposing the dehydrator, some argued for a better quality piece of machinery, Brissett said.
“They want a more effective dehydration method to have some control over the types of pollutants and how much pollutants are released into the air,” Brissett said.
Patrick Campbell, executive director of GASP, said the group’s research found the proposed equipment also raises concerns about the amount of pollutants it is projected to release each year.
“In this case when we’re talking about pieces of equipment on site, we’re talking about 95% destruction of VOCs,” Campbell said. “It sets a baseline of 95% destruction. However, Article 21 regulations in Allegheny County require best available control technology or BACT.”
The equipment meets the defined New Source Performance Standard. However, GASP’s research argues the equipment does not meet county standards.
“The maximum degree of reduction is required by BACT,” Campbell said. “In this case, there is technology available and economically accessible for these vapor units to be able to destroy 98% of volatile organic compounds.”
EQT did not respond to a TribLive request for comment.
Brissett lives about a mile from the Leto well. She said she can hear it operating at night, but has trees and distance to act as a buffer for the noise.
She’s more concerned about the effect the chemical emissions can have on the community.
“We’re talking about the accumulation of particulate matter in the air and water that can affect people’s health in the long term,” Brissett said.
Campbell said the addition of the equipment could also have other chemical waste implications.
“In part this piece of equipment dehydrates the natural gas, but what it does is it creates a lot more brine waste coming off the well pad,” Campbell said.
Brine waste is water produced from oil and gas wells containing contaminants like radium, heavy metals and chlorides. Increase of brine waste also increases the brine waste truck traffic locals will see coming to and from the pad site, Campbell said.
The storage of the waste until the trucks can come to transport it also raises concerts for spills, he said.
Permit process
Health department officials did not give a timeline in regard to the decision about the permit.
The granting or refusal of the permit will depend on points of emissions release, types and quantities of emissions and types of emissions controls, health department staff said.
Approval of an air permit is based on the facility’s compliance with county, state and federal air regulations. Comments from the hearing also will be taken into consideration.
“We recognize and appreciate the time, effort and thoughtful input residents have contributed throughout this process. Community perspectives are an important part of our review and decision-making,” department officials said in a statement to TribLive. “At the same time, the health department is required to follow established regulatory standards when evaluating air permit applications.
“If a facility demonstrates that it meets all applicable requirements, the department is obligated to issue the permit.”
Comments during the hearing will be used to “strengthen, clarify and improve” the final permit, department officials said.
Local powers
The Leto site is clearly visible from Oak Road, Bairdford’s main thoroughfare. The access road for the well is situated directly next to the parking lot of a Dollar General.
In 2024, Austin and other CROWD members advocated for stricter setbacks when township supervisors were considering changes to West Deer’s oil and gas infrastructure ordinances.
West Deer stipulates a 650-foot setback within the township’s borders for drilling. Oil and gas infrastructure activities were also changed from conditional use to permitted, meaning build-outs like EQT’s proposed dehydrator become a county matter without going through township supervisors first.
“We don’t feel we were listened to,” Austin said about the supervisors’ 2024 decision.
Vince Mercuri, West Deer supervisor, wasn’t on the board when the ordinances were reviewed. He said that, while some people have mentioned looking at the ordinances in passing, there has been no formal petition for changing them since he began his term in January.
“We are always willing to look at our current ordinances to see how up-to-date or efficient they are,” Mercuri said. “Certainly, we’re always open to looking at and improving our ordinances to make them more community-friendly and business-friendly,” he said.
He said the supervisors’ focus is on “compliance and accountability.”
“We need to make sure (companies) are complying with the ordinances we’ve established, and that we’re holding them accountable to that.”
What is a tri-ethylene glycol dehydrator?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, glycol dehydrators are used in the oil and gas industry to remove water from gas to meet pipeline quality standards.
The drying agent most often used is triethylene glycol. During the dehydration process, triethylene glycol absorbs water, along with methane, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants from the gas.
Water and impurities are removed from triethylene glycol through heating in a reboiler, where absorbed methane, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants are vented to the atmosphere along with the water vapor.