Geokinetics: Challenges Monroeville’s seismic testing regulations in court

 

 

 

 

Geokinetics: Challenges Monroeville’s seismic testing regulations in court

A company hired to do seismic testing in Monroeville is challenging the municipality’s recently enacted laws regulating the practice, which is often a precursor to Marcellus shale drilling.

Monroeville Council voted unanimously last month to pass a law that regulates seismic testing by requiring companies to pay $1,000 to obtain a permit, notify nearby property owners in advance of testing and obtain a $2 million liability insurance policy.

The testing firm, Geokinetics, in a complaint filed Oct. 11 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, said the regulations were passed for political reasons and is asking a judge to strike them down.

“Monroeville’s intransigence is not motivated by any legitimate concerns for the health and safety of its citizens, but rather by its council’s concerns about November elections,” the complaint said.

Only two Monroeville incumbents — Linda Gaydos and Thomas Wilson, both Democrats, — are in contested races in the Nov. 7 election. It’s a seven-member council.

“It had nothing to do with my election and it certainly wasn’t for political gain,” Gaydos said about voting for the regulations that are being challenged. “Our job is to look out for our residents and follow directions of what they want.”

The regulations came after complaints that started during meetings in July from residents questioning the safety and other issues related to seismic testing and fracking. Adrienne Weoss, who has lived in Monroeville for 16 years, was one of the residents against development of gas wells.

“They want free reign for whatever they want to do,” Weoss said about gas well developers. “And that’s typical. They don’t care if (drilling occurs) on indigenous lands, if it hurts the rivers … I would like for the whole fracking industry to just go away.”

Monroeville oil and gas exploration company Huntley & Huntley hired Texas-based Geokinetics this year to do seismic testing in a 200-square-mile radius that includes Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Huntley & Huntley officials have said they do not have plans for hydraulic fracturing operations in Monroeville, but seismic testing would help the company determine if drilling operations are viable in areas bordering the municipality.

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