Another well pad is proposed in West Deer, as residents learned during a public hearing Tuesday for a separate interconnect pipeline.
Olympus Energy is proposing the Tyche well pad and an associated pipeline at property located at 201 Bairdford Road, west of the Pittsburgh National Golf Club. The proposed well pad, according to township documents, would be accessed from Bairdford Road.
The application was submitted to the township earlier this month.
Olympus wants to build a gravel well pad that would be about 690 feet by 260 feet with an access road and post-construction stormwater management facilities.
To construct the well pad and access road, about 12 acres of earth would be disturbed, according to documents from Olympus.
The property is zoned rural residential. It currently includes a home and large field.
The documents state a 12-inch diameter steel natural gas pipeline will be built with a 50-foot-wide right of way connecting the proposed Tyche well pad and the Leto well pad. The proposed pipeline would be built and operated by Hyperion, a subsidiary of Olympus.
If approved, Olympus estimates construction to start on Tyche in summer 2025.
Tyche is the third well pad proposed in the township. In fall 2019, Olympus Energy — then named Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration — submitted applications for the Dionysus and Leto well pads.
Dionysus would have been located at a site accessed from Middle Road Extension.
The township supervisors rejected Dionysus in December 2021, stating it did not meet township zoning ordinances. Olympus appealed that decision in court, but recently withdrew the appeal after officials approved plans for the Leto project, with 36 conditions, in June.
Leto would be off Oak Road behind a Dollar General store. Residents opposed to Leto recently filed an appeal in court, claiming it does not meet township ordinances.
A public hearing on Leto’s Deer Creek interconnect and pipeline project was held Tuesday. The project would allow gas to flow from Leto to the eastern interconnect pipeline. The interconnect is a conditional-use in a special-use zoning district. The property, off Route 910, is owned by Allison Park Contractors.
During cross-examination from Tim Resciniti, representing Concerned Residents of West Deer, Ryan Dailey, engineer for Civil & Environmental Consultants, testified the township received the Tyche application earlier this month.
Resciniti said Wednesday the resident group was not aware of Tyche before the hearing, but he said he wasn’t surprised because Olympus originally had planned three well pads in the township.
He said the group’s goal “has always been to ensure transparency and to facilitate public participation in all areas of local government.”
“Part of that is asking our supervisors to uphold the protections our residents are entitled to by our zoning ordinance,” he said. “We will have to evaluate Tyche on its merits when it comes before the township.”
During his testimony, Dailey presented images and site plan drafts for the Leto interconnect and pipeline. He said the eastern interconnect pipeline consists of 30- and 20-inch lines, and Leto’s 12-inch diameter line will connect the other two pipelines.
The interconnect site is 11.4 acres and would disturb about 1.5 acres. Construction for the interconnect would start in the spring, and gas would start flowing through the pipeline in July 2025.
Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at [email protected].
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