A case argued Tuesday before Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court could test the reach of local efforts to challenge natural gas fracking.
Concerned Residents of West Deer (CROWD), a local advocacy group, has raised concerns for years about the Leto fracking well, which is located near the heart of the West Deer community of Bairdford. They’re the appellants in a legal case against the township itself, its supervisors and the EQT Corporation, which took over the Leto well from Olympus Energy LLC last year.
During Tuesday’s hearing, John Smith, a lawyer for CROWD and several area residents, noted that the well site had been approved after substantial public comment. However, he argued that an adjacent stormwater pond on a residential-zoned property — which the state Department of Environmental Protection deems “necessary” for well development impoundments — was not approved…