Mar 25, 2020
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection enforces local Grant Township law in revoking permit for dangerous frack waste injection well FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 25, 2020 CONTACT: Chad Nicholson Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund Pennsylvania Community Organizer CELDF.org chad@celdf.org 207-541-3649 GRANT TOWNSHIP, INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: In an extraordinary reversal, last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) revoked a permit for a frack waste injection well in Grant Township. DEP officials cited Grant Township’s Home Rule Charter banning injection wells as grounds for their reversal. Injection wells are toxic sewers for the fracking industry that cause earthquakes, receive radioactive waste, and threaten drinking water and ecosystems. Township residents popularly adopted a Home Rule Charter (local constitution) in 2015 that contains a “Community Bill of Rights.” The Charter bans injection wells as a violation of the rights of those living in the township and recognizes rights of nature. The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) assisted in drafting the Charter. In 2017, DEP issued a permit to legalize an injection well in Grant, and simultaneously sued the township. The agency claimed that Grant’s Home Rule Charter – which protects the local environment – interfered with the DEP’s authority to administer state oil and gas policy. Yet, in a stunning about-face, DEP enforced Grant’s law and rescinded the injection well permit, last week. “Grant Township’s Home Rule Charter bans the injection of oil and gas waste fluids,” the DEP writes. “Therefore, the operation of the Yanity well as an oil and gas waste fluid injection well would violate that applicable law.” Since 2014, Township residents have faced a variety of intimidation tactics, including lawsuits, from the corporation behind the injection well (Pennsylvania General Energy), the oil and gas industry, and their own state government and agencies. They have not backed down, even in the face of potential municipal bankruptcy. They have continued to assert and protect their community’s rights. “We are over the moon that the permit was rescinded,” said Grant Township Supervisor Vice-Chair Stacy Long. “However, we know the permit should never have been issued in the first place. We can’t forget that DEP sued us for three years, claiming our Charter was invalid. Now they cite that same Charter as a valid reason to deny the industry a permit. It’s hypocritical at best. Add this to the pile of reasons Grant Township did not trust the DEP to protect our environment, and why we’ve had to democratically work at the local level to protect our community.” “This decision does not validate the actions of the DEP, but rather vindicates the resistance that communities like Grant have engaged in to force governmental agencies into doing the right thing,” says CELDF Pennsylvania Organizer Chad Nicholson. “DEP has been acting in bad faith. I’m glad they revoked the permit. But it took them too long to do what all governments should be doing: enforcing democratically-enacted local laws that protect public health and safety.” Grant Township is aware that the industry and/or state agencies, such as DEP, may sue them again. As of today, there is no injection well in Grant Township.
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Press Release: Grant Township Injection Well Ban Stands, Court Denies ‘Collateral Attack’ from DEP3/6/2020 Grant Township is advancing constitutional law in Pennsylvania while protecting its water and recognizing the rights of nature FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 4, 2020 CONTACT: Chad Nicholson Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund Pennsylvania Community Organizer CELDF.org chad@celdf.org 207-541-3649 GRANT TOWNSHIP, INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: On Monday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court rebuked a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) attempt to dismiss Grant Township’s Home Rule Charter, calling DEP’s motion a “collateral attack,” and finding it was “without merit.” The judge’s decision allows Grant Township to argue that local governing authority is necessary to protect the community’s constitutional rights in the face of harmful state oil and gas policies. Since 2014, residents of Grant Township (pop. 700) have been threatened with a frack wastewater injection well. These wells are a toxic sewer for the fracking industry, known to receive radioactive waste and cause earthquakes. In 2015, Township residents popularly adopted a Home Rule Charter (local constitution) containing a “Community Bill of Rights.” The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) assisted in drafting the measure, which bans injection wells as a violation of the rights of those living in the township. It also recognizes rights of nature. In 2017, the DEP sued Grant, claiming the local charter interfered with its ability to enforce state oil and gas policy. To reiterate: the Department of Environmental Protection sued Grant Township for trying to protect the environment. “Grant Township realized that the DEP has no ear for hearing that a radioactive frack waste dump is a dangerous and bad project for a rural, poor community like ours,” said Grant Township Supervisor Vice-Chair Stacy Long. “DEP’s job is to permit a certain amount of damage, and then try to mitigate it after the damage occurs. That is unacceptable to the people of this community, and so we said ‘NO.’ And then we got sued by our own DEP. We’re glad our case continues.” “We’re happy to continue to stand with Grant Township in the face of DEP’s bullying,” said Chad Nicholson, CELDF Pennsylvania Community Organizer. “Grant’s creative and staunch resistance to the industry and their own hostile state government has ensured that there is still no injection well in Grant. But the fight needs to continue until all communities, including Grant, are able to protect themselves from harmful corporate activities.” On Sept. 17, 2019, a proposed amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution was introduced into the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (HB 1813) to secure powers for local governments to ban harmful activities such as injection wells. The full court docket is available to view here. PRESS RELEASE: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ANNOUNCED TO SECURE THE RIGHT OF LOCAL COMMUNITY SELF-GOVERNMENT Rep. Danielle Friel Otten (D-Chester) Introduces A Constitutional Amendment To Give Our Communities More Power to Protect Health, Safety, and Welfare October 4, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck, PA Community Rights Network, President clatterms@gmail.com pacommunityrights.org 717.875.5066 Yesterday, Rep. Danielle Friel Otten (D-Chester) introduced an amendment to the PA Constitution, HB1813, which would secure the right of local community self-government. This proposed amendment has grown out of the foundation laid by the PA Community Rights Network, which has worked with communities across PA for nearly a decade. Rep. Otten was joined in her announcement by local elected officials and community leaders from her district including: -Bill Miller: Uwchlan Township Supervisor, Chairman -Rebecca Britton: Downingtown Area School District, Board Member; Uwchlan Safety Coalition, Co-Founder -Erin Buchner: Moms Demand Action, Chester County Local Lead -Dianne Herrin: West Chester Borough, Mayor -Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck: PA Community Rights Network, President; Lancaster Against Pipelines, Co-Founder Pennsylvania communities have been handcuffed when it comes to making important decisions, on important issues. Preemptive laws passed by our legislature have removed meaningful decision-making authority from local elected officials and community leaders. Those laws also protect corporate interests at the expense of community health and safety. Here’s a short list of those issues: Fossil fuel pipelines, single-use plastics, common sense gun oversight, fracking and frack waste dumping, minimum wage and other labor protections, factory farms, sewage sludge dumping, police and prison oversight, campaign finance abuse, toxic waste incinerators. The list goes on and on. “We can’t keep fighting every single harmful intrusion, every single time, for the rest of our lives,” said Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck, board president for the PA Community Rights Network. “The time is long past due to make sure that our constitution secures the rights of ‘We the People’ to make decisions in our best interests, and to determine our own future. HB 1813 does that, and we’re proud to stand with Rep. Otten and leaders across the state as we work to make this not just an aspiration, but a reality.” ### Read more about the RLSG Amendment here.
For template letters of support for local elected officials, municipalities, and organizations, click here. For decades, PA communities have fought to protect their communities from harmful corporate projects and illegitimate state overreach in all areas of life. Hundreds of communities have found that the existing system of law does not allow us to adequately protect our health and safety. We are now convinced that the only way to win lasting change is to change our constitution to put the rights of communities first. That's why we are thrilled that Representative Danielle Friel Otten has put forward HB1813 for a Constitutional Amendment for the Right of Local Community Self-Government. Join us and Rep. Otten at 1 p.m. at the Uwchlan Township building (715 N Ship Rd, Exton, PA 19341) this Thursday, October 3rd for the official announcement, and to learn more about how you can support the growing movement! Click the links in this sentence for templates on how to mobilize your municipality, local elected officials, or organizations to support!
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