Zoning hearing board grants special exception for gas compressor station
?The Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board Wednesday granted a special exception for a company to construct a natural gas compressor station on county-owned land in German Township.
Burnett Oil Co. Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, which has a local office in Washington County, was seeking a special exception for a private/public works facility in German Township on property zoned A-1, agricultural rural. The property is located near Jeffries Crossing and Carr Lane.
Attorney Jeff Wilhelm said the zoning board approved a project identical to the German Township station in August in Springhill Township. The station is needed to get the natural gas to market.
At the site, it will be compressed from 100 pounds per square inch to 1,000 pounds per square inch.
Wilhelm said the site is in a wooded, hilly area and the closest resident is 1,750 feet way. He said the company will take advantage of the natural barrier of the hill in the construction.
Matt Vavro, an engineer/geologist of Vavko LLC of Butler, said there will be no liquids in the switch to gas other than water vapor and the site will have constant monitoring.
The site will include six compressor units.
In response to a question from zoning board solicitor Gretchen Mundorff about what is the worst that could happen at the site, Vavro said the worst thing that could happen is if the gas catches on fire. He said if that occurs, the steel building closes and the gas inside the piping burns itself out.
“We designed a safety system with multiple levels of redundancy. Everything is designed for the valves to close,” Vavro said. Walker said the sound at the site will not exceed 55 decibels and the station will have state-of-the-art equipment.
In granting the special exception, the zoning board included that the company must follow state and federal regulations, acquire the required permits and include a signed lease from the county. Voting in favor of the action were Jim Burns, Paul Bortz Sr. and Neil Brown.
In other action, the board approved a special exception to Gnagey Development Co. LP for reconstruction of a service station in Bullskin Township on property zoned B-1, general business.
The service station is located at Memorial Boulevard and Pleasant Valley Road. John Green, general manager of Gnagey, said plans are to demolish the existing service station and build a new one.
The company has owned the site for 25 years and a service station was built in the 1950s, Green said. He said the building was destroyed in an attempted robbery more than a year ago.
In granting the approval, Burns said the company is “just redoing what’s already there.” The approval was granted unanimously.
The board also unanimously approved a special exception for a contractor’s yard in Saltlick Township for Bill Lamberson to use to store construction materials.
Under terms of the approval, only one and one half acres can be used for the contractor’s yard.
The site was cited by the Fayette County Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development. Mundorff said the photographs show a “big mess.”
Lamberson said he is in the process of cleaning up the site.