Athens Twp. gives OK on truck site
Published: December 1, 2009
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share thisATHENS TWP. - Athens Township supervisors last week voted to allow Hawg Hauling to operate a contractor's yard at a site along state Route 199 on land owned by Roger and Marion Carling.
According to the township's zoning officer, Ed Reid, Hawg Hauling, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy, will park its water hauling trucks for the gas drilling industry there when they're not being used.
Previously, a map amendment was made changing the land from commercial to industrial. The contractor's yard will be on one of six parcels owned by the Carlings.
Reid said that the parcels had been previously used as construction yards and light industry.
Marion L. Carling said that the past uses of the parcels were mainly industrial uses, with a variety of businesses including construction yards, storage facility, light industry and other businesses occupying the sites.
The site is located near the planned water withdrawal site on the Barrett property, and the trucks parked there would be used to haul water from the Barrett site.
The operating hours will be 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but a "constant shuffling of trucks" won't occur, Reid said.
He said work primarily will take place in the day, with the drivers working in shifts.
At a previous meeting, Michael Buynak of Athens Township, who owns property near the parcels, expressed his concerns about noise.
Buynak said he is hypersensitive to noise and that the regulation of noise is stricter in areas zoned commercial than in industrial-zoned areas, and that the possibility of more noise presented a "pretty critical health concern" to him.
Buynak also expressed concerns about what might happen in the future once the parcels are zoned industrial and what future businesses might move there with the new zoning designation.
When asked for comment Monday, he said he was disappointed that supervisors didn't set hours for the operation.
A resident who objected to the operation, Daniel Sporn of Athens, expressed his concerns.
"I'm somewhat disappointed that an operation like this is so close to neighborhoods, and would have hoped a better location could have been found in the community."
Sporn said he wanted other areas to be considered for the operation further from residential areas, though he's not against progress. He also wanted the operation to have a closing time each day.
Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com
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