Marple Twp. residents join together against PECO's proposed natural gas reliability station
MARPLE TOWNSHIP, Pa. - A proposed PECO station in one Delaware County community has brought residents together to say "Not in my backyard".
"It’s been a fight," stated Marple Township resident Bob Dorazio.
A fight outlines on the side of Dorazio’s van and on signs surrounding the corner of Sproul and Cedar Grove Roads in Broomall, Marple Township, for months.
"It’s going to force me to move. We’re already looking," Dorazio said.
"We are not opposing this existing, we’re opposing that this is going to exist in our neighborhood," Marple Township resident Kiki Felfelis lamented.
"It just shows that PECO has no regard to the public’s say," another Marple Township resident, Greg Fat, stated.
The voices, part of the newly-formed Marple Safety Coalition, helped gather nearly 200 people to testify Tuesday and Wednesday in telephone hearings with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, alongside attorneys representing Marple Township and Delaware County.
It’s over the location of PECO’s proposed natural gas reliability station in the township’s empty lot next to Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, a short walk to an elementary school and feet from peoples’ homes. They’re concerned about health and safety, to traffic and property values.
Marple Township’s zoning board denied PECO’s special zoning exception request, last year and PECO is appealing, saying they need the project in order to keep up with demand.
"If they do this to our township, they’re setting a precedent where they can do it to anybody," Felfelis emphasized.
"In some very short period of time, we will have a constraint on our system, where our existing customers won’t have sufficient gas," explained Vice President of Governmental and External Affairs with PECO, Doug Oliver.
Oliver says that concern is based on growth in Marple Township over the past 10 years and the growth they expect over the next 10. He says the project needs to be near existing underground infrastructure. They looked into 10 possible locations, but size, zoning and availability ruled them all out.
"Everything we’re proposing will meet the township’s requirements for air, for noise, for traffic," Oliver added. "At this point, we’re going to push forward with the site that we have and continue to work with the community to help them understand the why."
Many are speaking up to say they don’t see one.
"Many of the residents in this area don’t have natural gas service, nor have we been offered natural gas service," Fat added.
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