Brief Review of the Case
It was the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020 when Exelon/PECO announced that it was planning to build a Methane Expansion Plant on the Corner of Sproul and Cedar Grove Road. Marple Township and Delaware County government made it clear that this was unacceptable, but Exelon/PECO pursued litigation at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to bulldoze the County Land Use Plan and the Marple Zoning Board. At the end of 2021, the PA PUC published a decision in favor of Exelon/PECO.
In 2022, Marple Township appealed the decision of the PUC to the PA Commonwealth Court, and, in March of 2023, the Commonwealth Court published a decision that was very much in favor of Marple Township. The case was returned to the PUC because Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution says that state agencies must consider the environmental consequences of their decisions, and the PUC admits that it ignored the environment in making its decision in favor of Exelon/PECO in this proceeding.
In June of 2023, the case began again at the PUC, and several months of discovery and written testimony have led to the present moment, where the parties are preparing for the Technical Evidentiary Hearings, which will be held completely via the PUC Telephone Bridge Line. As always, it is important that the concerned public attend as silent witness to the proceedings, to support the efforts of the Marple Township Legal Team, and the pro se intervenors, as they make their arguments to protect the local environment.
As the PUC Hearings progress, will it make a difference if you are listening or not? Theoretically, no; however, in the 2021 PUC decision, the judge wrote the following, even while deciding in favor of Exelon/PECO:
While we find that the concerns raised by the municipalities and the individual intervenors are valid, and we are not unsympathetic to those concerns, issues related to noise, gas emissions, aesthetics, traffic and other health and safety concerns are beyond the Commission’s review.
This time, we are looking for more than sympathy. This time, we are hoping that Exelon, PECO, and the PA PUC realize that the citizens of Marple Township are determined to protect their local environment, and that the only way that we can show that support is to be present in silent witness to the proceedings. There will be no Public Input Hearing this time; you can’t tell the PUC your concerns; the only thing you can do, between now and the decision, is to show your support by calling in to the hearings, starting at 10:00AM, from Tuesday, November 14th through Friday, November 17th
We’ll see you there.
Thank you very much for your support,
Ted Uhlman
http://www.marplesafe.com/donate.html
It was the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020 when Exelon/PECO announced that it was planning to build a Methane Expansion Plant on the Corner of Sproul and Cedar Grove Road. Marple Township and Delaware County government made it clear that this was unacceptable, but Exelon/PECO pursued litigation at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to bulldoze the County Land Use Plan and the Marple Zoning Board. At the end of 2021, the PA PUC published a decision in favor of Exelon/PECO.
In 2022, Marple Township appealed the decision of the PUC to the PA Commonwealth Court, and, in March of 2023, the Commonwealth Court published a decision that was very much in favor of Marple Township. The case was returned to the PUC because Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution says that state agencies must consider the environmental consequences of their decisions, and the PUC admits that it ignored the environment in making its decision in favor of Exelon/PECO in this proceeding.
In June of 2023, the case began again at the PUC, and several months of discovery and written testimony have led to the present moment, where the parties are preparing for the Technical Evidentiary Hearings, which will be held completely via the PUC Telephone Bridge Line. As always, it is important that the concerned public attend as silent witness to the proceedings, to support the efforts of the Marple Township Legal Team, and the pro se intervenors, as they make their arguments to protect the local environment.
As the PUC Hearings progress, will it make a difference if you are listening or not? Theoretically, no; however, in the 2021 PUC decision, the judge wrote the following, even while deciding in favor of Exelon/PECO:
While we find that the concerns raised by the municipalities and the individual intervenors are valid, and we are not unsympathetic to those concerns, issues related to noise, gas emissions, aesthetics, traffic and other health and safety concerns are beyond the Commission’s review.
This time, we are looking for more than sympathy. This time, we are hoping that Exelon, PECO, and the PA PUC realize that the citizens of Marple Township are determined to protect their local environment, and that the only way that we can show that support is to be present in silent witness to the proceedings. There will be no Public Input Hearing this time; you can’t tell the PUC your concerns; the only thing you can do, between now and the decision, is to show your support by calling in to the hearings, starting at 10:00AM, from Tuesday, November 14th through Friday, November 17th
We’ll see you there.
Thank you very much for your support,
Ted Uhlman
http://www.marplesafe.com/donate.html
PLEASE DONATE!
Since June 15, over $900 has been collected. It's a good start, but the goal is to pay for expert witnesses to support the defense of the Cedar Grove Corner.
Since June 15, over $900 has been collected. It's a good start, but the goal is to pay for expert witnesses to support the defense of the Cedar Grove Corner.