JACKSON TWP — The dilemma between MarkWest and neighbors in Evans City continued Thursday evening.

MarkWest, a natural gas processing company, is expanding the capacity of its Jackson Township plant near Textor Hill Road with two new gas compressor plants and other upgrades.

“Given the fact that there is a compliance issue, we thought it would be fruitful to update everyone on where the township is and where MarkWest is in terms of enforcing compliance steps,” township manager Chris Rearick said.

The township issued an enforcement letter recently to MarkWest about conditions listed in the developers agreement that haven’t been met.

Rearick said the call for an immediate action plan stemmed from a petition created by residents of Textor Hill Road, Burr Lane and Prospect Road in Evans City.

The petition asks for a cease-and-desist order against MarkWest on its expansion for failure to meet a deadline in three areas.

Those areas included a sound wall not being built on time, noise enclosure buildings being built over its gas compressor plants by Oct. 31 and construction noises at night.

MarkWest representative Dave Hecht said construction of the sound wall is in progress, about 30 percent of it erected and it should be completed by the end of the month.

In the developers agreement approved this past May, MarkWest was supposed to have the wall constructed by Sept. 30.

“We did get a late start,” Hecht said. “We have been working expeditiously to have the sound wall complete as soon as possible.”

Hecht said the reason why a permit was not submitted on schedule was because additional studies were needed.

The minimum length of the wall, being built along the south side of the rail yard is required to be 900 feet with a height of 20 to 30 feet.

MarkWest special projects manager Rob McHale said while permanent noise enclosure buildings over its “Bluestone 2” compressor plant will not be constructed on time, temporary sound equipment will be installed by the end of the month with the same effect as the permanent enclosure.

“The ambient noise will be the exact same,” McHale said. “We will have met the spirit of the agreement.”

McHale also said the planting of trees between MarkWest and Textor Hill Road residents is scheduled to be completed on time.

Representatives also announced the plant will be temporarily shut down Monday at 7 p.m. The 72-hour shutdown will be for making tie-ins for the new gas compressor plant, “Bluestone 3.”

Operations will be brought back Wednesday for “Bluestone 2” and “3,” gas compressor plants located on the northern and western parts of the complex respectively. “Bluestone 3” already has a noise enclosure around it.

Bluestone 1, another gas compressor plant located on the west side of the complex will be shut down two weeks after that for modifications to be made.

Modifications will include removing six gas compressors and replacing them with electric compressors. The plant has 10 compressors in total.

Hecht said the removal of the compressors should help in noise reduction.

As for the nighttime construction noises, Hecht said backup beepers on vehicles will be disconnected and spotters will be utilized in their place.

He acknowledged there were some instances of inadvertent excursions by contractors at night they should not have been doing for construction, but they were dealt with “immediately.”

Rearick said the township has several potential courses of action for noncompliance, including issuing citations, deferring any future approvals for the site and ceasing to issue permits.

Township solicitor Tim Bish, however, said most of those actions would involve going to court, for which the township would have to pay legal fees.

“You’re going to have attorneys arguing with attorneys over who has the ability to stop work on this site and it’s going to be a long, drawn-out process,” Bish said.

Bish recommended the township try and work the issue out with MarkWest.

“I think what’s in the best interest of everyone is for MarkWest to comply with the requirements and conditions they agreed to,” he said. “To stop everything would mean those conditions and improvements wouldn’t be in place. It wouldn’t be addressing the residents’ concerns.”

Residents voiced their opinions Thursday evening as well.

Rob Burr, who has lived on Burr Lane for more than 50 years, questioned supervisors on what he suggested was a lack of enforcement on the township’s part.

“MarkWest agreed to the stipulations, and you guys agreed to enforce these stipulations,” he said. “Now you’re trying to negotiate. They know how long permits take.”

“We are enforcing this,” Bish said. “The township is requesting the remediation plan. We’re trying to do this in a practical manner.”

Burr and his wife, Renee, said the developments in the area have changed their lifestyle.

“It was tranquil,” Renee Burr said about life before the developments. “Now you can’t enjoy the outdoors.”

Residents gathered their questions and submitted them to the supervisors, who said they would get the answers to them in about two weeks.

Rearick also said that for enforcement in case of excessive noise during evening construction, residents should call police.

Supervisor Chairman Ron Lutz said the township is trying to be a servant to the community.

“That area has been zoned industrial for a long time. It was not a decision we made initially,” Lutz said.