HARRISBURG, PA — The PA Environmental Hearing Board at the end of December refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of residents against the Columbia Gas Transmission Company and the PA Department of Environmental Preservation (DEP) regarding the Milford Compressor Station.

The residents charged that Columbia and the DEP violated the Best Available Technology (BAT) requirement of the Air Pollution Control Act. One of the main charges was that under BAT, the residents maintained that for the expansion of the compressor station the operator should have been required to use electric compressors or turbines instead of gas-powered turbines. DEP and Columbia said the DEP has significant discretion in interpreting such parts of the law as BAT, and the hearing board agreed.

However, the board also wrote, “It is unclear at this point whether the use of electric compressors would require any other design changes in the facility, or if they would be unsuitable for use at this particular facility.”

The board also said its review “considers more than whether DEP followed the laws and regulations in taking an action, but also considers whether the action was a reasonable exercise of DEP’s discretion in accordance with the DEP’s obligations under the Pennsylvania Constitution,” and the motion to dismiss was denied.