The clock is officially running on public input for a key piece of the Homer City redevelopment, as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is taking comments on a stormwater permit for a 5.8-mile, 30-inch natural gas pipeline. The line would run through Black Lick, Burrell, and Center townships in Indiana County and is designed to feed the redeveloped generating station and its neighboring data center campus. The review notice landed in the Pennsylvania Bulletin the week of Feb. 7, and the 30-day public comment window is open through March 9.
What the permit covers
The Pennsylvania Bulletin lists the application as PAD320011 and notes that construction would disturb about 101.8 acres, with stormwater discharges heading to Muddy Run, Blacklick Creek, and unnamed tributaries. The draft permit calls out nine utility line crossings, 10 temporary stream and wetland road crossings, 24 resource crossings in small drainages, and two single-pole overhead power line crossings. Timber mats and erosion controls are proposed to keep those impacts in check. The technical breakdown and draft permit documents are posted in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
How to submit comments
DEP’s Homer City project page and the Northwest Regional Office permit files spell out exactly how to weigh in, from written comments to file review requests. The NWRO materials list the regional email mailbox and staff contacts for waterways and wetlands submissions. DEP’s Homer City Generation page and the NWRO permit folders include the mailing address, regional email information, and appointment phone numbers, along with a combined public comments file that lays out the contact details for the NWRO.
Project background and scale
The pipeline is one slice of a far larger overhaul that has already drawn national attention. The former Homer City coal plant is being reimagined as a multi-gigawatt natural gas generation site paired with a data center campus. Corporate announcements and industry coverage peg the plan in the 4.4 to 4.5 GW range, describing hundreds of acres of site work and big-name contractors attached to the buildout. Coverage of the project’s scope appears in trade and business reporting, including a project release at BusinessWire and analysis at Data Center Frontier.
Pushback from environmental groups
Environmental advocates are not sitting this one out. Several groups have already filed formal comments urging DEP to review the pipeline and related permits in the context of the entire Homer City project and Pennsylvania’s constitutional environmental trust obligations. PennFuture, the Clean Air Council, and the Sierra Club are among those pressing the agency to weigh climate impacts and watershed risks in their earlier submissions. Those filings are posted in DEP’s project file, and the combined public comments PDF on DEP’s site lays out the groups’ specific arguments and concerns that DEP will factor into its review.
Next steps and timing
According to the Pennsylvania Bulletin notice, no public hearing has been scheduled for this particular stormwater permit, although one can be requested, and DEP reserves the option to extend the comment period. Once the window closes on March 9, DEP staff will review the written submissions and issue a final decision on the permit. Any appeals or formal challenges would follow the procedures and deadlines explained in the Pennsylvania Bulletin materials and DEP’s permit guidance. For the full legal notice and the application paperwork, residents can turn to the Pennsylvania Bulletin listing and the DEP Homer City permit files referenced above.
