What a petition and a referendum couldn't stop, the economy and the fortunes of the deep gas industry have.
There will be no Marcellus drilling fluid waste treatment facility on the BVK property on Warren's West Side.
Instead, bids are being sought for two 12,000-square-foot buildings that developers hope will lure some industrial or commercial business.
A year ago, the specter of a treatment plant to handle the chemical laced brine produced as a byproduct of Marcellus Shale natural gas production raised alarms among those residents of Warren's West Side, who circulated and received sufficient signatures to have a referendum placed on November's ballot to prohibit the transport and treatment of that type of wastewater in the city.
The referendum failed.
Since that time, however, a number of significant Marcellus producers have indicated that they are cutting back on their exploration schedules in light of the plummeting well-head price of natural gas, which currently hovers just shy of $2 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In addition, the Corbett administration halted the award of a $1.5 million grant that would have been used to prepare the site for the treatment facility.
Ruzhdi Bakalli, president of BVK Inc., said the group isn't giving up on developing the site and hopes the two buildings will lure tenants and create employment.
Let's hope so.