West Penn Township Supervisors’ Chairman Tony Prudenti said water is not being extracted from a property he co-owns on Penn Drive.

The topic arose after resident Donald Hoppes noted that he had been hearing “rumors” about water extraction at the location.

“Is there any truth to this?” Hoppes asked.

Prudenti said supervisors do not address questions about rumors or innuendos.

“However, the property you’re talking about is my property,” Prudenti said. He said that he and “two other investors” own 80 acres.

“Anyone who knows anything about water extraction knows you need 100 acres to do that,” Prudenti said. “So why would you buy an 80-acre parcel when you need a 100-acre parcel?”

He added that he was “appalled” that someone would ask about a resident’s property. Hoppes said he did not know Prudenti was an owner.

Prudenti, however, said he would address the issue since it was brought up.

He noted that plans are to subdivide the land into eight 10-acre lots and offer them for sale.

Recent percolation tests, or perk tests, revealed a spring on one of the lots. The water runs under Route 443 and into a marshy area, he said.

“We’ve got to solve that problem because if not, we are not going to get the money we wanted for that lot,” Prudenti said. “We’ve had experts come in and look at it to see what we could do.”

Nothing had been determined as of Monday.

Prudenti said he was also asked why a backhoe was on the property.

“We’ve already taken out tractor-trailer loads of tires, and there are still some more there,” he said.

Old equipment is rusting in a wooded portion of the land. Owners plan to remove that, too.

“So you’re not going to have water extraction?” resident Brian McClellan asked.

“Water extraction is not planned at this time, no,” Prudenti said. “But we need to do something with that water, and I’m not quite sure what we can do.”

According to the township’s 2015 ordinance detailing the “requirements for water extraction and forestry,” the minimum lot area for water extraction is 100 acres.