A group of West Penn Township residents who filed a lawsuit against businesses and people associated with water extraction operations in the township have until next month to file their complaints.

The lawsuit was filed by 30 plaintiffs who live near a pair of water extraction sites in the township, according to their attorney, John Kotsatos, of the Law Offices of John E. Kotsatos in Easton.Kotsatos said the complaint was filed Jan. 13 in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County.At the center of the lawsuit is the water extraction site at the intersection of Kepners Road and Blue Mountain Drive, and a newer water extraction site being erected at 1 Fort Franklin Road.Kotsatos said a number of claims and causes of action were in the complaint, but chiefly, it is under a nuisance claim."Here's an area that was once tranquil, a beautiful place to live, and it's turned into essentially a truck stop," Kotsatos said. "If you drive a car through the roads, whether Kepners or Blue Mountain Drive, there are times that only a car can use these roads."Defendant entities include MC Resource Development Co., 1390 LeBoutillier Road, Malvern, Chester County; Ringgold Acquisition Group LLC, 10447 Drummond Road, Philadelphia; Ringgold Acquisition Group 2 LLC, Philadelphia; Snow Green Acres LTD, New Ringgold; James J. Land Jr., Bluebell, Montgomery County; Larry C. Hower, New Ringgold; and David W. Knoedler, New Tripoli.Kotsatos said the judge assigned to review the complaint had issued an order asking them to individualize and file the complaints by residents by June 18."We're in the process," he said. "In the grand scheme of things, we're at a very preliminary juncture in the case."Kotsatos said the issue is that water extraction has been taking place in an area where there are people "who are accustomed to using and enjoying their properties.""What's going on now is a complete deviation from what people expect from this community," he said. "Water is precious."DefendantsLand, one of the defendants named in the suit, said he understands the urge for residents to want to run to court."My only hope is that the community can remain civil throughout this whole thing," Land said. "I think when the attorneys are gone, we all have to be neighbors."Land owns a company that is a partner in MC Resource Development, the existing water extraction operation in neighboring East Brunswick Township, and is president and owner of Ringgold Acquisition Group II LLC, at the proposed West Penn site on One Fort Franklin Road.Ringgold Acquisition Group has been registered since Nov. 21, 2014, with the Pennsylvania Department of State, and is located at the residence of James Land, 251 Brandon Court, Blue Bell.Land said the East Brunswick Township site, under the name MC Resource Development Co., has been in operation since around 2002.Recent developmentIn February, township solicitor Holly Heintzelman told supervisors that no moratorium should be placed on water extraction in the township, based on the legal advice of its solicitor.Heintzelman's remarks were in response to a motion made at January's reorganization meeting by Supervisor Anthony Prudenti.At that time, Prudenti made a motion to place a moratorium on water extraction in the township until he could have a chance to gather more information.Board Chairman James Dean asked Heintzelman if that would be possible.Heintzelman said that her predecessor had left her a letter indicating that a moratorium would not be legal.That came after supervisors in December passed a long-awaited ordinance regulating water extraction.The board passed the ordinance because of a recent project proposed by MC Resource Development Co. That ordinance was drafted by the township's previous solicitor.Dean said he had some second thoughts about allowing water extraction in the township's conservation zoning district.The township is obligated under state law to provide some place for all potential uses, including water extraction.