Marcellus Shale Showdown in Pittsburgh
Wheeling Intelligencer
4 November 2010
By Casey Junkins
PITTSBURGH - Karl Rove believes the new Republican-led House of
Representatives will make sure the hydraulic fracturing process used in
Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling remains exempt from federal
oversight.
That is unlikely to sit well with the hundreds of protesters who took
to the downtown Pittsburgh streets to oppose shale drilling Wednesday
while Rove spoke to about 2,000 attendees during the Developing
Unconventional Gas East Conference and Exhibition at the David Lawrence
Convention Center. The drilling protesters, complete with creative and
colorful signs expressing their opposition, convened outside the center
at the exact time Rove spoke to the gas industry leaders.
Concerns regarding the environmental impact of Marcellus Shale
drilling, particularly the fracturing, or "fracking," process, continue
to expand in West Virginia and Ohio. Recent reports of gas
contaminating Marshall County resident Jeremiah Magers' drinking water
well - in addition to at least two fires, one explosion and one major
gas leak in Marshall County since June - have caused many local
residents to wonder how safe the drilling process is. This is the case
despite the fact that some are receiving lease payments and royalties
as high as $4,000 per acre and 18.75 percent, respectively.
More and more wells are being drilled in Tyler, Wetzel and Marshall
counties, with plans in place to grind into the ground near The
Highlands in Ohio County in the near future. Chesapeake Energy has also
applied for permission to drill in Oglebay Park, though these permits
are currently held up by the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection because of objections filed by the Wheeling Park Commission.
Republican strategist Rove told the gas industry leaders Wednesday that
the newly elected GOP House will ensure the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency will not be able to regulate fracking. U.S. Sen.
Robert Casey, D-Pa., during the current congressional session
introduced the "Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals
Act" - more commonly known as the FRAC Act - to allow the EPA to
oversee the process.
"I don't think you need to worry," Rove told the gas executives
regarding EPA regulation and citing the so-called "Halliburton
Loophole," which he said would remain open. This loophole is the
provision that exempts fracking from complying with the federal Clean
Water Act.
Rove then thanked the gas industry leaders for "helping to make our
country more energy independent."
Meanwhile, a few of the protesters outside the convention center loudly
compared the gas executives to "terrorists."
"We won't allow the Marcellus gas drilling blitz to go unchecked," said
University of Pittsburgh student Seth Bush in a prepared statement.
"Our air, our land and our future is not for sale."
Josh Fox, producer of the documentary film "Gasland," also said in a
prepared statement for the protest, "It's been well documented ... that
gas drilling causes water contamination."
Although there are no protests scheduled, the gas conference and
exhibition continues today.