Industry Letter Outlines Opposition to Marcellus Bill
Charleston Gazette
10 November 2011
By Ken Ward Jr.
When I was talking with Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion, earlier
this week about the Marcellus Shale drilling bill (see here and
here), he said one of the biggest problems for lawmakers and staff
has been that industry lobbyists kept declining for months to put
their concerns about specific language — or proposals for
improvement — in writing.
But Delegate Manchin did mention that the West Virginia Oil and
Natural Gas Association had recently sent lawmakers a short letter
outlining some specific objections to language added to the
legislation by a special interim committee. So I thought we’d post
that letter here so everyone can give it a read. Among the
industry’s objections:
– A buffer zone of 1,000 feet (as originally proposed, but reduced
by the committee to 625 feet) between homes and wells “will cause
very significant portions of the state to become off-limits to
drilling thereby sterilizing many resources.”
– The “casing and cementing requirements” should be left to the
state Department of Environmental Protection to write during
rulemaking, rather that specifically set by lawmakers. The
industry letter says:
It appears that the drafters of the amendment essentially borrowed
the language from Pennsylvania regulations that were finalized
after considering around 2,000 comments. West Virginians deserve
the same opportunity to participate in a rulemaking process rather
than having the Legislature serve in the rulemaking capacity.–
Requiring public notices of new permit applications to be
published in the newspaper “will result in obstructing the well
permit application process.”
– Proposed permit fee increases to fund additional inspectors send
“a clear message to the industry that “West Virginia is an
uncompetitive business environment.”
The letter concludes:
It is WVONGA’s view that the adopted and pending amendments do not
advance the cause of promoting the development of our natural
resources while at the same time ensuring long-term protection of
the environment.
Lawmakers have postponed a scheduled Sunday committee meeting on
the bill, instead setting a meeting for 8 a.m. Monday. Stay tuned
…