Drilling Halted on Morgantown Marcellus Operations
DEP Directs Northeast Natural Energy to not begin drilling as
planned May 18.
The State Journal
18 May 2011
By Pam Kasey
The state Department of Environmental Protection has directed Northeast
Natural Energy not to begin drilling on May 18 as originally planned,
The State Journal learned.
DEP directed Northeast Natural Energy to to postpone drilling until
negotiations between the company and the Morgantown Utility Board
conclude.
MUB received written agreement from the company later on May 18 to its
requests. MUB then sent a written request to the DEP seeking permit
modifications to incorporate the agreements.
DEP Secretary Randy Huffman indicated to MUB that the permits would be
modified. He said the modified permits and subsequent approval to drill
would likely be granted on May 19.
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ORIGINAL STORY
While the Morgantown Utility Board reported satisfaction May 17 with
safeguards agreed to by the operator of Marcellus shale gas wells just
above the city’s drinking water intake, some residents expressed
dissatisfaction.
The opinions were aired at a Morgantown City Council meeting on the eve
of Northeast Natural Energy’s May 18 start date for drilling.
“It is our opinion that, if the safeguards we have agreed to are
implemented, and right now every indication is that that’s happening …
there is an adequate level of precaution provided to ensure protection
of the public water supply,” said MUB General Manager Tim Ball.
“I’ve never in my life been in such a situation where you would think
that the mayor would call the governor and go into his office and say
‘This is unacceptable,’” said resident Duane Nichols, one of about 20
residents who spoke against the drilling.
Northeast’s wells, two of six planned, received permits from the state
Department of Environmental Protection in March, but city residents did
not become aware of them until early May.
The Safeguards
Ball reported at the meeting that MUB had received verbal assurance and
awaited written confirmation from Northeast that it would meet MUB’s
requests.
These included, in a May 12 letter to the DEP, redundant spill
prevention and spill containment measures, integrity testing of well
casings and documented removal of all wastes from the site.
Conversations with the operator had modified the list slightly, Ball
said, but those were the main measures.
Residents Not Satisfied
Residents, who filled council chambers and flowed over into a lobby
served by broadcast coverage, vented their frustrations for more than
an hour.
Common complaints focused on the destruction of riverside landscape and
of light and noise coming from and expected to continue at the drilling
site.
Many commended Ball for MUB’s efforts to protect the water supply, yet
expressed concerns that MUB’s response was rushed and that the city
should do more.
Environmental consultant Marc Glass, a licensed remediation specialist
who works with soil and groundwater contamination, referenced a U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency “draft plan to study the potential
impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources,” expected
to be released in 2012.
Glass said the U.S. Department of Energy is only just now preparing
guidance “to improve the safety and environmental performance of
hydraulic fracturing.”
Neither the federal government nor the state or the city are yet
prepared to manage the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing, he
said.
“I really hope the city invokes the greatest extent of its power to at
least buy us more time until rational decisions can be made,” he said,
suggesting an injunction. “Guidance is forthcoming — we should not be
doing this now.”
Others pointed to the city of Wellsburg, which on May 10 banned
drilling and fracking.
“I think that by West Virginia Code 8-12-19 you have the authority to
stop these wells, and I urge you to do so,” said resident Michael Levy,
echoing thoughts expressed by many.
That section of state code extends municipal authority for up to one
mile beyond city limits when necessary to carry out city functions.
That would encompass Northeast’s wells.
How Could This Happen?
The question on the lips of many residents has been something like,
“How could DEP permit Marcellus shale gas wells just above the drinking
water intake for 90,000 people without MUB knowing — without anyone
knowing?”
DEP Secretary Randy Huffman said the agency had reason to believe MUB
was aware of the permit applications because the company expressed the
intention of getting water for hydraulic fracturing from MUB.
Ball said the company did make an initial contact about water in
mid-January. When the utility heard nothing further, it began watching
the classified ads in the belief that gas well drilling permits undergo
a process of public notice and comment like most other permits.
In fact, he and all of Morgantown have learned, they don’t.
“We are very accustomed to public comment opportunities being provided
and public input being solicited when water and wastewater systems are
concerned,” Ball told The State Journal on May 10. “It’s a natural part
of our world and it is quite surprising to us that those opportunities
do not exist in the permitting of oil and gas wells.”
Morgantown Mayor William Byrne said the lack of public notification put
the city “behind the eight ball.” Huffman acknowledged that public
notice is required for all other permits DEP issues and that it would
be a good idea for oil and gas wells too, but said he doesn’t know if
he has the authority.
“Your authority goes as far as nobody challenges it,” he said.
“But the Legislature has made a requirement that there be public
notification of mining permits and water permits, but not on oil and
gas permits,” he continued. “Just because I might think today that it’s
the right thing to do, it’s not the public policy of the state to do
that, so I think it’s better addressed by the Legislature.”
Next Steps
Regarding the permits, Huffman said DEP would consider whether any
agreement between MUB and Northeast called for permit modifications.
Some conditions would not need to be in the permits, he said. An
example would be if the company agreed to collect upstream and
downstream water quality data.
Some conditions, however, would need to be in the permits — for
example, a second berm, or any other site alteration.
“They could do something physical to the site that would be worse
instead of better, and we wouldn’t have a way to address it (if it
weren’t in the permit),” he said. “If they were out there making some
significant physical alternations in the site that aren’t in the
permit, we’d probably make them stop.”
Regarding city actions, council committed to contacting DEP in support
of MUB’s request, and Byrne said he would call acting Gov. Earl Ray
Tomblin.
“We were struck as a council by the number of people that came out
expressing concern about this,” Byrne said.
He said the city did not believe it could meet the “irreparable harm”
standard for an injunction and did believe Ball’s efforts were
significant enough at this time.
And he said he asked the city attorney to look into whether Wellsburg’s
approach to prohibiting drilling would be an effective tool for
Morgantown.