Morgantown
Dominion Post
27 Marck
2011
By Tracy Eddy
Morgantown City Council may consider a resolution asking for a
statewide moratorium on Marcellus shale well permits until the state
legislature comes up with regulations to manage the drilling.
Council will discuss the proposed resolution — drafted by Deputy Mayor
Don Spencer — at its Tuesday Committee of the Whole meeting. The
meeting is 7 p.m. at city hall.
No official action is taken at Committee of the Whole meetings. City
Council could vote on the resolution during its April 5 meeting,
Spencer said. If it is approved, copies will be sent to the state
Department of Environmental Protection secretary and the governor’s
office.
DEP Spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said the department doesn’t think it
necessary to stop issuing permits.
Spencer said the proposed resolution is not asking the DEP to
permanently stop issuing permits for Marcellus shale wells, but is
stressing that it must be done according to certain standards.
Marcellus shale natural gas drilling involves horizontal drilling
thousands of feet below the surface. The rock formation is then
fractured to release the gas.
The process utilizes a large quantity of water and chemicals.
The proposed resolution encourages the governor to call a special
session of the legislature to address Marcellus shale drilling issues.
It asks that permits not be issued until the Legislature meets to come
up with regulations to manage the Marcellus shale drilling and gives
the DEP the funding to hire additional inspectors.
Spencer said right now, the DEP doesn’t have the inspectors to provide
an adequate amount of surveillance for “this exploding industry.”
“They’re issuing permits and there’s no one minding the public
interest,” he said.
Cosco said comparing the number of existing wells in the state — about
59,000 — to the number of inspectors the department has — currently,
about 15 — doesn’t really give an accurate picture.
The department has 17 inspector positions, she said, but two are vacant
right now.
Cosco said various types of wells — natural gas, oil, coal bed methane,
and underground injection — are all included in the 59,000.
And an active well doesn’t require the level of inspection and
attention that a well currently being drilled does, she said.
Cosco said there are only 40 drilling rigs in the state now, so only 40
wells are being drilled at one time. That means those 15 inspectors
need to devote the most time and attention to 40 wells, she said —
though other wells just require site visits and checkups.
Cosco said the DEP issued permits for about 900 Marcellus Shale wells
between 2009 and today.
In 2009 and 2010, the department issued about 400 permits for Marcellus
shale wells, she said, and only 60 have been reported as completed.
Spencer said the public interest — which includes water quality, air
quality and general health — has to be protected from potential
mismanagement of a Marcellus shale well.
Lewisburg City Council approved a resolution — similar to what Spencer
is proposing in Morgantown — at its March 15 meeting, Mayor John
Manchester said.
“The resolution was to try and spur action,” he said. “And show our
concern because the current regulations don’t, in our view, adequately
protect our public.”
Lewisburg provides more than 4,700 people with water, Manchester said,
and it needs to be able to provide the amount and quality of water
those people need.
Two bills to regulate Marcellus Shale drilling were merged in the
recently concluded session of the state Legislature, but died on the
session’s final day.
Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, previously said she
hopes the Legislature can have a special session to address Marcellus
shale drilling regulations.
Roughly two dozen legislators, including Fleischauer, signed a letter
sent to acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, asking him to order the DEP to
stop issuing permits for drilling until the special session.
Fleischauer said it would be great to have additional support, if
Morgantown ends up passing its resolution.
“It could help create the ground swell we need to get a special
session,” she said.
Council’s proposed resolution on Marcellus drilling
RESOLUTION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE MORATORIUM ON ISSUANCE
OF ADDITIONAL PERMITS FOR HORIZONTAL DRILLING IN MARCELLUS SHALE UNTIL
ADEQUATE STATE REGULATIONS ARE PROMULGATED TO PROTECT THE DRINKING
WATER SUPPLIES, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND PUBLIC SAFETY.
Whereas, the mile deep drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale
utilizes horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques which
involve the use of millions of gallons of fresh water for each frac
job, and the transport, storage and use of hazardous chemicals, and the
production of drill tailings and waste water which contain heavy metals
and naturally occurring radioactive materials, and
Whereas, the harmful large and sometimes untimely withdrawals of water
from streams, the mismanagement of the construction of cement drilling
casings, and the mismanagement of spills and disposal of large
quantities of used brine chemical solutions can pose serious damage to
drinking water supplies, public health, and public safety as well as to
fish, livestock, wildlife and other living organisms, and
Whereas, the present State regulations for governing the management of
Marcellus Shale and other lower formations are inadequate to protect
water resources throughout the State including the Monongahela River
watershed, and
Whereas, state regulations do not adequately protect the sources of
water for public water supply from contaminations by chemicals used in
drilling and fracking and from total dissolved solids (TDS) which
cannot be filtered by municipal water and sewer treatment systems, and
Whereas, in its 2011 regular session, the State Legislature did not
support additional funding for the State Department of Environmental
Protection to increase its number of inspectors to safely and
adequately monitor development of 900 permitted Marcellus Shale wells
as well as to manage the existing 59,000 operating oil and gas wells
and the approximately 20,000 abandoned oil an gas wells in the State,
and
Whereas, in its 2011 regular session, the State Legislature did not
complete its work to safely and effectively establish guidelines for
the protection of State water resources, air quality, nor roadways in
the development of Marcellus Shale, and
Whereas, the City Council of Morgantown wishes to join with 23 or more
Delegates and other cities to halt per mits being issued to drill in
the Marcellus Shale and to encourage the Governor to call a special
session of the State Legislature to address these issues in a timely
manner:
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, the City Council of Morgantown urges
the State Department of Environmental Protection to use its emergency
authority to temporarily freeze the issuance of drilling permits until
comprehensive legislation and inspection resources for horizontal well
drilling are established to effectively protect public water resources,
public health and public safety.
Adopted this fifth day of April, 2009.
Mayor, City of Morgantown
Attest: City Clerk