MUB: Safety Requests to be Implemented
Nearly 20 address council about drilling
Morgantown Dominion Post
18 May 2011
By Tracy Eddy
Drilling at two Marcellus gas wells in the Morgantown Industrial Park
is expected to start today — with certain safeguards the Morgantown
Utility Board (MUB) requested in place.
MUB General Manager Tim Ball told the Morgantown City Council on
Tuesday it seemed the driller — Northeast Natural Energy — had agreed
to voluntarily implement those safeguards, which include additional
spill prevention measures, additional containment structures and
appropriately disposing all waste products off-site.
Ball said he plans to ask the state Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) to add those safeguards to the permit, so the
department will be able to issue citations if the driller isn’t
following them.
Though the issue was not on the agenda, much of Tuesday’s City Council
meeting was devoted to discussion about Marcellus Shale drilling.
Several residents stood outside City Hall holding empty water jugs with
toxic symbols on them or waving signs that read “Don’t Frack with Our
Water” or “Save Morgantown Water.”
Nearly 20 people spoke out against the drilling, and several encouraged
council to file an injunction to stop it.
City Council agreed to write a letter and fax it to the DEP today, to
show its support of MUB’s request. Mayor Bill Byrne also agreed to call
the governor today.
Deputy Mayor Don Spencer drafted two possible resolutions, one of which
calls for the DEP to issue a stop-work order on the two wells at the
Morgantown Industrial Park. Council will discuss the resolutions at its
Committee of the Whole meeting later this month.
City Council passed a resolution in April, asking for a special session
of the state legislature to create new regulations to manage Marcellus
shale permitting and drilling.
Ball said he met with the driller Monday and the driller verbally
agreed to put the additional safeguards — which MUB first requested in
a May 12 letter to the state Office of Oil and Gas — in place. Ball
asked for a written agreement following the meeting, he said.
The utility board received a second draft of the agreement late
Tuesday. Ball said he didn’t have time to review it, but said earlier
phone conversations about revisions were positive.
“I think we’ve gotten to the point where we can say they’re doing
everything we asked them to do,” he said.
Brent Bailey, of Fairfax Drive, encourage City Council to take whatever
legal action is necessary to stop the Marcellus drilling at the
industrial park.
“We have a choice,” Bailey said. “Do you choose water over gas? Do you
choose public interest over private gain?”
Suzanne McDonald, president of the Evansdale Neighborhood Association,
along with representatives for the League of Women Voters were among
the others who asked for an injunction.
“You guys need to do whatever you can do to stop this,” McDonald said.
Byrne said it wasn’t feasible for Morgantown to get an injunction and
stop the drilling before today.
Residents also spoke at the utility board meeting Tuesday afternoon.
The Morgantown Industrial Park is not in Morgantown city limits — it is
in an unincorporated part of the county. However, the well pad is about
3,000 feet from the utility board’s water intake.