Gas-Drilling Rush Clogs Some W.Va. Country Roads

Washington PA Observer Reporter
11 December 2010
Associated Press

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Beth Bertram remembers when the rumbling yellow buses that carry Marshall County's children to and from school ruled the narrow country roads in northern West Virginia.

That was before natural gas companies began flocking to the region to sink wells in the previously untapped Marcellus Shale field - and using those same rural routes to reach their drilling pads.

"We used to be the biggest thing on the road, and if we connected something, we'd come out ahead," said Bertram, the district's transportation supervisor. "Now, they're just as big as we are."

Throughout Marshall and Wetzel counties, the rush on the massive, mile-deep gas reserve is forcing drivers to find ways to share roads that can barely accommodate two small cars. Just this week, Chesapeake Appalachia - the biggest drilling presence in the region - met with school officials in Ohio County to first identify bus routes, then determine how to avoid them at the right times.

"It's just something we're going to have in our area," Bertram said. "In the southern coalfields, it's coal trucks. Here, we're dealing with the gas industry."

Marcellus Shale sprawls under Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, and drilling is in high gear in West Virginia's northern counties.

The gas is locked in tightly compacted rock, and freeing it requires unconventional horizontal drilling technologies and vast amounts of water. That means a never-ending convoy of rigs and trucks carrying equipment, water, sand and more over roads never intended to withstand the weight or wear and tear.

As the industry began to take hold, drivers of trucks and school buses began complaining of near-misses and parents and transportation coordinators worried about safety.

Chesapeake responded by hiring local people to drive escort cars for buses on two heavily traveled routes.

"When the school buses are on the road, Chesapeake's trucks park. They stop. They wait. They hold up. They don't leave the staging area," said Bill Hughes, who belongs to the watchdog organization Wetzel County Action Group. "Chesapeake, to its credit, is leading the way in one aspect of best management practices."

The problem, Hughes said, is the proliferation of smaller companies, whose presence continues to grow.

Chesapeake, he said, offers them a model to follow.

"We wanted to make sure there would never be an accident," Chesapeake spokeswoman Stacey Brodak said.

"We're talking about two roads, specifically, that were incredibly narrow and long, and they didn't offer any place to pull over or turn around," she said. "School buses are not allowed to back up, so if they were to meet another vehicle, it would be very difficult for both of them."

In addition to hiring escort drivers, Chesapeake also equipped the school buses with CB radios.

It's not a solution for every road, Brodak said, because it costs the company time and money. But school bus safety is a top priority for everyone, she said.

Chesapeake is also maintaining those two roads, including snow removal, under an agreement with the Division of Highways.

Brian Jones, who oversees transportation for Wetzel County schools, said Chesapeake understands it's in everyone's best interest that buses and trucks avoid each other.

"The road surface is less than desirable," he said, "but I remember prior to the drilling companies coming in, those roads were less than desirable."

The state Division of Highways has long been concerned about damage the industry is doing to West Virginia roads.

"We have overweight trucks in industries that have heretofore flown under the radar and are damaging the roads without accountability," state Division of Highways spokesman Brent Walker said. "We've dealt with that with the coal industry ... and now we're turning our attention to the oil and gas industry."

In August, Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox issued a policy requiring companies to post road-repair bonds ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per mile. Legislators may also tackle that issue when they begin debating two bills in January that would tighten regulatory control of the industry.

But Walker said the DOH is leaving safety issues involving school buses to the counties and local road crews who know the issues best. He's hopeful other drillers will follow Chesapeake's lead.

Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, said the industry is aware of concerns and working to address them.

"It's not going to be a one-size-fits-all solution," he said. "There's just no way."

Drillers understand what needs to be done to keep roads safe, and DeMarco said they are working with the DOH to prepare road-use plans that get ahead of potential problems.

"Some of the issues we're looking into include doing work on the roads prior to starting to use them ... widening turns or sloping roads differently," he said. "Then, as we're working on them, it's going to be easier to maintain."