Morgantown Dominion Post
Letter to the Editor
27 January 2009
Who among you values the waters of the Big Sandy in northern Preston County?
Massive, tri-axled blue tanker trucks have been drawing water out of the Big Sandy this fall and winter to drill privately-owned gas wells, "fracturing" them with our public water. Then "residual waste" trucks haul and dump the former fresh water of the now-contaminated Big Sandy into settling ponds located at a nearby farm under lease. And the cycle starts over. It is not every day. It is not 24/7. But it is often, and on the active days, it starts around sunrise and continues after sunset. How much of this can our river sustain?
Our river's waters could be sucked dry if experience in Western Pennsylvania is any indication. It's estimated that these wells can require as much as 6 million gallons of water — each. According to one recent broadcast report, each tanker truck contains 20,000 gallons and the reporter quoted Conrad Volz, University of Pittsburgh, a nationally recognized expert on water resources, saying we could "have severe localized repercussions from drawdown of water." In fact, the story cites two creeks pumped dry this past year: Sugarcamp Run in Independence Township, Washington County, and Cross Creek in Hopewell Township, Washington County, "down to the rocks on the bed of the stream."
Will West Virginia's legislators not notice that our public water is being used for private gain until our rivers and streams become too low or go dry? Some private landowners and the drilling companies may benefit, but not necessarily the rest of us and other forms of economic development in farming, recreation and heritage. These sectors will all pay the costs if our water is taken. The Big Sandy means so much to so many — to those of us who live along it, to fishermen and kayakers, to our town proudly built along its banks. We cannot allow private companies to take our water, leaving us empty streambeds.
Shouldn't West Virginia collaborate with its neighbor states to institute appropriate legislation and learn from them about the consequences of the current gas drilling?. Contact your county commissioners and/or state and federal representatives and ask them what they are doing to protect the waters for all of us and for future generations.
Susan and Don Sauter, Bruceton Mills