Today the Marcellus Shale Bill (SB4001) advanced on the Senate side of the Legislature in the Special Session, moving from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Senate Finance Committee.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin watered down the bill that resulted from the labors of the 10-person Select Committee before it was introduced to the Legislature. ”The bill introduced at the Governor’s request did not respect the committee process and, for that reason, is very disappointing,” commented Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, (D-Monongalia), who served on the Select Committee.
- State law has recognized that the rights of surface owners are equal to those of the operator since 1981. The Governor’s bill eliminates that basic premise.
- The Select Committee had developed law that would create criminal penalties for flagrant violations such as illegal dumping of frack water. All references to criminal penalties were deleted in the Governor’s version.
- Protections for state parks built into the bill by the Select Committee were deleted in the Governor’s bill.
- The modified bill deleted requirements for public notice. A Dec. 12 AP story quoted WV Environmental Council lobbyist Don Garvin as saying, “These are huge operations that affect a lot more than the surface tract that’s being disturbed. The public deserves the right to know what’s going on, and the chance to comment on it.”
The West Virginia Surface Rights Organization, along with public health and environmental groups, held a press conference at noon today to voice their frustration with bill’s shortcomings. Other criticisms include lack of provisions for protection of air quality and a 625 feet distance requirement from well to residences inadequate for noise protection.
The AP story also noted that the Select Committee bill would have exempted 1,655 Marcellus wells already permitted by DEP. “As amended Monday, it would exempt another 206 wells with pending permit applications. Its spacing requirements, meanwhile, would not apply to any additional wells drilled on these sites with approved or pending permits.”
The Judiciary Committee amended the bill to extend the 72-hour notice to surface owners (but not the public) to at least 7 days
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Have the rights of our future generations, to air that is safe to breathe and water that is safe to drink, become completely secondary to the ‘right’ of corporations to make profits?