Natural Gas Industry Ramps Up “Public Relations” in West Virginia

June 25, 2011

As the rhetoric heats up over natural gas drilling in West Virginia’s portion of the Marcellus shale field and opposition to the unconventional deep wells grows, the industry is cranking up the public relations machine. At a conference in Morgantown on June 21st, the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia touted its 4-week-old [...]

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Judge Upholds Morgantown Frack Ban, Denies Injunction, Drilling Continues

June 25, 2011

A suit filed on Thursday and heard in Monongalia Circuit Court on Friday states that the new Morgantown City ordinance, which bans horizontal drilling with fracking, infringes on Enrout’s rights as a land and mineral owner and amounts to an unconstitutional taking and by failing to read the ordinance in its entirety, the city failed to [...]

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Focus is on Marcellus Shale in Major EPA Fracking Study

June 24, 2011

US-EPA investigators are now set to study oil and gas shales across the country this summer, with a focus on the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water.  The Marcellus shale will get the closet look, in three counties — Washington, in southwestern Pennsylvania and Susquehanna and Bradford, in the northcentral part of the state. [...]

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Five Delegates added to Select Committee on Marcellus Shale Regulation

June 23, 2011

Speaker  of the House of Delegates Rick Thompson, D-Wayne, has appointed five members to serve on the Legislature’s Select Committee on Marcellus Shale. Thompson designated Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion, as the chairman. Other members of the committee will include: Delegate Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia; Delegate Tom Campbell, D-Greenbrier; Delegate Woody Ireland, R-Ritchie; and Delegate Bill Anderson, [...]

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Morgantown City Council Passes Ban on Horizontal Drilling With Fracking

June 22, 2011

At fifteen minutes until midnight on Tuesday, June 21st, the City Council of Morgantown approved the following motion (second reading) after three minor amendments were made to strengthen the language: “An ordinance repealing Article 721 of the City of Morgantown’s Business and Taxation Code and replacing it with a new Article 721, which prohibits oil [...]

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Short and Long Term Health Effects of Marcellus Shale Development

June 21, 2011

On June 2nd the public meeting entitled “Public Meeting on the Adverse Impacts of Marcellus Natural Gas Activities: Where Are We, Where Are We Going” was held at the Skyview Elementary School, near the Marcellus well site at the Morgantown Industrial Park. One of the significant themes of this meeting was the public health risks [...]

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Five Senators Named to Select Committee on Marcellus Shale Development

June 20, 2011

Acting Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, has appointed five WV Senators to the Select Committee on Marcellus natural gas development, namely senators Douglas Facemire, D-Braxton, Sen. Orphy Klempa, D-Ohio, Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, and Karen Facemyer, R-Jackson.    Kessler’s own constituents are in Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Marion and Monongalia counties which are experiencing [...]

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Friday Wrap-Up

June 17, 2011

Department of Energy representatives visiting  Washington & Jefferson College on Monday heard speakers from a raucous and divided crowd for more than four hours.  The meeting was part of the strategy of Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s recently created subcommittee, whose responsibility is “to improve the safety of shale gas development” as part of the president’s “Blueprint for a Secure [...]

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Committee Formed to Study Marcellus Legislation

June 16, 2011

West Virginia Media (owner of WBOY Clarksburg and WOWK  Huntington) has reported that an interim committee of the West Virginia Legislature has created a special committee to study Marcellus shale and develop legislation.  Acting Senate president Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall), serving as chair of the interim Joint Committee on Government and Finance, stated that it was hoped [...]

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More Data Needed to Study Long Term Health Effects of Marcellus Shale Drilling

June 14, 2011

As part of its series of recommendations to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Commission, the State’s Department of Health wants to create a health registry of individuals who live in close proximity to drill sites or are occupationally exposed.  According to the spokeswoman from the department, Brandi Hunter-Davenport, more data and investigations are needed in [...]

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