In the State Journal, Cynthia McCloud has described the June 5th actions of the Morgantown City Council to place limits on drilling and fracking within the city limits by a vote of 7 to 0.  Council members also repealed, on a 6-1 vote, a horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing ban that Monongalia County Circuit Court overturned last year. Councilman Bill Byrne cast the no vote because, he said, he didn’t want to remove the ban before new zoning laws were on the books.

If the ordinances pass the second reading and final vote during the July 3 City Council meeting, drilling will be allowed within city limits only at the industrial zone that includes the Morgantown Airport and, for research purposes, on property owned by West Virginia University.

“We cannot utilize our zoning regulations in West Virginia to exclude any type of land use,” said Christopher Fletcher, Morgantown’s Director of Development Services. “In fact, it’s the exact opposite. We have to find places in the municipality for all land uses and development to occur.” 

The best places in Morgantown for extractive drilling to occur are its six industrial districts. But those industrial districts can contain an extractive industry site only if it is 625 feet from any residential areas, schools, day care facilities, hospitals, churches or parks. Sites also have to be 100 feet from the floodplain, 1,000 feet from the public water supply intake and 1,000 feet from the floodplain of the Monongahela River south or upstream of the Morgantown Lock and Dam.

“Most of our industrial districts are along the river, are along creeks and other bodies of water. What the state required was 100 feet from a creek or water body or a river or wetland,” he said. “The state code did not provide some direction on where you measure from. The high water mark, the average water mark? There’s no additional information that we need to get an accurate measurement. What we thought the best approach to be in an urban environment is to use the floodplain that is delineated on floodplain maps. Water isn’t flowing in those areas but during flood events, we wanted to protect those sensitive areas.”

When the setbacks are taken into account, the only district suitable for drilling is the one that is surrounded by airport property. Certain conditions will be placed on the operation focusing on security; noise, exhaust and dust control; secondary containment; spill reporting; flaring restrictions, including public notice; waste management and disposal; maintenance, clean-up and restoration.

At fifteen minutes until midnight on Tuesday, June 21^st, 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 and gas drilling operations which involve horizontal drilling with fracturing or fracking within the City, and the operation of wells that utilize horizontal drilling with fracturing or fracking within one mile of the Morgantown City limits.” (The first reading was adopted on June 7, 2011.)  The vote was 6 in favor and 1 opposed.

One amendment added code sections to justify the ordinance, one added a definition for “horizontal drilling”, while the third changed the language from “horizontal drilling and/or fracturing” to “horizontal drilling with fracturing”.

This five hour meeting of City Council included interviews to fill a position on the Board of the Morgantown Utility Board, a public hearing on a smoking ban in public places as well as a public hearing on the horizontal drilling with fracking ban described above.

At a public meeting held Thursday evening in Morgantown at Skyview Elementary School,  West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman faced a crowd of incensed citizens.  The approval of two drilling permits within 1500 feet of the Monongahela River, 3000 feet from a public water intake, and close to two public schools has galvanized the Morgantown community into action.  Barry Pallay, cochair of the WV/PA Watersheds Compact, referred to the contentious permit as a “poster child for a permit that should not be approved”.   The Compact and The League of Women Voters cosponsored the meeting.

Slightly more than 200 people had turned out for the meeting to learn about and discuss the negative impacts of Marcellus shale drilling.  Roughly a third to a half had left before Huffman spoke in the latter part of the three hour program.  Pallay introduced Huffman and asked, “Using the powers you have, can you put together a regulatory program to protect the area” and the state?   Huffman explained that the oil and gas regulatory program in use now was developed for conventional vertical gas wells, not the new technology of horizontal drilling.  ”Quite frankly, our regulatory structure isn’t prepared to deal with it.”  The WVDEP, recognizing that the agency lacked the authority and the funding needed to properly regulate the industry, developed a 200 page hydraulic fracturing bill in 2010 which was introduced in the Legislature.  The West Virginia Legislature failed to pass any legislation relating to hydraulic fracturing in the 2011 session other than a bill that granted a tax credit package to industry primarily to provide incentives for chemical industry development.

The impacts of horizontal drilling on roads, water, air and public health and safety have not been considered in the aggregate.  ”We are learning so much about what is going on, we are making changes in our thinking every day” said Huffman.  At which point an audience member shouted, “Why don’t you stop the drilling until you know what you’re doing?”  Other audience members joined in the shouting; Pallay had to restore order.  ”I do not as the cabinet secretary of the DEP have the authority to stop gas drilling in the state of West Virginia,” Huffman said at one point in response to that sentiment in the room.  Two resolutions were presented and passed.  One calls for a moratorium on issuing permits until a regulatory framework is in place.  The second calls for the WVDEP evaluate permit applications for public health and safety impacts, flag those with potential problems, and seek public input regarding those flagged.  Huffman pledged to re-evaluate the DEP’s air quality control measures, and agreed that evaluating permits for public health and safety concerns, and flagging problem permits for further review is worth considering.

Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) General Manager Tim Ball spoke to concerns of the residents about potential for contamination of the drinking water supply.  He informed the crowd that MUB staff are at the drill site almost every day observing the safety tests and the results.  MUB also plans to conduct routine testing of the water in the Mon River at the base of the pad and at the intake. Contingency plans have been developed in the case of a spill or other contamination event.  The Cobun Creek reservoir can serve as an alternate water source for nine days. MUB is also planning on installing a backup intake upstream of the well pad.   Audience members asked who would cover the expenses of these additions to the system.  At this point in time, the costs are borne by the citizens.  Pallay called for a resolution to hold the drilling company responsible for these costs via a bond.  The audience approved that resolution.

Morgantown Deputy Mayor Don Spencer updated the crowd about the progress of the Morgantown City Council.   City Council is developing a resolution which calls for several items that were included in draft legislation that failed to pass the legislature this spring, and a few items that were not included in the legislature draft bills.   The City Council will have a first reading of a council resolution on June 7th.  A public hearing will be scheduled before the second reading of the council resolution.

Full story: Dominion Post by David Beard reprinted in Charleston Daily Mail

The Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) has negotiated with the Northeast Natural Energy LLC (NNE) to update the two permits for Marcellus horizontal gas wells in or near the Morgantown Industrial Park.  These updates have been accepted by the WV Office of Oil and Gas, and they have been incorporated into the two permits, as of May 19^th.  A brief description of some of these conditions is provided below.  To read the full text of these updates, please refer to the MUB web-site, www.mub.org

Spill Containment – Drilling operations:  (1) NNE will utilize a closed loop system during fluid drilling operations for maximum control of drilling fluid / mud.  …….(3) The permanent earthen berm around the well pad will provide a third level of containment. …. (5) The volume of the lined waste pit will exceed the entire combined maximum volume of drilling fluids and tailings/mud present on site at any time.

Spill Containment – Fracking operations:  (1) The well pad liner will be expanded to conver the entire area encompassed by the earthen berm at the perimeter of the well pad, including the sumps located at each corner. …..    (2)  …..  (3)The perimeter of the well pad will be protected by a 2.5 ft. berm completely surrounding the 300 ft. X 600 ft. well pad.

Spill Prevention – Fracking operations: (1) NNE will utilize a closed loop system for maximum control of fracking fluid. (2) A second automatically activated Blow Out Preventer (BOP) will be provided to maximize control of fracking fluids.  ….. (3) …. .

Well Integrity:  Some eight (8) conditions were agreed to, including “(2) NNE will encase (with cement/grout) the full length of production casing.”  Most of the others in this category have to do with testing casing to withstand pressure(s), in one case up to 10,000 psi prior to the fracking process.

Waste Disposal:  Two conditions.  NNE will dispose of all drilling residues and fracking fluids off site; and, mainifest procedures to document such will be utilized.

Miscellaneous:  (1) Drill cuttings / fluid will NOT be mixed with fracking fluids.  (2) Drilling fluids will be water based.

The above negotiations were described in the local newspaper on May 18^th.  Many residents of Monongalia County have raised other issues and problems with the two permits in question.  The Morgantown City Council will be addressing some of these in a “Meeting of the Whole” on Tuesday, May 31^st at 7 pm in City Council Chambers, a facility with limited seating capacity for the public.

Concerned citizens showed up in force at the City Council meeting on Tuesday evening in Morgantown, WV.   About 20 people addressed the council members with concerns regarding a permitted Marcellus shale well near the Monongahela River within 3,000 feet of a public water intake that serves 100,000 people.   Many inquired about getting an injunction to stop the drilling of the wells permitted to Northeast Natural Energy, a West Virginia company.   The council responded with a letter to Randy Huffman, the Secretary of the WVDEP, supporting the permit modifications proposed by the Morgantown Utility Board.  The letter was faxed on Wednesday the 18th.  The WVDEP negotiated with Northeast and a modified permit which complies with the MUB requests is expected to be completed today.  Drilling can be expected to start as soon as the permit is issued as modified.

Wednesday morning, an estimated 120 concerned citizens assembled at the Courthouse Square in downtown Morgantown to protest the  controversial well permit.   Delegates Barbara Fleischauer and Charlene Marshall addressed the crowd to discuss their work on the issue of regulation of hydraulic fracturing.   Several citizens addressed the crowd, sharing their concerns about various aspects of hydraulic fracturing including the impact of industrialization on West Virginia, water contamination, air pollution, lack of regulation and lack of funding for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.  Attorney Hiram Lewis, who represents clients with water contamination problems in Wetzel County, told that water is being contaminated with acrylonitrile, a toxic substance that is not being checked by testing.  He also observed that the concrete well casings may be incapable of withstanding the forces of fracking and may crack.  He stated that there is no proof that well casings can withstand more than 7,000 psi and that frack pressures exceed 10,000 psi.

As the protest demonstration was going on in the square outside the courthouse, inside the courthouse the County Commissioners were meeting.  Duane Nichols, representing the Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition, presented a position statement which expressed opposition to hydraulic fracturing in the Mon River Valley, noting in particular  dangerous threats to air quality.  ”The two Marcellus wells recently sited at or near the Morgantown Industrial Park are too close to the other facilities of the Industrial Park, too close to the Skyview Elementary School, too close to the Westwood Middle School, too close to the County Athletic Field between these schools, and too close to the City of Morgantown.”   Marc Glass is a certified soil remediation specialist who lives near the controversial drilling sites.  He described the Superfund site currently within the Morgantown Industrial Park where the wells are planned and the  proximity of a hazardous waste dump, both of significant concern if these come into contact with drilling fluids.  Glass also described the activities of the EPA and the Department of Energy toward developing best practices for drilling operations.

The three Commissioners agreed that that action at the state level is needed.  They agreed to draft a letter to the governor to call for a Special Session to create law for hydraulic fracking and pointing out that an untenable situation exists in West Virginia due to risks and uncertainties involved in Marcellus gas projects.

On Tuesday evening the Wellsburg City Council approved an ordinance prohibiting natural gas drilling in and within one mile of the city. Mayor Sue Simonetti and City Manager Mark Henne told council and others at the meeting they aren’t opposed to natural gas drilling but are concerned about the city’s water being contaminated by procedures used in the drilling.  The city is supplied by a reservoir and property nearby has been leased by Chesapeake Energy for gas production.

City Solicitor Bill Cipriani acknowledged many have questioned whether the city may exert power outside its borders. But he said such action is permitted through West Virginia Code 8-12-19, which states cities may exert authority within a mile outside their borders if needed to efficiently exercise the powers given them by state code.

City Manager Henne invited Chesapeake officials to participate in a public meeting on natural gas drilling to be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 24 at the Wellsburg Fire Hall.  He encouraged Chesapeake to discuss its procedures and address his and others’ concerns but said other experts on the subject not affiliated with the company also will be invited.

Full Story Weirton Daily Times

The city council of Lewisburg, WV passed a resolution on March 15th encouraging the governor to call a special legislative session to deal with shale gas law and to cease issuing new drilling permits until such legislative action had been carried out to protect the water supply.  A copy of the resolution was presented to Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and the WV Legislature.

The text of the resolution reads:

“WHEREAS state regulations governing Marcellus Shale development in West Virginia are inadequate to protect the water resources of West Virginia including the Greenbrier River watershed, and

WHEREAS state regulations do not adequately regulate the amount of water that can be withdrawn from aquifers and public bodies of water by Marcellus Shale development companies, and

WHEREAS state regulations currently do not adequately protect public water systems including the city of Lewisburg water system from contamination from liquid by-products of hydraulic fracking technologies being released into public bodies of water, and

WHEREAS as a result of failures of the legislature to support funding, the WVDEP does not currently employ a sufficient number of inspectors on staff to adequately monitor Marcellus Shale development, and WHEREAS the WV legislature failed to act in its 2011 regular session to safely and effectively guide the development of Marcellus Shale in WV, and

WHEREAS the council of the city of Lewisburg encourage the governor to call a special session of the legislature to address this issue in a timely fashion; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the council of the city of Lewisburg resolves that no additional permits for horizontal drilling in the Marcellus Shale be issued within the state of West Virginia until adequate regulations are promulgated that protect public water supplies from Marcellus Shale development.”