Frack Check WV » Select Committee

Select Committee on Marcellus Shale Approves Bill

Nicole Good — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:37:02 +0000

After months of hard work, the Select Committee on Marcellus Shale finished its draft bill today. A voice vote approved its passage, with only Senator Karen Facemyre speaking in opposition. The next step is for Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to call a special session, but one of his aides has already spoken doubtfully of this. If the governor decides the bill isn’t ready for a special session during December interims (December 12-14), its introduction to the full legislature will be delayed until the regular session begins in January. Read more in the Charleston Daily mail…

UPDATE: Progress for WV Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale

Duane Nichols — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:18:45 +0000

After a long meeting at the Capitol on Thursday morning, only four matters remain for the committee, as shown below. Senator Facemire said he and Delegate Manchin hope to have all work wrapped up in a final meeting in Clarksburg on October 22nd. Then they can forward a bill to acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and the leadership of both houses, as reported yesterday. If a general consensus can be reached, the bill could be on the agenda for a special meeting in November, Facemire said.

AMENDMENTS TO Senate Bill-424
› Adopted – Acreage Reduction
› Adopted – Air Regulation
› Adopted – Air Study
› Adopted – Approval of Certification
› Adopted – Calender Days
› Adopted – Clarifying Reporting Requirements
› Adopted – Directional Drill Info
› Adopted – Eliminate Oil and Gas Ex Board
› Adopted – Highway Enforcement
› Adopted – Impoundments
› Adopted – Increase Bonding
› Adopted – Notice Requirements
› Adopted – Permit Fee
› Adopted – Property Owner Public Notice
› Adopted – Public Comment and Hearing
› Adopted – Public Website and E-Notification
› Adopted – Quality Test
› Adopted – Reports to Div of Labor
› Adopted – Reuse Frac Fluid
› Adopted – Single Pad Impoundments
› Adopted – Stronger Frac Review
› Adopted – Tax Reimbursement
› Pending – Casing Cement Requirements
› Pending – Protection of Water Supplies
› Pending – Surface Owners Agreement
› Pending – Well Location Restrictions

The Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale this past week, worked on the following:

Expanded the buffer zones between Marcellus shale wells and homes, livestock and drinking water through provisions added Wednesday. These include one of 625 feet between the center of a well site and a residence or building that houses dairy cattle or poultry. The committee voted after hearing from Marion County resident Casey Griffith, who said the dream house he built with his wife has been ruined by a well site 200 or so feet away. Around-the-clock noise, dust churned up by well construction and waste gas burned off at the site are among his family’s concerns, he said.

The committee also agreed to allow the DEP secretary to increase this spacing if scientific evidence shows unacceptable health risks to residents of the nearby house. Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer proposed that amendment while also advocating without success for larger buffers.

Other provisions added Wednesday would keep wells 250 feet from drinking wells or springs, 1,000 feet from public water supply intake points and 300 feet from a recognized trout stream.

Industry groups have objected to the proposed new permit fees of $10,000 for an initial well and $5,000 for each additional well at that site. These fees aim to provide DEP with enough revenue to hire the additional gas field inspectors and support staff needed for Marcellus operations. Lawmakers have been hoping for detailed cost estimates from the agency, to allow them to adjust those fees and ease industry concerns. But DEP Secretary Randy Huffman told the committee Wednesday that each change to the bill requires a new set of estimates. Fleischauer and other lawmakers urged Huffman to provide at least some figures at Monday’s meeting.

Select Marcellus Committee of the WV Legislature Identifies Issues But Delays Action

Duane Nichols — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:04:43 +0000

: WV State Capitol reflecting in the Kanawha River

Delegate Tim Manchin, co-chair of the WV Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale is seeing action by the committee this year. However, Senator Doug Facemire, also a co-chairman, says the there is too much to do in the next few months already. According to the Morgantown Dominion Post, Facemire also said that a new bill from the Select Committee will have to go through committees in both chambers, and then both chambers will have to agree on the final product. The work the committee is doing is just the foundation. The final product will be different — how different, he can’t predict. The primary issues before the Select Committee include roads, inspectors, air and water quality and surface owner rights, among many others.

Gas industry operators should notify the Division of Highways (DOH) 30 days before work begins at a well pad, Facemire said. The operator and the DOH should make arrangements to maintain and repair the roads before any site work begins. The DOH should photographically document the condition of the roads before work begins and after it is done.

The WV-DEP has told the committee that it would like (1) to have 20-21 inspectors working, (2) to increase permit fees to $5,000 per well in order to hire nine new employees — inspectors and permitting staff, and (3) to do away with the Inspectors’ Examining Board and hire oil and gas well inspectors in the same way all other environmental inspectors are hired (through the WV Division of Personnel) and train them on the job.

Surface owners need more notification before an operator comes on their property. They need the power to negotiate terms with the operator. Public notice of proposed permits is needed, given the huge footprints of Marcellus operations. (There are 300 instances of 30-day public notice requirements in state code — including surface mining.). Surface owners also need a setback of more than 200 feet from their homes. Last session’s House bill made the setback 1,000 feet. The cement job around the well-bore is crucial to protecting groundwater, and should be inspected routinely. Other issues are being considered.

The Executive Order of Governor Tomblin, which is to be implemented this coming week by DEP, is intended to provide some temporary protections; however this has been called “too little and too late” by many observers. A Special Session of the WV Legislature on “redistricting” has just ended and a special session on Marcellus regulation is not likely this year, as described above. Many of the conservation, watershed and environmental groups of the State believe that a moratorium on drilling and on new permits seems logical and appropriate under these circumstances.

Marcellus Select Committee Delays Vote on Abolishing Examining Board

Duane Nichols — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:11:32 +0000

During the last meeting of the Select Committee on Marcellus Shale, the Committee spent two hours discussing whether to eliminate the controversial, industry dominated Oil and Gas Inspectors Examining Board and allow the DEP to hire oil and gas inspectors the way it hires other environmental inspectors within the agency. According to the Charleston Gazette, the state DEP and advocates for surface owners want to get rid of the Board. DEP says it’s too bureaucratic, while the advocates say it gives the industry too much influence in who inspects well sites.

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The Board is supposed to be made up of five members, including the chiefs of DEP’s oil and gas office and its water resources office. The Governor appoints the other members: two industry representatives and one citizen to represent surface owners and environmental organizations. The slot representing surface owners and environmentalists has been vacant for about five years. Both DEP and the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization submitted names to former Gov. Joe Manchin, but he never appointed anyone to the citizen post.

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Legislative audits since the late 1990s have recommended abolishing the board, DEP General Counsel Kristin Boggs told the committee. The state Division of Personnel could administer inspectors’ tests without the board. The state spends $6,800 a year to run the board. Corky DeMarco of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association said after the meeting that the industry is neutral on the issue.

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The amendment would let the state change the amount of experience that inspectors need in the industry, which is six years. Inspectors for other fields, such as mining, don’t need six years of industry experience, Boggs said. A pay increase was also discussed. State inspectors earn about $35,000 a year but could make twice that working on rigs. The Committee delayed a vote on the proposed amendment to abolish the Board until its next meeting, which may not be until September.

Marcellus Shale Hearings Conclude in Clarksburg With Over 800 Attending

Duane Nichols — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:43:12 +0000

First there was Wheeling last week where 150 attended, then Monday in Morgantown there were 300, and last night in Clarksburg over 800 people attended the public hearing at the Robert C. Bird High School Auditorium; it was full. Tim Miley, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, joined four other Delegates on the panel to take testimony. Some 115 people spoke to the Committee. One observer said that about 65 private citizens presented significant concerns and 50 presented a gas industry point-of-view.

Some members of the gas industry limited their comments to specific topics, as everyone was limited to only 90 seconds of time. Jeff Wilson, a sub-contract employee for Chesapeake Energy, said that Chesapeake works hard to keep track of all the water used and wastewater generated at its well pads. Sample well logging records were displayed by Adam Maloney. Others described the cementing process for well casings, as well as the pipes, values and trucking services. Morgan McCutcheon said that the fracking chemicals are well understood.

Tom Bond said that property values are depreciating and that loans are becoming much more difficult because of the proximity of drilling operations. John Lozier said that the aggregate impacts of multiple wells needs to be given major consideration as new regulations are developed. Numerous speakers insisted that notice of drilling permit applications need to be published and that a public comment period needs to take place.

“Metals such as barium, chromium, zinc and arsenic are present in shale and are “mobilized” and ride to the surface with frack water,” as reported by Charles Lothes who lives on a 75 acre farm near Salem, WV. Strontium and uranium occur in the shale in addition to the dozens of chemicals added to frack water by the drillers. He said that “frack water should be treated only by facilities equipped to process it, thereby protecting our ground water.” He referenced Discover Magazine, May 2011, pp. 62 – 66.

David Thompson, a tree farmer in Harrison county, said that his property is a “disaster” as a result of the land disturbances from three wells that have been drilled there. Ken Westfall of Waste Management said that at least two landfills, S & S south of Clarksburg and the Meadowfill landfill near the Mall north of Clarksburg are qualified and permitted to accept the solid wastes from drilling operations.

The Select Committee is aiming to have a revised draft Bill for consideration in September, according to Delegate Tim Manchin, who chaired the hearings.

Select Marcellus Committee to Meet in Morgantown and Clarksburg

Duane Nichols — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:36:42 +0000

The Legislature’s Select Committee on Marcellus Shale held its first public hearing last week in Wheeling. Some 150 people attended, and of the nearly 40 speakers, the majority supported stronger regulations. You can read and watch coverage of that hearing here, here and here.

Concerns that have been raised include:

§ Air pollution from drilling sites and compressor stations.
§ Spills of tainted water and other fluids from well pads.
§ Damage to roads used by trucks carrying heavy drilling equipment.
§ Traffic safety because of the same trucks.
§ Rights of both mineral and surface property owners.

There are two more opportunities to share your concerns in person and let legislators know what you would like to see in a bill to regulate natural gas drilling in West Virginia. Here are the details for this week’s public hearings:

Monday, July 25 in Morgantown ~ 7:30PM at the West Virginia University College of Law, off University Avenue near the Medical Center

Wednesday, July 27 in Clarksburg ~ 7:30PM in the auditorium at Robert C. Byrd High School

The Select Committee is specifically looking for language or issues to include in new regulation of the drilling industry. These public hearings are scheduled to last only 90 minutes, so sign-up sheets will be used and time for each speaker will likely be two minutes or less.

Air Quality Legislation Proposed by the Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition

Duane Nichols — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:29:50 +0000

Air emissions from drilling and completing natural gas wells in the Marcellus shale and similar formations are not on the radar screen for most West Virginians. The US-EPA found that air emissions from such operations are considerable, are under estimated, and are under reported by the industry. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that companies extracting natural gas from US Government lands can increase profits and decrease environmental degradation by capturing their emissions rather than venting or flaring them.

During the current interim session ten state legislators, five from the WV Senate and five from the WV House of Delegates, were appointed to a Select Committee to study the Marcellus. To aid them in their activities, the Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition (MVCAC) wrote this letter regarding air emissions to the committee and attached this Proposed Legislation concerning air emissions.

Marcellus Drilling Hearings set for Wheeling, Morgantown and Clarksburg

Duane Nichols — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:14:04 +0000

Public hearings sponsored by the House members of the legislature’s Select Committee on Marcellus Shale begin this week. You can tell the Legislature in person what you would like to see in a bill regulating natural gas drilling in West Virginia! The first hearing is this Thursday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at West Virginia Northern Community College’s B&O Building, 1704 Market St., Wheeling. The second hearing is Monday, July 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Morgantown at the West Virginia University College of Law. The final hearing is Wednesday, July 27 in Clarksburg. The time and location for the Clarksburg meeting have not yet been set. These public hearings are scheduled to last only 90 minutes, and the amount of time allotted to individual speakers will be allocated according to how many citizens want to speak.

On July 12^th the Governor issued Executive Order 4-11 which outlines several requirements for natural gas companies including but not limited to: Surface land use that will disturb 3 or more acres must be certified by and constructed in accordance with plans certified by a registered professional engineer. Companies withdrawing over 210,000 gallons of water a month must file a water management plan with the DEP and adhere to certain specified standards. Before fracking begins, such companies must also provide a list of additives that will be used in the frack fluid, and after fracking is complete, the additives actually used. When using water from a public stream, a company must identify the designated and existing uses of that stream.

However, the Executive Order does not address protection for surface land owners or for road repairs and traffic issues. Further, the air pollution issues of leaks, vents and uncontrolled releases are not considered. Flares, fires and explosions are not that uncommon. The Westover (Monongalia County) City Council has tabled their ban on Marcellus drilling as a result of the Executive Order which calls for public notice before drilling takes place within a municipality. Click here to read Executive Order No. 4-11

Five Senators Named to Select Committee on Marcellus Shale Development

Duane Nichols — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:10:15 +0000

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 a flurry of drilling activity. Senator Klempa of adjoining Ohio county wants to make sure the Mountain State maintains its natural beauty throughout the drilling activity. “There are a lot of good players out there, but it only takes one or two bad players to make us all look bad. We have to make sure we are going to protect our air, our water and our roads.”

In speaking about the Marcellus drilling legislation, acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin recently said during a visit to Wheeling, “I will call a special session of the Legislature as soon as we can get an agreement reached.”

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection needs more gas inspector positions than the current 17. Natural gas companies drilled 58 horizontal wells in the state last year, but regulators issued permits for 433 wells in 2010. With land leasing and permitting still taking place, there is going to be even more drilling, which will call for more inspectors.