REGARDING: Two Marcellus Shale Gas Well Drilling Permits at the
Morgantown Industrial Park
So far as I know, the permitting process continues in Charleston. State
employees in Charleston are at work granting new permits for Marcellus wells
across our state. The Office of Oil and Gas is currently doing a
regulatory review to determine what changes can be made. But, they seem to think
that the needed changes will require the Legislature to pass proposed
regulations and the Governor to approve them.
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Now let me talk about the legal situation here locally. I believe that
legal action would be useful to try to stop or limit the activities already
underway here in the Mon Valley. And, I am working hard with a number of
other concerned citizens to provide information for the evaluation of such
actions.
I am concerned about the location of the two permits that have already been
granted, because of their proximity to public schools, to residences in
Westover and Morgantown, and to the other businesses in the Morgantown
Industrial Park. As you know, legal activities involve detailed and
comprehensive analyses of the facts and of the existing laws. And, there are
expenses or costs to consider that must be covered in some way or another.
That being said, a couple of different legal options are currently being
evaluated to limit the impacts of the Marcellus well now being drilled and/or
other similar wells in the same vicinity. While these activities are
moving along fairly rapidly, it would be premature to describe further details
at this time. I will be in touch with those who have provided me with
contact information within about a weeks time.
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I do think that we all are doing something extremely important in
protesting these two wells. And, I wonder just how much more protesting it is
going to take before the Mayor of Morgantown gets the message, before the
Monongalia County Commission gets the message, before the Cabinet Secretary of
the West Virginia DEP gets the message, and before the Governor gets the
message. The local newspaper, the Dominion Post gets the message, as printed
in their editorial this past Sunday. That editorial said ……..
“We the people finally showed up last week. More than 100 people rallied at
the Monongalia County Courthouse against several Marcellus shale wells
near the Monongahela River. By all accounts it was the first significant
public protest against the booming Marcellus shale drilling operations spreading
across northern West Virginia. Another protest at Morgantown’s City Hall
preceded the courthouse rally. At least 20 people spoke out against the
wells at a recent city council meeting. The wells are located about 1,500 feet
from the greater Morgantown area’s drinking water intake site, near the
treatment plant.”
“We have no evidence that Northeast Natural Energy isn’t up to the job of
operating these wells safely. However, aside from the protesters, many
members of this community — including this newspaper — are shocked that a site
so near our community’s water intake was even considered by this company,
let alone approved by state regulators. The process in which this happened
is unacceptable.”
“We call on all West Virginians to not forget legislators who, earlier this
year, impeded attempts to pass a bill to alter this process. If the only
recourse the public has to protect its drinking water is to stand upon our
First Amendment rights — to assemble, to petition, to speak out and report
on these wells — then so be it. We urge the public — students, property
owners, environmentalists and everyone else — to keep protesting these wells
and this industry until regulations are on the books and inspectors are in
the field to enforce them.”
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I, for one, believe that both the Governor and the Cabinet Secretary of the
WV Department of Environmental Protection have the authority, indeed the
responsibility, to listen to recommendations regarding this current
situation, to evaluate and make changes to their procedures within the existing
laws, to see that risk assessments are performed, to stop activities that are
a real risk to human health and the environment, and to warn the public
about environmental conditions that threaten the public welfare. I believe
that the WV-DEP could immediately start new procedures of public notice for
new well applications and a thirty day comment period. A new set of
criteria could be put into place by the WV Office of Oil and Gas to establish
better conditions under which permits should not be granted, as in the case of
the two permits here. In that respect, two mistakes were made when these
two permits were granted because adequate consideration of all the
important factors did not happen, in my opinion.
The Governor has a responsibility to provide leadership more generally on
environmental issues, to help the Legislature address State-wide problems
(and this is one such), to help the Departments of government under his
jurisdiction to regulate the industries that pollute our land, water, and air,
and to help the people out in the rural areas, in the suburbs, and in the
cities in a cooperative approach to preserve our quality of life. Thank
you.
Duane Nichols, Courthouse Square, May 25, 2011.