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.