Stand Up for Monroe County, Greenville, WV. Photo credit: Elora McKenzie

Monroe County citizens gather to sign petitions on STAND UP FOR MONROE day December 10th, 2011. The Greenville location pictured in the photo above was one of 8 locations provided throughout the county by local businesses. To date (as of mid-December, the numbers have grown, update soon), the ongoing Save theWater Table initiative has gathered 515 signatures to restore our delegate and 820 signatures to ban shale gas development.

The petitions target two goals: 1) to uphold the democratic process and 2) to buy time for Monroe County until natural gas can be extracted without causing detriment to public health and to the environment. STAND UP FOR MONROE tables will continue to operate at the Union location in front of the Silver Birch, between the courthouse and gas station and at the Barn Store in Gap Mills.

Source : Charleston Gazette By Ken Ward Jr., January 23, 2012

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal government analysts on Monday slashed their estimate of the natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale formation, and at least one major producer announced plans to cut in half its expenditures on new gas leases in the wake of dropping prices.

The U.S. Department of Energy cut its estimate of the Marcellus reserves from 410 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to 141 trillion cubic feet, citing better production information that emerges as drilling operations in the region mature and the exclusion of data from the pre-shale area.

“Drilling in the Marcellus accelerated rapidly in 2010 and 2011, so that there is far more information available today than a year ago,” said the DOE’s Energy Information Administration.

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From the Sierra Club’s Chuck Wyrostok.  This is really important guys.  PLEASE pick up the phone and take 5 minutes for the cause today – many thanks!

Greetings fellow environmental activists across West Virginia,

We would sincerely appreciate your passing this along to the members of your organization.  Thanks so much.

After three years of waiting, we are very close to passing a bill to regulate Marcellus shale gas drilling and fracking.

In the face of uncounted environmental travesties and families having their lives and land ruined, plus an almost constant barrage of citizen outcry, legislative meetings, hearings, news articles, letters to the editor and editorials, state leaders have so far avoided enacting meaningful law to reign in the runaway gas industry.

This Thursday, the first of December, call Governor Tomblin and tell him you want him to exhibit some leadership and “call a December special session of the Legislature to get the Marcellus bill passed.”

His phone numbers: 304-558-2000 or toll-free at 888-438-2731.

Thank you.

Chuck Wyrostok Sierra Club Outreach Organizer Toll free 877 252 0257 E: outreach@marcellus-wv.com www.marcellus-wv.com

At each location, there will be a table manned by 2 persons from 10am to 4pm.

Mark your calendars to come sign the petitions and Stand Up for Monroe!

If you would like to join us in manning a table, please send us an email with your preferred times and dates and a contact number so we can get in touch with you.

Thank you for Standing Up for Monroe!

From our friends over at the Sierra Club – please take a few minutes and make some phonecalls today for the cause!

Actually, with your help we won’t have to apply pressure endlessly to get the Marcellus gas bill we need – but we do need to apply it now!

The Select Committee working on the Marcellus bill has made some real progress. They have added several amendments to the bill that came out of the West Virginia Senate in March but didn’t pass the House because of time constraints. The bill is a good start, and the amendments are filling in critical elements.

We need to apply that seemingly “endless pressure” when the committee meets again this week. Why?

We need to thank the committee for the good work they have done so far. Specifically, we need to give them kudos for passing some very important amendments to the bill, amendments that fill in some of the critical protections missing in the bill. The committee members are human, too, and a little positive feedback can only help our cause.

There are still some very important amendments left that the committee needs to pass and add to the bill. We need to “endlessly apply” the pressure by strongly urging them to do that.

Read on for more details:

• What the amendments we still need are about.
• The dates when you should take action.
• Select Committee membership and phone numbers.
• Suggested “talking points” you can use, if you want, to frame your comment.

1. The amendments we still need.

Pending – Casing and Cement Requirements – Bolstering casing and cementing requirements. Groundwater is at risk when casing and cementing are not adequate or done properly, or when cementing is not allowed to cure properly. This is where we now see most of the risk to groundwater.    It should be required to monitor and control annulus pressure, permanently retain complete well cementing records, carefully define protected water supplies and create standardized investigation procedures.

Pending – Surface Owners Agreement – Protecting the landowner in case of damage from drilling operations.    Like the rest of the bill, applicability is limited to horizontal wells only.  Surface owners have been asking for similar requirements for ALL wells for more than 4 years.  And folks really need more time.  They only have 20 days to accept or reject the proposed surface use and compensation agreement and after 30 days if there is no agreement the driller can begin operations after posting a surety bond of $25,000.   60 days would be more reasonable.

Pending – Well Location Restrictions – Keeping wells and well pads a safe distance (1000 feet) from water wells, springs, homes, barns, etc. With current technology, operators can drill horizontally 12,000 feet (more than 2 miles), so there’s no reason they need to be closer than 1,000 feet from peoples’ homes. Even that may not be far enough away and the amendment allows the driller to get a variance.  A firm 1,000 feet would be more protective.  There is concern that DEP will just rubber stamp and go along with any excuse/reason the companies come up with for why they need a variance. If they can be closer there should at least be some other conditions/standards that the driller has to meet.  There is language in the proposed amendment that gives that discretion to the DEP, but it would be better to spell out what those conditions should be. For example, there are specific things they could do to mitigate noise from the sites, which is what most complaints are about.

Pending – Protection of Water Supplies – Well operator is responsible for the pollution of a water supply that is within 2,500 feet of a horizontal gas well. The draft of the amendment we saw included a six-month limitation on claims of contamination.  This is insufficient, to say the least.   When a contaminant plume enters an aquifer it may take years, or decades to pass by an individual well.

2. We are asking everyone to call ANY or ALL members of the Select Committee Today

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11. They will meet at 4PM Wednesday Oct. 12 and 10AM Thursday Oct. 13 in the Capitol in Charleston. Calling on Wednesday before their 4PM meeting will also be good. The committee members will be there, and their staffers, who can answer the phone and take your message.

3. Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale – members and their Capitol phone numbers

Senate Members

Senator Doug Facemire – Chair – (304) 357-7845

Senator Karen Facemyer – (304) 357-7855

Senator Orphy  Klempa – (304) 357-7918

Senator Corey Palumbo – (304) 357-7880

Senator Herb Snyder – (304) 357-7957

House Members

Delegate Tim Manchin – Chair – (304) 340-3166

Delegate Bill Anderson – (304) 340-3168

Delegate Thomas Campbell – (304) 340-3280

Delegate Barbara Fleischauer – (304) 340-3169

Delegate Woody Ireland – (304) 340-3195

4. Talking Points when you call the senators and delegates on the Select Committee. [names and phone numbers above]

• Be courteous and respectful. Remember you get more with honey than with vinegar.
• Be brief, and stay focused. Make your point, and don’t let the person you’re talking with change the subject. Stick to your intended message.
• Thank the senator or delegate for what the Select Committee has accomplished thus far. The Committee has passed 22 important amendments strengthening the bill. However, thank the Committee, not the individual – that senator or delegate may, or may not, have voted for the good amendments.
• Ask the Committee to “finish its work,” by passing the remaining pending amendments. See above for what those amendments are.
• Call as many Select Committee members as you can, please!

Once the Select Committee has finished its work, we will need to do more, when the bill and amendments have to go to the whole Legislature for its approval. We’ll need to renew the famous “endless pressure” again at that time.

Thank you so much for all you do for the West Virginia environment.

Chuck Wyrostok Sierra Club Outreach Organizer Toll free 877 252 0257 E: outreach@marcellus-wv.com www.marcellus-wv.com

This fantastic article shares 11 corporate videos that utilize “greenwashing” (from Wikipedia, “a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that a company’s policies or products are environmentally friendly“); The Huffington Post editors help set the record straight by offering commentary and counterpoints on each video.

Source : Huffington Post

Maintaining effective public relations and a positive image with the public are important parts of doing business. But for some companies, this task can prove quite difficult when their products and services clash with public and environmental safety.

For example, ExxonMobil claims environmental safety and low emissions in their ads for natural gas fracking and Canadian oil sands operations. Important figures have come out against both hydraulic fracturing and oil sands production as dangerous practices with lasting consequences.

Read more >>

Attached is a copy of the proposed emergency oil and gas rules.  The Advisory Board hearing is 1:30 September 22 at WVDEP in Kanawha City.  The DEP will have staff there to answer questions about the proposed rule, but the questions have to come from the Board. The public is entitled to attend. It is an open meeting.

Proposed emergency oil and gas rule : WVSOS-Notice-of-an-Emergency-Rule-082211

Kristin A. Boggs, Esquire General Counsel West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection 601 57th Street Charleston, West Virginia  25304 (304) 926-0440 (304) 926-0447 (facsimile) (304) 941-8017 (cellular)