Tag Archives: moratorium

Statement from WV Environmental, Labor, Health and Public Interest Organizations

We the undersigned unanimously agree that the Executive Order issued by acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin is inadequate and leaves communities vulnerable, while continuing to let the gas industry run roughshod over West Virginia.

The Senate should not be using the Executive Order as an excuse for stalling. Instead, the Senate should impose a moratorium on permits until a comprehensive bill becomes effective.

Many people, including Senate members of the Select Committee on Marcellus Shale, are under the illusion that the Executive Order and the resulting emergency rules are adequate enough to ensure safe, responsible development of the Marcellus Shale.

However, a number of important issues remain unaddressed.

Nothing in the Executive Order addresses protection from air pollution, noise, truck traffic destroying roads, radiation, or the cumulative impact of multiple wells in a community.
While the Executive Order does require public notice of well permits inside a municipality, it does not provide an opportunity for the public to comment on such permits and influence the permit conditions, nor does it require public notice and comment for well permits in rural areas.
Surface owners remain at risk from unilateral decisions by the gas companies. There is no requirement for drillers to negotiate with surface owners on the location of well sites and access roads or that drillers accommodate surface owners’ concerns, plans for or uses of their property.

Other items missing from the Executive Order include:

Protection for karst (limestone) areas.
Protection for parks or other public lands.
A TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) standard for water.
Elimination of the industry-influenced Oil and Gas Inspectors Examining Board in favor of a civil service type of hiring procedure.
Protective/adequate distances between large drill sites and homes, schools, hospitals and other sensitive places.
Expanded water well testing requirements.
Improvements to bonding requirements.
Disposal of toxic waste from well sites restricted to landfills designed to accept hazardous waste.

Additionally, regulations are only as good as their enforcement and with only 15 inspectors for 59,000 active gas wells, we remain concerned about the DEP’s ability to adequately protect citizens and the environment from the threats Marcellus development poses to human health and our land, air and water. Unfortunately, the emergency rules filed as a result of the Executive Order will not raise permit fees and will not provide money for more inspectors to enforce even those emergency rules.

DEP has already permitted 1,602 Marcellus wells in West Virginia. Of those, 942 of those are completed and producing and the agency is on track to issue another 400 permits this year.

We believe it is irresponsible for the acting Governor and the Legislature to allow the DEP to continue to issue new permits without having a comprehensive regulatory structure in place and without having enough inspectors on staff to ensure adequate enforcement. We appreciate that acting Governor Tomblin has recognized that there are problems, but the Executive Order does not go far enough.

It remains imperative for the Legislature to act.

Until that time there should be a moratorium on new permits.

In conclusion, acting Governor Tomblin’s Executive Order and the resulting emergency rules should not be construed as a solution to the many problems related to Marcellus Shale and other gas well drilling.

Far from it.

The Select Committee assigned to craft meaningful legislation, especially the Senators, need to step up to address these problems, and they must do so quickly — next year is unacceptable. Although the draft legislation the committee is using as a starting point is also deficient in terms of addressing several issues of concern, a number of strengthening amendments were offered and adopted when the committee met earlier this month. We want to see the committee reconvene to continue its work and make the needed improvements to the bill.

Signatories:

Greenbrier River Watershed Association

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter

West Virginia Citizens Action Group

West Virginia Highlands Conservancy

West Virginia Surface Owners Rights Organization

SavetheWaterTable.org

Resolution for the Establishment of a State Moratorium on Issuance of Additional Permites for Horizontal Drilling in Marcellus Shale

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OK, so New York has a moratorium, so does New Jersey. Buffalo and Pittsburgh have banned it, and now our neighbor, Lewisburg, WV has called for a statewide moratorium. Is this not enough! People are waking up, this is dangerous, and it must be stopped until regulations are ON THE BOOKS!

Well – if it was not enough, here is one more – a little ditty from Morgantown, WV:

RESOLUTION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE MORATORIUM ON ISSUANCE OF ADDITIONAL PERMITS FOR HORIZONTAL DRILLING IN MARCELLUS SHALE UNTIL ADEQUATE STATE REGULATIONS ARE PROMULGATED TO PROTECT THE DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND…PUBLIC SAFETY.

Whereas, the mile deep drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale utilizes horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques which involve the use of millions of gallons of fresh water for each frac job, and the transport, storage and use of hazardous chemicals, and the production of drill tailings and waste water which contain heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive materials, and

Whereas, the harmful large and sometimes untimely withdrawals of water from streams, the mismanagement of the construction of cement drilling casings, and the mismanagement of spills and disposal of large quantities of used brine chemical solutions can pose serious damage to drinking water supplies, public health, and public safety as well as to fish, livestock, wildlife and other living organisms, and

Whereas, the present State regulations for governing the management of Marcellus Shale and other lower formations are inadequate to protect water resources throughout the State including the Monongahela River watershed, and

Whereas, state regulations do not adequately protect the sources of water for public water supply from contaminations by chemicals used in drilling and fracking and from total dissolved solids (TDS) which cannot be filtered by municipal water and sewer treatment systems, and

Whereas, in its 2011 regular session, the State Legislature did not support additional funding for the State Department of Environmental Protection to increase its number of inspectors to safely and adequately monitor development of 900 permitted Marcellus Shale wells as well as to manage the existing 59,000 operating oil and gas wells and the approximately 20,000 abandoned oil an gas wells in the State, and

Whereas, in its 2011 regular session, the State Legislature did not complete its work to safely and effectively establish guidelines for the protection of State water resources, air quality, nor roadways in the development of Marcellus Shale, and

Whereas, the City Council of Morgantown wishes to join with 23 or more Delegates and other cities to halt permits being issued to drill in the Marcellus Shale and to encourage the Governor to call a special session of the State Legislature to address these issues in a timely manner:

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved, the City Council of Morgantown urges the State Department of Environmental Protection to use its emergency authority to temporarily freeze the issuance of drilling permits until comprehensive legislation and inspection resources for horizontal well drilling are established to effectively protect public water resources, public health and public safety.

Mayor, City of Morgantown
Attest: City Clerk

NY Senate Approves Moratorium On Hydraulic Fracturing

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Source : WENY-TV

ALBANY – The New York State Senate approved a bill to delay hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

Lawmakers voted 48 to 9 for a moratorium on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale until May 15, 2011. During that time, the state would fully review the potential side effects of hydraulic fracturing on health, the environment and the economy.

The Senate cites the impact of the natural gas boom in Pennsylvania as an example. There have been several accidents related to drilling in Pennsylvania, ranging from polluted drinking wells and waterways, explosions and fatalities at drilling sites.

The moratorium bill now heads to the Assembly.

Agency to Reconsider Natural Gas Drilling Stoppage

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Source : Associated Press

WEST TRENTON, N.J. — The Delaware River Basin Commission agreed Wednesday to hold hearings in northeast Pennsylvania on whether to strengthen or weaken its moratorium on natural gas drilling deep below the river basin.marc

At issue is the quality and quantity of water in the Delaware River watershed, a mile beneath which lies the vast and natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation, most of it in New York and Pennsylvania. The gas is extracted by hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” a horizontal drilling process using millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand — with the potential, critics say, to pollute and deplete the region’s water resources.

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Do WV County Commissions Have Authority to Pass Ordinances or Moratoriums?

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The question “Does the county commission have authority to pass an ordinance or moratorium to halt Hydraulic Fracture Drilling until it can be proven safe in Karst regions?” was raised by the Monroe County Commission.
The answer lies in WV State Law.

What does the Law say?

Chapter 7-1-3kk of the West Virginia Code states as follows in reference to county commissions, “In addition to all powers and duties conferred by law upon county commissions, commissions are hereby authorized to enact ordinances, issue orders and take other appropriate and necessary actions for the elimination of hazards to public health and safety and to abate or cause to be abated anything which the commission determines to be a public nuisance”

Monroe County Commission Meeting – July 7th

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The Monroe County Commission will meet downstairs in the Court House in Union, WV at 4pm on Wednesday, July 7th.

A proposal shall be presented for a temporary moratorium on the drilling of marcellus shale until more research can be done.

This is a fabulous first step – we need each and every one of you to come and support the proposal, sign the petition, etc. Join us!

RSVP if you are on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130613570310705

Support the New York State Moratorium

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Precedent is being established at this very moment. New York State has put a halt to natural gas development until more information is gathered. They are actively deliberating NOW! Call or write the New York State legislators and tell them to HALT DRILLING IN SHALE FORMATIONS! Supporting the moratorium there ultimately improves our chances of success in the rest of the nation!

From : http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/alerts/view/6

Alert Type: national
Organization Name: GASLAND: New York State Fracking Moratorium
State: New York
Zip: 12201
Details: Even if you do not live in NY State, please call or email New York State legislators in support of a Moratorium on Shale Gas drilling that could serve as a national model to hault fracking. This week is CRUCIAL. Please Call or Email NOW!; Sen. Antoine Thompson 518-455-3371 athompso@senate.state.ny.us; Speaker Sheldon Silver 518-455-3791 http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=064&sh=contact; Gov. David A. Patterson 518-474-8390 http://www.state.ny.us/governor/contact/GovernorContactForm.php; Sen. John Sampson 518-455-2788 sampson@senate.state.ny.us.; Sen. Malcolm Smith 518-455-2701 masmith@senate.state.ny.us; SAMPLE EMAIL: Dear New York State Legislators- “I call upon you, an elected official of the State of New York, to impose a moratorium on drilling in shale formations, a decision which will protect the land, air and water of our state. As has been shown in cases across the country, from Colorado to Pennsylvania, hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” for natural gas is not safe. I am extremely concerned for our public health and safety and for the integrity of our clean water and air. As the disaster in the gulf continues to unfold and gas drilling accidents are a staple on the news, this is hardly the time to allow industry profit to trump citizen safety. We urge you to pass the strongest possible moratorium bill now so that the health problems, water contamination issues and air pollution problems can be fully assessed by the public and the legislature. Thank you.”