Source : www.theintelligencer.net

DEP Chief Wants To Double Oil & Gas Staff
State agency has its own proposal in the Legislature

February 9, 2011 – By CASEY JUNKINS | Staff Writer

WHEELING – Randy Huffman knows West Virginia is not properly equipped to regulate the expanding Marcellus Shale natural gas rush, so he wants to double the size of the state’s Office of Oil and Gas.

Acting state Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, and Sen. Orphy Klempa, D-Ohio, are among the sponsors of a new piece of legislation crafted by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection designed to regulate horizontal natural gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing and other drilling aspects.

The bill differs slightly from the “Hydraulic Fracturing and Horizontal Drilling Gas Act,” introduced to both the House and Senate last week. The new legislation is working its way through both chambers as Senate Bill 424 and House Bill 3042.

“We are going to compare the two bills, and draw out the best parts of each,” said Kessler, who is also a sponsor of the older bill. “Both are going to be debated and discussed at length. We will look to both bills to make sure we can do what we need to do to protect our air and water.”

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