Gas-Drilling Rush Clogs Some W.Va. Country Roads
Washington PA Observer Reporter
11 December 2010
Associated Press
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Beth Bertram remembers when the rumbling yellow
buses that carry Marshall County's children to and from school ruled
the narrow country roads in northern West Virginia.
That was before natural gas companies began flocking to the region to
sink wells in the previously untapped Marcellus Shale field - and using
those same rural routes to reach their drilling pads.
"We used to be the biggest thing on the road, and if we connected
something, we'd come out ahead," said Bertram, the district's
transportation supervisor. "Now, they're just as big as we are."
Throughout Marshall and Wetzel counties, the rush on the massive,
mile-deep gas reserve is forcing drivers to find ways to share roads
that can barely accommodate two small cars. Just this week, Chesapeake
Appalachia - the biggest drilling presence in the region - met with
school officials in Ohio County to first identify bus routes, then
determine how to avoid them at the right times.
"It's just something we're going to have in our area," Bertram said.
"In the southern coalfields, it's coal trucks. Here, we're dealing with
the gas industry."
Marcellus Shale sprawls under Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New
York, and drilling is in high gear in West Virginia's northern counties.
The gas is locked in tightly compacted rock, and freeing it requires
unconventional horizontal drilling technologies and vast amounts of
water. That means a never-ending convoy of rigs and trucks carrying
equipment, water, sand and more over roads never intended to withstand
the weight or wear and tear.
As the industry began to take hold, drivers of trucks and school buses
began complaining of near-misses and parents and transportation
coordinators worried about safety.
Chesapeake responded by hiring local people to drive escort cars for
buses on two heavily traveled routes.
"When the school buses are on the road, Chesapeake's trucks park. They
stop. They wait. They hold up. They don't leave the staging area," said
Bill Hughes, who belongs to the watchdog organization Wetzel County
Action Group. "Chesapeake, to its credit, is leading the way in one
aspect of best management practices."
The problem, Hughes said, is the proliferation of smaller companies,
whose presence continues to grow.
Chesapeake, he said, offers them a model to follow.
"We wanted to make sure there would never be an accident," Chesapeake
spokeswoman Stacey Brodak said.
"We're talking about two roads, specifically, that were incredibly
narrow and long, and they didn't offer any place to pull over or turn
around," she said. "School buses are not allowed to back up, so if they
were to meet another vehicle, it would be very difficult for both of
them."
In addition to hiring escort drivers, Chesapeake also equipped the
school buses with CB radios.
It's not a solution for every road, Brodak said, because it costs the
company time and money. But school bus safety is a top priority for
everyone, she said.
Chesapeake is also maintaining those two roads, including snow removal,
under an agreement with the Division of Highways.
Brian Jones, who oversees transportation for Wetzel County schools,
said Chesapeake understands it's in everyone's best interest that buses
and trucks avoid each other.
"The road surface is less than desirable," he said, "but I remember
prior to the drilling companies coming in, those roads were less than
desirable."
The state Division of Highways has long been concerned about damage the
industry is doing to West Virginia roads.
"We have overweight trucks in industries that have heretofore flown
under the radar and are damaging the roads without accountability,"
state Division of Highways spokesman Brent Walker said. "We've dealt
with that with the coal industry ... and now we're turning our
attention to the oil and gas industry."
In August, Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox issued a policy
requiring companies to post road-repair bonds ranging from $50,000 to
$100,000 per mile. Legislators may also tackle that issue when they
begin debating two bills in January that would tighten regulatory
control of the industry.
But Walker said the DOH is leaving safety issues involving school buses
to the counties and local road crews who know the issues best. He's
hopeful other drillers will follow Chesapeake's lead.
Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural
Gas Association, said the industry is aware of concerns and working to
address them.
"It's not going to be a one-size-fits-all solution," he said. "There's
just no way."
Drillers understand what needs to be done to keep roads safe, and
DeMarco said they are working with the DOH to prepare road-use plans
that get ahead of potential problems.
"Some of the issues we're looking into include doing work on the roads
prior to starting to use them ... widening turns or sloping roads
differently," he said. "Then, as we're working on them, it's going to
be easier to maintain."