Group Seeks Support for Marcellus Shale Drilling
Charleston Gazette
25 May 2011
By The Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia's natural gas industry launched a
wide-ranging appeal for public support Wednesday in response to growing
interest in the state's portion of the rich Marcellus Shale field.
The Just Beneath the Surface alliance aims to tout the industry's
economic contributions while addressing concerns over the methods used
to tap the Marcellus. The campaign features a website, promotional ads
and other means to spread its message.
"Historically, we've kept a low profile but with the advent of
Marcellus Shale, we felt compelled to make more of a name and show more
pride in what we do in West Virginia,'' said Michael McCown, president
of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia.
Gas drilling has long roots in West Virginia, though it's been
overshadowed by the state's coal industry. But both Marcellus and the
ongoing debate over a national energy policy have increased this other
fossil fuel's profile.
The massive Marcellus Shale formation sprawls deep beneath much of West
Virginia as well Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. It is considered the
biggest natural gas discovery in at least a generation, with enough
recoverable reserves to supply the entire East Coast for 50 years.
The economic benefits include 35,000 industry-related jobs, with
average annual salaries of more than $60,000 for those directly
employed, McCown said. He estimated that the industry pumps $757
million annually into the state economy through wages plus another $771
million in capital investments last year. All but two of West
Virginia's 55 counties host natural gas operations, which provide $177
million in severance and property taxes annually, McCown said.
McCown helped kick off the campaign with a sunny afternoon rally at the
University of Charleston's Triana Field, which organizers noted is a
reclaimed well site. The field is next door to offices for a division
of industry leader NiSource Inc. The crowd of supporters featured
several legislators from both parties, including Senate President Pro
Tempore Brooks McCabe.
McCabe cited the ongoing push by acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to
attract facilities that can convert ethane into ethylene. The compound
ethane is removed from natural gas when it's refined, while ethylene is
a widely used in chemical products. McCown's group is part of this
development effort.
The Marcellus field yields ample supplies of ethane, McCown noted.
Encouraging its development can help West Virginia land "cracker''
plants to convert the castoff compound, which in turn can spur spinoff
employers, McCabe said.
"You're almost opening up the floodgates for revitalizing the chemical
industry,'' the Kanawha County Democrat said. "The payoff is not so
much those facilities as what develops downstream.''
The campaign also seeks to build public confidence in hydraulic
fracturing or "fracking,'' the process that mixes high volumes of water
with chemicals to crack the shale and release the gas. The industry
effort plans to invoke how the process has evolved and improved since
the late 1940s, and that all but 0.49 percent of fracking fluid is
water and sand.
But that small amount of chemicals doesn't mean that it's safe, said
Julie Archer, project manager with the West Virginia Surface Owner
Rights Organization. The group has called for new rules governing
Marcellus drilling, amid environmental concerns over fracking and
allegations that drillers deal unfairly with those who own the land at
and around well sites.
Archer cited such incidents as one in neighboring Pennsylvania, where
methane gas from industry operations contaminated private water wells
in the northern town of Dimock. Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.
agreed to pay $4.1 million to residents in December.
Archer's group is among those urging Tomblin to convene a special
legislative session devoted to Marcellus, after lawmakers failed to
agree on a measure during this year's regular session.
"We need to get more regulations in place to make sure that things like
that don't happen,'' Archer said. "The scale of these operations,
that's a big part of the problem.''
McCown's group opposes a special session, and said existing rules can
suffice until the 2012 regular session. The industry's objections
helped doom this year's proposals, and McCown cited current gas prices
to argue against adding regulations to conventional gas drilling to any
Marcellus legislation.
"We have talked about being supportive of reasonable additional
regulation regarding Marcellus Shale, and permit [fee] increases if
they're warranted,'' McCown said. "We're open to additional inspectors.
Our facilities are open, and can be inspected with the number of
inspectors that we've got now at any time.''