Environmentalists Seek Greater Regulation for Marcellus Shale
Drilling
The State Journal
10 December 2009
By Walt Williams
wwilliams@statejournal.com
CHARLESTON — Showing pictures of huge natural gas well fields and a
patch of forest left dead from well wastewater, an environmental
advocate asked state lawmakers Dec. 7 to support increased regulations
on drilling in the Marcellus shale.
Beth Little of the West Virginia Sierra Club told members of the state
Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources that
state law has little to prevent some of the worst environmental
consequences of gas drilling using a process known as hydrofracking.
“They need millions of gallons of water, and there are no restrictions
on water withdrawal in West Virginia except you are not supposed to
take so much water it kills the stream,” she said.
The commission is considering a proposed law that would create new
reporting and permitting requirements for drilling along the Marcellus
shale. Specifically, it would require the creation of rules regulating
water withdrawal and the disposal of wastewater from drilling
operations.
The commission hasn’t decided whether to take the bill before the full
Legislature, and it won’t take up the issue until January. Industry
representatives say the bill is unnecessary because the West Virginia
Department of Environmental Protection already has the authority to
spell out conditions for approving permits.
They also say the gas industry has been an economic boon to the state.
When production dropped off due to weakening gas prices the state saw
declining tax revenues.
“(Less production) also means few good-paying jobs with benefits and
the harsh reality facing families whose bread-winners were gainfully
employed in the industry in West Virginia,” lobbyist Philip Reale
stated in written testimony delivered to the commission.
The Marcellus shale is a huge natural gas formation lying primarily
under West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. To extract the gas,
drilling operators use a technique called hydrofracking where large
quantities of water are injected into the formation to fracture the
rock and release the gas.
Environmentalists say they have many concerns about hydrofracking. One
concern is the large amount of water it requires and how the water use
could impact nearby streams. Another concern focuses on how the water
pulled from the wells is disposed of after the process is completed.
The water, they say, is full of heavy metals and other pollutants.
Little showed lawmakers a picture of a patch of West Virginia forest
that had been sprayed with a well wastewater. The vegetation in the
foreground was dead, while the vegetation in the distance, which had
not been sprayed, was lush and green. The wastewater even killed mature
trees, which were still rotting away at the site a year later, she said.
Little said Pennsylvania officials have complained about the high level
of total dissolved in the Monongahela River as it leaves the state.
West Virginia has no standards for the discharges of dissolved solids
into streams.
She said a recent fish kill in Dunkard Creek in Monongalia County shows
that the introduction of some pollutants has harmful effects on
streams. State officials have not linked that even to gas drilling. The
kill was caused by a toxic form of algae that was able to bloom thanks
to high salinity levels in the water.
With that in mind, Little said the Sierra Club would like to see the
state adopt standards for water withdrawals, total dissolved solids and
well spacing. It also wants higher permit fees, more money set aside
for DEP inspections, a requirement to use synthetic liners for
wastewater ponds, documentation of where the wastewater is being taken
and treated, and emergency plans for spills.
“(The proposed legislation) has got a couple things we would like to
see, and I guess we are prepared to endorse that,” she said.