Public Should Learn More About Drilling
Morgantown Dominion Post
16 August 2010
Leter to the Editor
Dave Monteli, of the state Department of Environmental Protection,
outlined plans to address the pollution of the Cheat River. TMDL (Total
Maximum Daily Load), a federal mandate, identifies polluting sources so
that an action plan can be developed and implemented to reduce or
eliminate watershed contaminants.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 is the basis for both the measurement of
pollutants and their regulation in the United States. Waters not
meeting federal standards are said to be “impaired.”
I attended Monteli’s meeting Aug. 3, in hopes of learning more about
the agency’s plans to address the lifeless waters of Lick Run, and to
ask about the more important issue of hydraulic fracturing, an industry
that is taking root throughout our state.
Lick Run is an aluminum, iron and manganese impaired polluter that has
been disgorging toxic wastes into the Cheat River for more than four
decades now. It’s a major concern for Kingwood residents because Lick
Run empties into the Cheat River just a short distance above the
municipal intake valves. To wit, I am not one who is willing to tempt
fate at the tap.
Hydraulic fracturing is a technology developed by the Haliburton Corp.
during the 1940s to extract gas reserves deep within the Earth’s crust.
According to the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Marcellus shale is a
rock formation more than a mile beneath the earth’s surface throughout
the Mid-Atlantic region. The formation contains a large volume of
natural gas. Drilling operations are exempted from the Clean Water Act.
Extracting gas from the shale involves boring down to the formation,
using “horizontal” drilling technology that “exposes” more of the
shale. Then millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are
injected into the well under pressure in order to fracture the shale
and stimulate gas to flow.
This process is largely unregulated in West Virginia and has the
potential for severe impacts to the environment, particularly surface
and groundwater resources.
HBO has been running the documentary “Gasland” on Monday nights at 9
p.m., and it’s an eye-opener for those who may be interested in
learning more about our future risks.
Richard Swecker
Kingwood