MUB: Safety Requests to be Implemented

Nearly 20 address council about drilling

Morgantown Dominion Post
18 May 2011
By Tracy Eddy

Drilling at two Marcellus gas wells in the Morgantown Industrial Park is expected to start today — with certain safeguards the Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) requested in place.

MUB General Manager Tim Ball told the Morgantown City Council on Tuesday it seemed the driller — Northeast Natural Energy — had agreed to voluntarily implement those safeguards, which include additional spill prevention measures, additional containment structures and appropriately disposing all waste products off-site.

Ball said he plans to ask the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to add those safeguards to the permit, so the department will be able to issue citations if the driller isn’t following them.

Though the issue was not on the agenda, much of Tuesday’s City Council meeting was devoted to discussion about Marcellus Shale drilling.

Several residents stood outside City Hall holding empty water jugs with toxic symbols on them or waving signs that read “Don’t Frack with Our Water” or “Save Morgantown Water.”

Nearly 20 people spoke out against the drilling, and several encouraged council to file an injunction to stop it.

City Council agreed to write a letter and fax it to the DEP today, to show its support of MUB’s request. Mayor Bill Byrne also agreed to call the governor today.

Deputy Mayor Don Spencer drafted two possible resolutions, one of which calls for the DEP to issue a stop-work order on the two wells at the Morgantown Industrial Park. Council will discuss the resolutions at its Committee of the Whole meeting later this month.

City Council passed a resolution in April, asking for a special session of the state legislature to create new regulations to manage Marcellus shale permitting and drilling.

Ball said he met with the driller Monday and the driller verbally agreed to put the additional safeguards — which MUB first requested in a May 12 letter to the state Office of Oil and Gas — in place. Ball asked for a written agreement following the meeting, he said.

The utility board received a second draft of the agreement late Tuesday. Ball said he didn’t have time to review it, but said earlier phone conversations about revisions were positive.

“I think we’ve gotten to the point where we can say they’re doing everything we asked them to do,” he said.

Brent Bailey, of Fairfax Drive, encourage City Council to take whatever legal action is necessary to stop the Marcellus drilling at the industrial park.

“We have a choice,” Bailey said. “Do you choose water over gas? Do you choose public interest over private gain?”

Suzanne McDonald, president of the Evansdale Neighborhood Association, along with representatives for the League of Women Voters were among the others who asked for an injunction.

“You guys need to do whatever you can do to stop this,” McDonald said.

Byrne said it wasn’t feasible for Morgantown to get an injunction and stop the drilling before today.

Residents also spoke at the utility board meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The Morgantown Industrial Park is not in Morgantown city limits — it is in an unincorporated part of the county. However, the well pad is about 3,000 feet from the utility board’s water intake.