Task Force Far Too Up to Its Task
Lopsided appointments of gas industry reps cause for concern about
drilling
Morgantown Dominion Post
editorial
27 September 2010
Talk about putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. And in this case,
it’s a hungry fox to boot. At least that’s the perception we got from
last week’s appointment of six natural gas company representatives to a
new nine-member task force to help the state better regulate the
industry. We realize that this panel, appointed by the state’s director
of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), will not actually
be writing the regulations and legislation on how to regulate this
industry. Or at least that’s what we are being led to believe. The
DEP’s staff will be charged with that task, while this panel will
attempt to reach a consensus on the issues. That might not be too hard
to do, considering the only real differences of opinion will come from
the lone representative of the West Virginia Environmental Council and
an advocate for landowner’s rights. The ninth member of the panel is a
coal industry lawyer, who represents the West Virginia Coal Association.
No one should overestimate the scope and authority of this task force,
however, we can assure the DEP and this group that we’ll be watching.
Clearly, the state needs to determine how to better regulate our
booming natural gas industry. We also understand the logic of
considering a dual regulatory system — one for conventional gas
drilling and another for the burgeoning Marcellus shale drilling.
And no one is questioning why there should be industry representatives
on this task force. However, the number of appointments of executives
and lawyers for this industry is weighed far too heavily in the
industry’s favor.
With all due respect to these industry appointees, some who have served
in public regulatory roles, too, these appointments raise
Yes, they bring diverse outlooks, technical knowledge and pragmatic
advice to the table, but they also bring their industry’s primary goal
to the head of the well: Their profit margin.
No one here is opposed to that, but regulation of this industry must
balance a return on investment with reasonable regulation and oversight.
Otherwise, these drilling operations may pose dangerous risks to our
state’s aquifer, our waterways, our roads, our landscape and
landowners’ rights.
This panel’s lopsided make-up leads us to believe there’s reason to
fear all of that.
We urge the DEP to review the composition of this panel and even
appoint someone who isn’t a stakeholder to this task force before the
chickens come home to roost.