Following recent reports detailing the current and potential boon to the West Virginia economy, the West Virginia Legislature is poised to undergo an education on the large natural gas deposit beneath the Marcellus shale.

Joe Altizer, House Judiciary Counsel, gave a brief presentation on natural gas drilling from the Marcellus shale. He said the presentation would be one of numerous educational opportunities for legislators to learn about various aspects of the well-drilling process.

“This is one of the biggest things to happen in West Virginia natural resources really since the discovery of minable coal,” Altizer said.

The Marcellus shale is the largest natural gas deposit in the nation, and most of West Virginia is situated over top of it. Areas where the deposits are not as deep, mostly in the northern part of the state, are more favorable to gas extraction.

“It’s pretty amazing  — mind-boggling,” Altizer said. “I don’t think people realize how significant this natural gas shale development is going to be to the state.”

Lawmakers from the West Virginia House Judiciary and Finance committees also received various informational publications related to the Marcellus shale. The abstract of a bill that would establish a new state program to regulate large scale gas operations was presented for the representatives’ consideration.

The regulations would address the pooling and utilization of procedures for natural gas development to determine how proceeds from natural gas would be calculated. The article mirrors the procedures set out in similar statutes for the collection of coal bed methane.

The regulations would also address the regulation of environmental impact and water use, including permitting and various other precautionary measures. Protecting surface landowner rights and managing collateral damage to local roads are other issues also addressed in the new bill.

Many pieces of the legislation were drawn from existing mining and extracting legislation in the state and borrowed from Pennsylvania, which has largely led the way in Marcellus shale development.

The West Virginia Environmental Council and the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization also distributed information at the meeting. They expressed interest in ensuring that a public notice of permit applications was added to the legislation. Additionally, the group identified water use and wastewater disposal, source water protection, groundwater protection, and other protection rights as concerns that should be considered in legislation.

Legislators were also given a copy of economic impact projections from the National Energy Technology Laboratory, a USGS brief on the Marcellus shale and a fact sheet from Chesapeake Energy.

A recent study by a West Virginia University researcher found the natural gas industry employed 9,869 people and paid out over $551.9 million in wages in West Virginia. Specifically, development of the West Virginia portion of the Marcellus shale generated about $2.35 billion in business volume and accounted for the generation of about 7,600 jobs.

Though many in West Virginia are excited about the economic possibilities of the coming natural gas boom, many are concerned with the environment as well. The drilling process known as “hydraulic fracturing” is a process in which a combination of sand, water and other chemicals is pumped into the earth, creating fractures for natural gas to escape and be collected.

The potential damage was enough to encourage the state of New York to impose a moratorium on fracking until further studies of its impact were complete.

The mixture, about 99.5 percent sand and water, also contains chemicals commonly found in laundry detergents, glass cleaners, pharmaceuticals, household cleaners and hair coloring.

There has also been some skepticism about natural gas’ reputation as a cleaner burning fuel in the entire “life-cycle” of collecting the natural gas. Revised estimates on leaked greenhouse gas emissions have caused concern among some opponents of natural gas drilling. Some estimates have even placed emission levels at or near the emissions of coal-burning.

Delegate John David O’Neal, R-Raleigh, said the Marcellus shale clearly presents a lot of opportunity for the state, but care needs to be taken that the gas is extracted responsibly.

“We’ve got to make sure we don’t make it exceedingly difficult for developers to get the gas out of the ground,” O’Neal said. “At the same time, we’ve got to protect the rights of the surface owners, and we’ve got to protect any concerns people might have with things bleeding into the watershed.”

In addition to environmental protection, particularly the surrounding watershed, O’Neal said property rights of the surface owners are another priority for the future. O’Neal, who attended the informational meeting, said he looked forward to learning more about the process as the Legislature moves toward developing the Marcellus shale.

Potential legal concerns with horizontal drilling and whether companies can extract from property underneath adjacent property pose two more hurdles for the natural gas industry.