The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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July 6, 2011

Marcellus shale industry: Legislative panel to hear revenue experts, environmentalists

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — Time is a precious commodity for a special legislative panel working on an acceptable bill to govern the promising Marcellus shale industry, and for that reason, look for lawmakers to hit the ground running in next week’s interims.

An equal number of five delegates and senators were appointed last month to the committee in hopes of reaching accord on regulating the industry in time for a special legislative session this summer.

“We don’t have a lot of time left,” Sen. Doug Facemire, D-Braxton, a co-chairman, acknowledged Tuesday.

“We owe this to our citizens to get a bill out here that addresses some of the needs and the complaints that they have, but yet also to be able to let the industry go to work. That’s the balancing act of all that.”

On the opening agenda for the committee is a wide array of topics related to Marcellus shale, a natural gas deposit that stretches from north-central West Virginia into New York.

There’s a chance the select committee will meet again Wednesday to hear what Morgantown officials have to say about the logic behind a fresh ordinance that bans a fracking plant within 1 mile of the city, said the other co-chairman, Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion.

Manchin wants to combine a second committee meeting with the Joint Committee on Water Resources to explore the angle of environmental protection with regard to water supplies.

Facemire said the panel wants to hear from Tax Department officials and others in Economic Development to discuss the potential revenues for the state, and concerns abiding with the environmental community over possible harm to water sources.

A power-point discussion on the workings of a gas well, how surface pipes function and the injection of chemicals is another topic Facemire wants to explore in the initial meeting, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Capitol.

Marcellus shale legislation faltered in the dying minutes of the regular session in mid-March but acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has pledged to place it on his agenda for an anticipated special session this summer, provided lawmakers can come to terms on its contents in advance.

“The balancing act is to be able to try to address the surface owners issues, and to try to handle as much as the environmental ones as we can and yet still let these boys work,” Facemire said.

“We need the income. We need the jobs. We need the tax revenues and all that. So we do have a responsibility to our citizens to do it in as responsible a manner as we can. That’s what we’re going to try to come up with, if we can.”

Facemire said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle understand the importance of developing this new source of energy.

“There seems to be a willingness to work together,” the senator said.

“Of course, the wheels might fall off all that when we get started. At least now, I think we have a group of people who want to come up with a bill that will address the needs of our state.”

Manchin described himself as “very optimistic” that an agreed-to bill will be in hand for action in a special session, although there may be some features the House of Delegates wants in that the Senate cannot accept.

“I’m convinced that both sides want to do something that’s protective of the environment,” the delegate said, “and that is to address some concerns of the surface owners and not stifle the industry.”

Manchin said he has been pursuing the Marcellus shale industry for several years now, even before it became a hot topic at the Legislature.

“I think that public pressure is mounting to the extent that everybody’s going to want to see something happen,” he said.

“I don’t think you’ll see the stalling, obfuscation tactics that perhaps we’ve seen sometimes in the past.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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