The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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November 8, 2011

Solid waste industry looks at Marcellus

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

Environmental concerns abound in the debate over the fledgling and promising Marcellus shale issue, one that remains undecided for West Virginia lawmakers as they head into November interims next week.

In a Monday conference at The Resort at Glade Springs, an official sought to explain some concerns raised for solid waste authorities, but doubted afterward that health risks associated with the drilling are as pronounced as some believe.

One man in the audience at the Educational Conference on Litter Control and Solid Waste Management wondered how drilling would impact his own life span.

“I don’t know that’s been defined yet,” Mark Vignovic of the Hancock County Solid Waste Authority responded.

“It’s happening quicker than it’s being regulated.”

What’s more, he said, technology within the industry is a moving target, and that makes it more difficult to define the parameters of how drilling could impact public health.

Horizontal wells once expanded to about 5,000 feet, but now are shooting out to distances of 10,000, even 12,000 feet, “and I think they’ll keep going further and generate more wastes.”

“I think, depending on what side of the fence you’re on, you can show it adds to your life, and if you’re on the other side, you can show it’s detracting from your life,” Vignovic told the attendees.

Afterward, the solid waste leader said the health aspects simply haven’t been fully explored to produce any reliable findings.

“There are probably some instances where there are concerns,” he said.

“In most instances, I don’t think there is a concern. In fracking water and stuff, it depends on what you want to call fracking. If it’s just a single fracking, there’s very little chance for concern. But when it fits everything that happens up above and repeated fracking in there, then I think there’s a good chance for concern.”

A source of concern is the presence of naturally occurring radioactive materials, or NORM, he told his audience.

“The presence of this NORM doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a health risk or public health hazard,” Vignovic said.

“Because NORM is in the environment that we’re all exposed to every day. In fact, Marcellus shale is named after a town in New York, called Marcellus. The shale there is close to the surface of the ground. Actually, homes and neighborhoods have been on top of that for 50 to 60 years.”

For now, he noted, NORM isn’t very well regulated in West Virginia.

“It’s kind of falling through the cracks,” he said.

“Law says you can’t dispose of radioactive materials in West Virginia. That’s kind of where you’re stuck right now. We know that some of these wastes will have NORM.”

Perhaps, it might not evolve into a matter of health concern, he said.

“But it’s still present there and it has to be addressed so the solid waste authorities aren’t pulled into the controversy,” Vignovic said.

Whether the solid waste authorities like it or not, however, he said they ultimately will be drawn into the issue of dealing with contaminants associated with Marcellus drilling.

NORM likely will be an issue that must be dealt with, even though such materials already are in the environment, he said, adding, “A truckload of bananas has more emanating from it.”

One positive aspect is that it appears to be “a good gap to go from the non-renewable sources we have, like oil and coal,” he said.

“Of those three sources, I think gas has the potential to be the cleanest,” he said.

Truman Wolfe, assistant director of extension facilities for the West Virginia University Extension Service, likened the multi-faceted aspects of the Marcellus industry to a spider’s web.

“There will be significant socio-economic impacts on the state in the future,” Wolfe said.

“It is already impacting us. The fact that we’re discussing this shows you the importance to our stakeholders.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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