The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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March 3, 2011

Marcellus shale legislation gains approval of Senate

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — A warning over inadequate inspections that could jeopardize water quality and hurt landowners fell by the wayside Wednesday in the Senate’s approval of a landmark Marcellus shale bill.

Before the unanimous approval, Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, sought to change the process in which inspectors are hired, so that it falls within the Department of Environmental Protection.

Existing practice leaves this within the hands of the Oil and Gas Inspectors Examining Board.

Barnes proposed the removal of the board’s power and letting DEP work with the Division of Personnel to hire inspectors.

Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, opposed the Barnes amendment, noting the oil and gas board has five members — a surface and environmental member, a small or independent driller, a large driller, the chief of oil and gas, and the director of the Division of Water.

“I think currently the (DEP) secretary has enough insight over the hiring and firing of inspectors,” Green said.

The House dispatched its version of the bill to its regular calendar, known as the graveyard where bills go to expire in the waning days of a session.

Marcellus shale has absorbed much of the limelight in this legislative session, given its promise of an economic boom once wells are drilled horizontally in a few north-central counties and the Northern Panhandle.

But Barnes suggested the number of inspectors is inadequate to deal with the environmental issues associated with the industry.

“One thing we have consistently heard from the people that are being affected, the surface owners, people affected by water, people being affected by the issuance of permits, is the fact that there are not enough inspectors to do the job,” Barnes said.

Barnes pointed to DEP testimony backing this up.

A company could move with a bulldozer, drill for gas and pull out without an inspector ever looking the job site over, the senator said, citing a conversation with the DEP secretary.

Two years ago, he said, a “tremendous and severe problem” developed with water quality in Pendleton County.

But when the issue was raised with the Division of Oil and Gas, he said, “We were snubbed, almost laughed off.”

“People are in jeopardy, the surface owner is in jeopardy, our water is in jeopardy,” Barnes said.

Earlier, DEP Secretary Randy Huffman told a Senate committee the revised Marcellus shale legislation isn’t perfect but does give the state a launching pad to start dealing with the industry.

“Overall, from a regulatory framework, I think it’s a good place to start,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I think it’s adequate for what we need to get a handle on regulating the industry.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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