An important update on the new rules coming to West Virginia drillers impacting how they use above ground chemical storage tanks. As MDN previously reported, the WV legislature passed SB373 in the closing hours of the 2014 legislative session (see Fate of 3 WV Laws that Impact Marcellus/Utica Drilling). That bill was in response to a chemical leak that affected the drinking water for 300,000 WV residents. Even though the leak was not related to oil and gas drilling (it was related to coal mining), the new rules governing above ground storage tanks for chemicals affect a number of industries, including the Marcellus Shale drilling industry.
Although the final language of the bill has yet to be set in stone and signed into law, enough of it is now known that it can be analyzed. The bright legal beagles at the energy law firm of Lewis Glasser Casey & Rollins, PLLC have done just that. Here is how the newly minted SB373, once signed into law, will impact WV’s oil and gas industry:
