West Virginia 159 - Marcellus Drilling News

Morgantown, WV Bans Marcellus Drilling Outside City Limits – Driller May Sue to Recoup Investment

June 22, 2011June 22, 2011

After a few months of heated debate, the Morgantown (WV) City Council has voted to prohibit Marcellus Shale drilling not only within their borders, but also up to a mile outside of their borders. How can they do that? There is a provision in West Virginia state code that allows cities to extend their authority up to a mile beyond their borders to carry out city functions. It is that state loophole that Morgantown has used to shut down two wells slated to be drilled.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | West Virginia

Marshall County, WV Feeling the Positive Effects of Marcellus Gas Drilling

June 13, 2011June 13, 2011

Marshall County, West Virginia is feeling the positive effects of Marcellus Shale drilling as money paid to landowners and workers is spent and creates economic ripples through the local economy.

WV County Treats Driller as Partner Instead of Enemy with Positive Result

June 6, 2011June 6, 2011

Instead of treating Marcellus Shale drilling companies as enemies or opponents, officials in Monroe County (West Virginia) instead decided to treat them as partners. Monroe is a rural county in southeastern WV with an underground water system mapped by cavers. Monroe sits atop a karst geological formation, which contains sinkholes, underground caves and streams that sink underground. Water under some parts of the county can travel miles in a single day, so Monroe officials are concerned about any potential spillages and about fracking in some areas.

Marcellus Shale drilling in the state has no special regulations as it does in other Marcellus states, and the most recent session of the legislature adjourned without passing proposed new regulations. So officials in Monroe County proactively sought out Gordy Oil, the only drilling company that has expressed an active interest in drilling in the county, to see if the two might work out an agreement, and it resulted in a “memorandum of understanding” between the two.

Road Damage from Gas Drilling in WV Overwhelms Highway Department

May 31, 2011May 31, 2011

Road damage from truck traffic to Marcellus Shale drilling sites has overwhelmed the West Virginia Department of Highways (DOH) ability to respond, according to one DOH official.

Dominion Transmission Sued in WV Over 56 Year-Old Lease – Landowners Want Marcellus Drilling to Begin

May 27, 2011May 27, 2011

Dominion Transmission, the pipeline transport subsidiary of energy giant Dominion, is being sued over a lease deal in Preston County, West Virginia signed in 1955. Dominion drilled a single well in 1959 which let it retain rights to develop more wells in the future in perpetuity. According to the lawsuit, Dominion assigned the lease rights to its subsidiary Dominion Transmission with plans to someday use the geological formations of the land as a natural gas storage field. Such activity would yield no royalties for the landowners who want to nullify the lease and find someone who will actually drill gas wells on the property, specifically tapping the Marcellus Shale.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Natural Gas Industry Already Employs 35K People with Average Salaries of $60K

May 26, 2011May 26, 2011

The Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia has just kicked off a new advertising campaign to educate the public to the benefits of natural gas drilling in the state.

Union Protests Dominion Transmission in WV Over Lack of Local Workers in Building Pipelines

May 25, 2011May 25, 2011

A local union in West Virginia is set to protest natural gas transmission facilities owned by Dominion over the issue of jobs and out-of-state workers being brought in to build new pipelines in the Wetzel County.

Mercuria Energy Interested in Sewage Wastewater from Weirton, WV for Use in Fracking

May 24, 2011

Swiss-based energy company Mercuria is interested in the effluent (sewage wastewater) that comes from the treatment plant in Weirton, West Virginia to use as a source of water for hydraulic fracturing operations.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Soil | Statewide WV | West Virginia

West Virginia Officials Say Radioactivity from Gas Drilling a Non-Issue

May 20, 2011May 20, 2011

One of the issues raised in Marcellus Shale drilling is a concern that pumping water into, and then extracting it out of the ground will bring with it radioactivity from naturally occurring sources deep underground. In particular, the “cuttings” or leftover rock and dirt that come out of the bore hole might contain higher than normal levels of radioactivity. Officials in West Virginia say there’s no reason for concern in their state:

WV City Votes to Ban Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling, Court Challenge Coming from Chesapeake Energy

May 12, 2011May 12, 2011

City council members from Wellsburg, West Virginia, located in the panhandle area of the state (in Brooke County), on Tuesday voted to ban natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing both inside the city limits and outside city limits within a mile.

Energy Companies | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | West Virginia

Two New Marcellus Shale Gas Wells to be Drilled Close to Morgantown, WV

May 6, 2011May 6, 2011

Northeast Natural Energy is set to drill two new Marcellus Shale gas wells just across the river from Morgantown, WV:

Marcellus Drillers Attempting to Woo Chemical Companies to Build Plants in the Marcellus

May 5, 2011May 23, 2011

Marcellus Shale drillers and regional economic development agencies are trying to interest chemical companies in locating to southwest PA and northern WV by building “cracking plants” that would convert some of the compounds from Marcellus drilling into the raw material used to manufacture plastics and other chemical products. Just one such plant would mean a $1 billion investment, creating thousands of short-term jobs to build the plant, and hundreds of permanent jobs to staff it once built.

New Marcellus Shale Pipeline Coming to Southwestern PA, Northern WV

April 4, 2011April 4, 2011

Momentum, a company that focuses on “midstream” oil and gas assets, has signed on Chesapeake Energy and Statoil as customers for a new Marcellus Shale natural gas pipeline they are constructing in northern WV and southwestern PA.

From the press release:

Statewide WV | West Virginia

Polish Delegation Visits WVU to Learn About Drilling for Natural Gas

March 30, 2011March 30, 2011

Representatives from Poland visited the National Research Center for Coal and Energy at West Virginia University on Tuesday to learn more about drilling for shale gas. Poland recently discovered a shale layer in their country similar to the Marcellus Shale layer in the Eastern U.S., and they want to get help with tapping it.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

West Virginia’s Policy on Disposing Marcellus Drilling Wastewater: Injection Wells

March 29, 2011March 29, 2011

West Virginia’s policy on the wastewater produced from hydraulic fracturing is to dispose of it by pumping it into injection wells.

Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Roads | West Virginia

Road Damage from Marcellus Drilling Activity in Marshall County, WV

March 28, 2011March 28, 2011

In parts of Marshall County, WV, the roads are in bad condition due to the heavy truck traffic from Marcellus drilling activity in the area.