Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin announced new regulations last Tuesday for the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation.

Parts of the executive order issued by Tomblin echo the legislation drafted by the Department of Environmental Protection that failed to pass during this year's legislative session.

"[T]he magnitude of activities surrounding the development of the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia has stretched the resources of the WVDEP and has created considerable concern in areas of our State regarding the proper regulation of this burgeoning industry," Tomblin stated in the order.

In his announcement, the acting governor said he is attempting to provide some certainty to industry representatives about the state's regulatory climate, as well as citizens who have voiced concern and continue to pressure lawmakers to ensure water resources and public health will be protected in the anticipated rush to tap into the Marcellus shale.

Of particular concern to environmental advocates and many property owners is the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, used to release natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation that stretches from New York to West Virginia. The process can require millions of gallons of water for a single well and involves a mixture of industrial chemicals in the injection process. In many cases, large ponds are constructed at well sites to contain the mixture of used water and chemicals on the land's surface. In other instances, the fluids are hauled to municipal water treatment plants.

Last Tuesday's executive order attempts to deal with the disposal of such drilling byproducts, as well as protecting "the quantity and quality of water" on and near well sites.

Industry representatives contend the practice poses no threat to groundwater resources, as the Marcellus shale lies thousands of feet below drinking water aquifers. However, a recent study by Duke University on drinking water wells located near gas wells has raised concerns about the potential for contamination to migrate through cracks in the bedrock or well casings. In that study, explosive levels of methane-a component of natural gas-were found in some drinking water wells. Gas industry representatives have questioned the methodology of the Duke University study.

Tomblin's executive order requires drilling operations in West Virginia to report all the chemicals they inject into the ground to release gas from the layer of shale. An outcrop of Marcellus shale occurs in the eastern part of Pocahontas County, running northeast to southwest. The shale layer quickly dives underneath the surface to the west and north. At Marlinton the Marcellus shale is more than a mile below the surface. According to data from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, the layer of Marcellus shale under Pocahontas County is 60 to 80 feet thick.

The chemicals to be used must be disclosed when companies apply for permits. The order also requires drilling operators to then report to the DEP the chemicals that were actually injected into the ground.

While it's the first time West Virginia has required such disclosure, some of the major companies have begun voluntarily disclosing the chemicals they use on the website fracfocus.org. Chesapeake Energy, EQT Production, PDC Energy and XTO have posted details on the website about the chemicals they are using to develop wells in West Virginia.

The order outlines several requirements for natural gas companies, including:
Marcellus Shale drilling applicants seeking to drill within the boundaries of a municipality must file a public notice of intent to drill.
Surface land use that will disturb three or more acres must be certified by and constructed in accordance with plans certified by a registered professional engineer.
Companies withdrawing more than 210,000 gallons of water a month must file a water management plan with the DEP and adhere to certain specified standards.
Before fracking begins, such companies must also provide a list of additives that will be used in the fracking fluid, and after fracking is complete, the additives actually used.
When using water from a public stream, a company must identify the designated and existing uses of that stream.
When using water from a public stream, a company must demonstrate that sufficient in-stream flow will be available immediately downstream of the point of withdrawal

The executive order doesn't mean that state legislature is off the hook to develop more detailed regulations. Emergency rules only carry the force of law for 15 months. A 10-member House and Senate committee is meeting to develop a more comprehensive plan.

The committee is chaired by Tim Manchin, D-Marion. Other House members on the committee are Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia; Tom Campbell, D-Greenbrier; Woody Ireland, R-Ritchie; and Bill Anderson, R-Wood. Senate members are chairman Douglas Facemire, D-Braxton; Karen Facemyer, R-Jackson; Orphy Klempa, D-Ohio; Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha; and Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson.

For local landowners who are considering or are already leasing drilling rights-or even landowners who don't own the mineral rights beneath their property-The Pocahontas County Free Libraries are in the process of expanding their collections of resources concerning surface owners' rights. The Hillsboro Public Library currently has two copies of the West Virginia Surface Owners' Guide to Oil and Gas available for check-out. It is also available through wvsoro.org. The guide outlines the rights landowners have in West Virginia at the various stages of lease negotiations and the development of wells on their property.

Library Director Allen Johnson said the issue has caught the attention of libraries around West Virginia and will be the focus of a statewide library conference later this year, with an emphasis on providing accurate, accessible, up-to-date materials to land owners seeking more information in the midst of the gas rush.