A Strong Foot-Hold in Karst
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Martin Saffer
Jan 10, 2012
8:54 am
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A Strong Foot-Hold in Karst
Following find the applicable regulations in new State Law about drilling and karst. Remember that as far as the eastern half of the county is concerned, the shale is at the surface and/or badly folded and probably most gas boiled away millions upon millions of years ago and the western half is mostly karst covered. These regulations seem to mandate rules by the DEP for karst drilling to be enacted prior to any activity in karst. So there is a lot of time to formulate protections. (a) Because drilling horizontal wells in naturally occurring karst terrain may require precautions not necessary in other parts of the state, the secretary may require additional safeguards to protect this geological formation. When drilling horizontal wells in naturally occurring karst terrain, such additional safeguards may include changing proposed well locations to avoid damage to water resources, special casing programs, and additional or special review of drilling procedures. (b) In order to carry out the purposes of this section, the secretary, in consultation with the state geologist, shall propose emergency and legislative rules in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to establish designated geographic regions of the state where the provisions of this section are applicable and to establish standards for drilling horizontal wells in naturally occurring karst terrain. For horizontal wells drilled into naturally occurring karst terrain in such designated geographic regions, the rules shall, at a minimum: (1) Require operators to perform certain predrilling testing to identify the location of caves and other voids, faults and relevant features in the strata and the location of surface features prevalent in naturally occurring karst terrain such as sink holes; and (2) Provide any other requirements deemed necessary by the secretary to protect the unique characteristics of naturally occurring karst terrain, which requirements may include baseline water testing within an established distance from a drilling site. (c) Nothing in this section allows the department to prevent drilling in naturally occurring karst terrain. |
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egad
Jan 10, 2012
2:05 pm
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Re: A Strong Foot-Hold in Karst
Oh, dear. One doesn't have to be much of a lawyer to see holes in this big enough to drive a Burns truck through. I don't have the patience to go through it line by line--and I am sure readers don't want to slog through it either, but look at the use of the word "may' repeatedly. That leaves the option to the driller. No standards are proposed; no predrilling tests specified and no precautions named to protect (if they can be protected) the unique characteristics of karst terrain. No spedification of 'established distance' from a drilling site. And the absolute blow-your-mind safety: Section (c) "Nothing in this section allows the department to prevent drilling in naturally occurring (is there unnaturally occurring?) kartst terrain. So they have said, in short-hand, "Oh, be careful, ok?" Big Deal. I feel so much better now. |
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David Litsey
Jan 10, 2012
2:36 pm
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Re: A Strong Foot-Hold in Karst
Here is something that should make you feel better, at least temporarily. In yesterday's Intermountain on page 1 there is an article written by Joselyn King of the Intelligencer. On the second page (A8) it quotes a gas industry executive warning West Virginia Legislators, " He said West Virginia is competing with neighboring states in the gas drilling rush including Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland. He said these other states have lower severance taxes or no severance tax at all." WV currently has a 5% tax. If WV sticks firm, the drilling is going to occur somewhere else first. It is a good article. Maybe Martin can get it put on. |