Another View of Gas Drilling

BY S. THOMAS BOND

Aside from the environmental damage from horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which the industry invariably, reflexively and categorically denies, there is going to be damage to other well-established interests.
The first of these is going to be farming and property values. With a well pad for every square mile, which is a reasonable projection based on what is happening in several counties of the state, my home county of Lewis can expect 300 drill pads when the Marcellus is fully exploited. The county lies on the edge of the “high pressure” area of northern West Virginia, the best of the Marcellus. At five acres a pad, with access roads, pipeline connections, compressor stations and other necessary accoutrements, it will be hard to find a view that will not be altered or a property that will not be affected.
Agriculture in West Virginia is not a high dollar industry, but the market value of products sold is well in excess of $500 million annually for the state, according to the last agricultural census. It also has a high economic multiplier effect. One dollar earned in agriculture brings $4 personal income in the state, according to a publication by economists at WVU.
Property owners will be paying tax on the present value for their farms and homes for a little longer, but the assessments will fall as the appraised values go down — so will property taxes — the principal support for our public school system. Property values are affected by aesthetics and comfort, too. In some places in other states, banks already refuse to loan money for prospective owners to buy land that is under lease for drilling, for fear of steep decline in property value.
Hunting is a second industry that will be affected by Marcellus drilling. Our own people in West Virginia love to hunt and many come from out of state. According to the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation, fishing in West Virginia has an impact of $485 million. Hunting, according to the same source accounts for $387 million and wildlife watching for $329 million. That totals to $1.2 billion and provides 16,363 jobs, year after year.
A third is the timber industry. West Virginia is now growing about nine times as much timber volume as is being cut. But urbanization of the world’s population is growing, and woodland, worldwide, is declining year by year. Our high rainfall makes West Virginia a great place for timber to grow, and our hardwoods are high quality, and exported worldwide.
I talked about this to a registered forester who has a modest farm in Harrison County. Marcellus drilling has taken 18 acres of his holding, and he reminded me that it will be 70 years after the wells on the pad on his place are plugged until there is a merchantable stand on those acres. That is 110-140 years. A properly managed stand has a crop every 35 years, with hunting and various kinds of recreation between timber sales. For many landowners that acreage would be 10-20 percent of their forest land. The direct impact of forestry on the state is somewhat over $2 billion, with an economic multiplier of two, so the total effect of forestry in our state is presently in excess of $4 billion and keeps nearly 30,000 people occupied. These figures are from the state Division of Forestry.
The recreation industry is also very substantial in West Virginia. We have skiing, Civil War re-enactments, whitewater rafting, biking, golf, scenic beauty and other activities in a quiet atmosphere. Our system of state parks is no less than great.
An economic impact study — prepared for the Division of Tourism by Dean Runyan Associates — gives the spending of travelers in West Virginia as $4.38 billion, one third of which was lodging. Travel spending supported 44,000 jobs and paid $591 million in taxes to state and local governments.
A fifth industry to be affected is one that is not widely recognized. It is the retirement industry. Quite a few people come to West Virginia to retire. They like the scenery, the quiet, the low crime rate and the low cost of living. Some of the retirees lived here in their youth and bring a spouse, and some “discover it,” many coming from urban places. They help support land prices in rural areas, especially.
We are going to find that our traditional, steady, long continuing industries are taking a serious and permanent hit in the 40-year bubble called shale drilling. Gas is a non-renewable resource. Every one of the industries above will continue indefinitely and grow if it can.

S. THOMAS BOND is a retired teacher with a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry. He is a member of the Guardians of the West Fork and Monongahela Area Watershed Compact. He lives near Jane Lew. This commentary should be considered another point of view and not necessarily the opinion or editorial policy of The Dominion Post.

Dolan Irvine told me this morning, that the assessed values of minerals would increase in ratio to the royalties paid and received by the landowner during extraction. So land values needed to support a working tax base might remain the same or even increase if gas were drilled.

Only as long as royalties are paid. Yes, I believe a steep decline.