Morgantown, W.Va. has more in common with Athens than its college-town charm.
Both cities’ city councils are trying to keep their water supplies clean and hydraulic fracturing away from the city.
After a failed lawsuit against Pennsylvania-based oil and gas company Northeast Energy because of a city ban against “fracking,” Morgantown is tightening its zoning code to avoid fracking within its city limits, said Jim Manilla, mayor of Morgantown.
Northeast Energy was drilling near the city’s water supply.
“Though there are state regulations on fracking, the environmental effects are too great to overlook,” Manilla said.
Morgantown’s situation mirrors the fracking dilemma Athens City Council is trying to combat with leases for sale in Wayne National Forest that lay close to Athens’ main water supply.
“The (oil and gas) industry is here to stay so we need to get as many safeguards and regulations as possible,” Manilla said.
Similarly, Athens Council members are discussing an ordinance to expand Council’s jurisdiction 20 miles outside Athens’ limits in order to stall the leases.
Despite similarities between the cities’ attempts to prohibit fracking, the differences in state law’s regulations could leave Athens defenseless against the drilling’s environmental effects such as water and air pollution.
Unlike Ohio’s state law, regulations regarding companies’ water usage and additives are now included in West Virginia state law because of an executive order from West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in July, according to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
Former Gov. Ted Strickland’s revision of Senate Bill 165, which sets Ohio’s oil and gas budget and regulates drilling, includes shale-drilling regulations such as completion reports and an invoice of all equipment used “per frack.”
However, construction rules for more specific materials permitted for use during drilling are still in the works said Mike McCormack, Oil and Gas Permitting Manager for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resource Management.
“There should be a draft version of rules within the next month,” McCormack said.
Other requirements for oil and gas companies laid out in West Virginia state law include recording the quantity of flow-back water and disposal management of all drilling material in an approved solid-waste facility or on site in an approved manner by WVDEP.
Though there are irrefutable parallels between Morgantown and Athens’ fights against fracking, Mayor Paul Wiehl said he doesn’t want to rush Council on a decision of this magnitude.
“The bigger picture of fracking is what we need to focus on,” Wiehl said.
While the battle continues at the municipal level, steps toward national regulations of oil and gas extraction are moving forward. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its intentions to develop a national set of standards for wastewater discharges produced by natural gas extraction.
kg287609@ohiou.edu
