Senator Douglas Facemire of the WV Select Committee on Marcellus Shale said the panel wants to hear from Tax Department officials and others in Economic Development to discuss the potential revenues for the state, and concerns abiding with the environmental community over possible harm to water sources. A power-point discussion on the workings of a gas well, how surface pipes function and the injection of chemicals is another topic Facemire wants to explore in the initial meeting, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Capitol.
There’s a chance the select committee will meet again Wednesday to hear what Morgantown officials have to say about the logic behind a fresh ordinance that bans a fracking plant within 1 mile of the city, said the other co-chairman, Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion. He wants to combine a second committee meeting with the Joint Committee on Water Resources to explore the angle of environmental protection with regard to water supplies.
While Marshall County officials have spent the past year finding new ways to pay for issues related to Marcellus Shale drilling, the county has not received as much additional revenue as one might expect. However, through a combination of planning and conservative spending, the county will enter the new fiscal year with a surplus, officials said Tuesday.
According to Marshall County Commissioner Jason “Jake” Padlow, the county has received just $71,000 in gas drilling severance funds this year, an amount that has little impact on the county’s $13.3 million budget. “That doesn’t even pay a sheriff deputy’s salary,” he said.
Despite the recession, Marshall County is doing better than most counties in the state. It is now the #2 coal producing county in West Virginia. It’s also become a big draw for gas companies looking to tap the natural gas in Marcellus Shale deep underground. County Commissioner Donald Mason said this means big money for some residents. “We have seen several people in our county become instant millionaires with the signing of the leases and some of them are already producing. There are rumors that some people are getting as much as $60,000 a month from their gas wells,” Mason said. And the money from those lease checks is trickling into the community.
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This public official is not at all surprised. Local, County, State REVENUES were not the objective: raping the land and poisoning its people were part of the “calculated” collateral damage presumed by the industry…….why else would it be working so hard to bribe, seduce and double talk the electorate and its “officials”??