New Martinsville passed a ban on drilling within the city limits on July 6. Now The Intelligencer /Wheeling News Register reports that Michael McCown, president of the West Virginia Independent Oil & Gas Association, has threatened a ban on commerce between the IOGA group and New Martinsville businesses.
“This is ill-conceived. By them choosing to do that, we have to react. … We do not want to do commerce in communities that do not want our business,” McCown said.
New Martinsville Mayor Lucille Blum Blum said council retains the option to revisit the ordinance for further consideration in the future. She said there will be future informational meetings for residents and gas industry officials to “prevent any misunderstanding.”
Blum said council’s main goal in passing the ordinance was to protect the city’s drinking water. ”We are not doing anything against the gas companies. We are only concerned with protecting our water supply,” she said, noting the city gets all of its water from wells – not from the Ohio River.
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This is typical of the mentality of the energy industry leadership. If they can’t buy or bribe you, they bully you instead. They don’t need to drill within city limits. They KNOW that they don’t have to drill within city limits. They don’t care about your drinking water concerns. They know that you fear for your drinking water, so they think they can make you fear something else even more. Can they even prove that they give their patronage to your businesses in the first place? Do any of them have the integrity or clout to attempt a boycott? Do you even want to do business with people like this? Stand strong, New Martinsville.
It’s just one of the many pathetic tactics used by the natural gas industry to sway public opinion. Even more pathetic is the hundreds of thousands of West Virginians who buy into the b.s. about jobs and instantly cave like a wet paper bag. Go out and get the real facts for yourself, folks…..’cause what the industry people are telling you sure ain’t the truth.
And just like clockwork, an article comes out today and the executive director of the Wetzel County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau has caved like one of those wet paper bags I mentioned and is begging the Chamber of Commerce to reverse their desicion in the face of these juvenile threats. Apparently she has already forgotten that New Martinsville has done just fine for all these years without the gas workers around. I remember the stories my grandparents told me of strong-willed West Virginians, people with integrity, people who stood up for themselves and didn’t back down. Sadly, those West Virginians, like my grandparents, are gone.