Citizens are Banding Together on Marcellus Drilling Issues

WV4MOM at Rally

Marcellus Shale Study Committee

County officials are banding together on the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling. The W V Association of Counties created a Marcellus Shale Study Committee, which met Aug. 16 in Charleston. The committee has county assessors, circuit clerks, county clerks, prosecutors and state audit officials represented. Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Gary Morris said the drilling has placed a strain on local officials in several ways, including in record-keeping and staying on top of the roads. “The pressure on the county clerk’s office, the pressure on the infrastructure, sheriff’s response times to accidents on rural county roads,” Morris said. The committee expects the issue to worsen, he said.

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Change.Org

 www.change.org is a web-site for petitions in the public interest.  Let us mention two at this time, namely “Ban Hydraulic Fracturing for Gas on Federal, State and Local Levels” started by Roseanna Sacco of Sweet Springs, WV in Monroe County; and, “Remove Senator Facemire from the Committee on Marcellus Shale” started by Kathleen Cash of Morgantown, WV in Monongalia County.

Ban Hydraulic Fracturing is a petition started on August 10^th and now has 250 signatures.  It is addressed to the President of the US, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Governor of WV, the WV Senate and House, the US EPA and the WV Office of Oil and Gas.The petition says that it is sensible and prudent to enact a ban on hydraulic fracturing gas extraction until three goals can be met, (a) independent, scientific studies prove that there are no detrimental impacts, (b) strict and enforceable regulations addressing every loophole in gas drilling production are enacted by the state legislature and, (c) gas extraction can be accomplished without sequestering phenomenal quantities of the earth’s valuable and finite supply of fresh water.

Remove Senator Facemire is a petition started on September 3^rd and now has 87 signatures.  It is addressed to WV Senator Jeff Kessler, Acting President of the WV Senate, who appointed Facemire to be co-chair of the Select Joint Committee on Marcellus Shale. As the name clearly states, this petition is aimed to remove Senator Facemire so that the Select Committee can continue meeting and make progress toward the formulation of regulations for Marcellus operations in WV.

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WV4MOM, West Virginians for a Moratorium on Marcellus operations, is a grassroots organization, made up of volunteers in northcentral West Virginia, having been formed in Morgantown due to the Marcellus wells located near the City water intake.  Their Proclamation is available for signing, calling lawmakers to come together and pass meaningful legislation to regulate horizontal drilling and shale fracking.
 
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Food and Water Watch’s National Day of Action to Ban Fracking

Food and Water Watch is encouraging thousands of people to call in to the White House on September 13 to ask for a ban on fracking. This organization is providing tips on how to prepare for the call-in day, what to do the day of, and how to report results, between 9 am and 5 pm on 9/13/11.