| By Bob Weaver 2008
Fifty years have passed since one of West Virginia's first experimental wells was drilled at Mount Zion, Calhoun County.
Local residents remember the secrecy when Exxon and Consolidated Gas erected the giant rig between Route 16 and Pine Creek.
Even more memorable was the companies denial of hitting gas, thus lowering expectations.
Local residents remember explosive booms from the site, knocking pictures from the wall. The nearly two year project, reaching deep in the earth 20,000 feet, was essentially declared a dry hole. Few believed the denials.
Then the deep well dream exploded in the region and county about 25 years ago..
The search for potential deep well sites in Calhoun peaked with about 200 locations under contract, becoming a hotbed for research and future deep well development.
There are lots of traditional wells being developed in the county, right now.
The state was once home to about 45,000 active wells, and each year nearly 3,000 new well permits were granted, are investing at least one billion new dollars in the state.
DEEP WELL DREAMS
Most companies said a plethora of new super-deep wells were to come this way.
In Calhoun, during the early 2000's, the County Clerk's record room was filled with elbow-to-elbow abstractors.
Seismic earth thumpers and high-tech researchers strung miles of lines and connected hundreds of devices, covering every inch of the county, prognosticating where the best pockets might be.
Millions likely spent on "looking."
Calhoun's deep wells near Nobe Road and on Route 5 were declared disappointing.
Some drillers say they were too cautious, drilling "overbalanced." The mud suspension used to keep the gas from blowing out may have gotten into the formation, sealing off the supply.
One of the drillers, Ardent, went belly-up.
Conflicts reportedly surfaced between some local holders and Ardent over drilling boundaries and rights, and the project was interrupted by a major land slide on the edge of the Ardent site, above Route 5.
Chesapeake Energy, after losing a suit over royalty rights in Roane County, threatened to leave the state.
but they have continued with dozens of proposed deep drilling projects in Roane and other areas.
There are great reserves of natural gas in this region, possibly one of the world's greatest deposits.
Dominion Exploration & Production, Chesapeake Energy, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Triana Energy and many others made announcements proudly touting new jobs being created and new investments being made in West Virginia.
SMALL BENEFITS FOR POOR, RURAL COUNTIES
What it means to local citizens is another story.
Layers of laws and regulations surround deep well drilling, many of them open to interpretation. They will directly affect what benefits our rural communities might receive from a "boom," if any.
Understanding tax methods becomes difficult when production numbers are held back for about two years. Some researchers say discrepancies in values is a problem, metering stations several miles from wells being the "point of sale," mixing producing wells, along with the longevity and depletion rates.
Then there is the introduction of horiziontal drilling, a debacle for royalty holders.
Historians who have studied the extraction of energy and natural products from West Virginia, conclude the richest areas have received the least benefit, poor roads, infrastructure and residual joblessness.
The greatest pockets of poverty are above or on the greatest resources.
John O'Brien's Pulitzer-nominated book "At Home in the Heart of Appalachia" defines Appalachia's legacy, victims of rapacious greed and exploitation. A sad and painful tale, never-ending.
The Calhoun Commission and the Board of Education, a few years ago passed a resolution asking for a fair shake with deep well drilling.
There was no response.
It asked for "fairness in taxation on the production of deep well drilling," or what citizens could reasonably expect to be returned to the community. It asked government and developers to consider "our rights and needs."
West Virginia has a long history of extractors pillaging the mountain state. That never seems to change.
Such desires and wishes may only rest in the stars.
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