| By Bob Weaver
Calhoun County is yet to catch-on to serious Marcellus Shale drilling.
Parts of West Virginia (and Calhoun County) is above one of the USAs largest natural gas reserves.
Most of the current Marcellus drilling is in the northwest section of the state.
Still, Calhoun is 20th in the amount of production in the Mountain State.
WV-DEP records indicate about 50 permits were obtained for drilling in Calhoun in 2010, and about 10 permits to frac.
New York state has placed a ban on Marcellus drilling because of environmental concerns to communities, with millions of gallons of chemical laden water used in the fracing of the wells an issue, and a huge amount of problems with ownership issues related to horizontal drilling.
Pennsylvania is establishing new controls on Marcellus drilling.
West Virginia has yet to address the multitude of problems that affect communities or lease holders affected by Marcellus drilling.
The 2010 legislature says they will be looking at the drilling issues.
The Joint Legislative Interim Judiciary Subcommittee recently
attempted to meet, but they couldn't get a quorum, so there was no action
taken on a draft bill establishing a new regulatory program for gas wells
utilizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
The legislature generally is slow to act on such matters. It called for a study over coal slurry in 2006, and only recently appears to be looking at the slurry problem.
How does increased drilling help the county or region?
It will some.
But because the state controls the tax system, the county receives a very small amount of the taxes generated by oil and gas production, unless you believe press releases:
See CALHOUN "GASSED" BY PRODUCERS - Stretching To Win Your Mind And Soul
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