Largely due to increased revenues from drilling permit fees, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has nearly doubled its staff in the last two years. Metro News reports that the DEP cites this growth as allowing them to be more responsive to both the public and the oil and gas industry. An additional change that the DEP expects to have significant impact on the industry is the implementation of an e-filing system for drilling permit applications. The e-filing system is expected to improve the efficiency of the permitting system for both the DEP and the companies seeking permits.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will present an Oil & Gas Workshop at the Charleston Civic Center on May 16th beginning at 8:00 a.m. Speakers will address a wide variety of topics of interest to operators, contractors, consultants and attorneys- including waste water issues, permitting, compliance, pipeline safety, and horizontal well issues. To attend the workshop, contact B. J. Chestnut at B.J.Chestnut@wv.gov by May 10, 2013.
The Charleston Gazette recently reported that two of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection studies addressing natural gas drilling concerns will not be released by the deadline established in the Horizontal Well Act of 2011. DEP Secretary Randy Huffman said work on the wastewater impoundment study, scheduled to be released by January 1, 2013, is complete but there were problems with formatting and revisions. Huffman also said that the second study on noise, light and dust, scheduled to be released by December 31, 2012, is not close to being completed because there is still data to be collected. Huffman hopes to have a report completed by mid-February for the wastewater impoundment study, but offered no estimated completion date for the noise, light and dust study. A third study, examining air pollution from oil and gas operations, is not required to be released until July 1, 2013.
Tom Aluise, spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), recently stated that WVDEP is still trying to fill several vacant positions in the Office of Oil and Gas. In June, WVDEP announced in a press release that the agency was seeking inspectors in the Office of Oil and Gas (OOG) to serve in northern West Virginia, in particular. Last week, a local news source reported that although WVDEP is receiving applications for the positions, the agency is struggling to identify qualified candidates. Applicants for inspector positions must pass a written examination and demonstrate that they have qualifying industry experience. The remaining open inspector positions would cover Doddridge, Tyler, Mingo, Cabell, Wayne, Lewis, Braxton, Gilmer, Pocahontas and Webster counties; OOG will have 21 inspectors when the vacancies are filled. WVDEP hopes to fill these and other vacant OOG positions by the end of the year.