West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Delays Release of Studies on Natural Gas Drilling

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.