>Matthew Bieniek
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Wed Jun 08, 2011, 11:26 PM EDT
— CUMBERLAND — Gov. Martin O’Malley’s executive order on studying drilling for Marcellus Shale is a setback for natural gas exploration in Western Maryland, say the two legislators who represent the only region in the state where Marcellus Shale harbors trapped natural gas.
“If we were a country they’d be begging us to produce energy,” said Sen. George Edwards. “It’s disheartening really, this executive order is stretching this thing out longer than either bill we considered during the session,” Edwards said.
When a bill requiring a study of drilling supported by the governor failed to get through the legislature, the governor must have “decided to take matters into his own hands,” said Delegate Wendell Beitzel.
The order, signed Monday, will create a task force to study the impact of drilling for natural gas in Western Maryland and how to tax that drilling and liability for damage caused by gas exploration and production. The state Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources will do the study.
The governor’s office said the study will have three parts. The task force will present recommendations by the end of the year on legislation to tax drilling and establish liability standards. Recommendations on best practices for natural gas exploration and production are to be delivered by Aug. 1, 2012, and a final report including environmental impacts of drilling is to be issued by Aug. 1, 2014.
“It’s denying the local people the ability to create revenue,” Edwards said. Marcellus Shale has been discussed for 17 months already, now the governor wants to add three more years to that discussion-that’s five years, Edwards said.
“We’ve just put a sign up at the border saying ‘Gas companies not welcome in Maryland,’” Beitzel said. Beitzel said since he lives in and represents the Marcellus-rich area of Western Maryland, he has no wish to “see things messed up.”
“It’s our culture and it’s our water,” he said.
Both he and Edwards said what they want is jobs and revenue. Beitzel thought it telling that figuring out how the state can get tax money from natural gas production was a major purpose of the study.
The main interest of the state is finding ways to bring in revenue from something produced in Western Maryland, Beitzel said.
“What you have to look at is we need energy,” Beitzel said.
At a recent conference in Pennsylvania, a former official told those gathered that he was tired of people saying Pennsylvania wasn’t “doing it right” but then using the gas coming out of Pennsylvania at much lower prices than importing it from a distance.
The federal Department of Energy has a task force to examine natural gas drilling and fracking in shale and is expected to complete its work in 90 days.
“Why will it take us five years?” Edwards asked. “Companies that use natural gas to create other products are looking to build factories. They’re not going to look at Maryland,” Edwards said. “Everyone wants it done right.”
Edwards said Maryland mines successfully and has stricter laws than West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The other states are already drilling and learning from their experiences. There’s no reason Maryland has to reinvent the wheel, he said. Energy independence is a national security issue and “this little piece can be helpful” in making the U.S. energy independent, he said.
Marcellus Shale formations throughout the Eastern United States harbor large untapped natural gas resources. The total value of the natural gas in Allegany County’s Marcellus Shale could be close to $15.72 billion, with the average well earning $65,000 to $524,000 yearly, University of Maryland Extension staff has said.
“It appears that due to the order, nothing is going to happen until 2014,” Beitzel said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
http://times-news.com/local/x300517779/Governor-s-order-a-shale-setback-local-legislators-say
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