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Concerns Grow As Marcellus Shale Drillers Prepare To Begin Locally

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Dec. 9, 2010

Formal filings to drill new Marcellus gas wells in Garrett County are expected any day from a company whose work locally in Pennsylvania has produced complaints about damage to a water well (see related story), and, a new study finds, more than 1,000 violations of Pennsylvania regulations so far this year. The process is still new to many Garrett Countians, with significant revenue being promised by drilling companies. However, concerns over the fracking process continue to grow.
Another concern is coming to light in that the principal oversight agency in charge of approving drilling, the Maryland Department of the Environment, is understaffed, under-funded, and limited by outmoded regulations. This situation is generating new scrutiny in Annapolis, as legislators prepare for the 2011 legislative session.

At least two central Maryland delegates are known to be drafting legislation that would call for a moratorium on drilling until MDE’s mining division in Baltimore completes a full review of its regulations and procedures. But details have yet to emerge.

“The MDE is working to find additional resources,” said Lisa Nissley, legislative liaison and environmental justice coordinator. Nissley noted the passage of a bill last spring that allows the department to impose licensing fees on energy companies.

“This would give us the revenue needed to hire additional inspectors,” she said.

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Marcellus Shale To Be Discussed At GC Auditorium

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Dec. 9, 2010

The University of Maryland Extension of Garrett County will present a lecture titled “Geology of the Marcellus Shale in Western Maryland” tonight, Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. The event will be held at the Garrett College Auditorium. The lecture will be given by geologist Jeff Halka, director of the Maryland Geological Survey.
Over the last 70 years, the 400-million-year-old Oriskany sandstone has been the primary target of Appalachian gas exploration. Tens of thousands of conventional wells have been drilled in this rock formation. However, geologists have generally understood that the gas contained within this porous sandstone unit was likely generated in the overlying organic-rich Marcellus shale.

Recent developments in well drilling and stimulation technologies have made it possible to exploit these organic-rich layers directly and allow the capture of gas contained within the less permeable shale.

Halka’s lecture will explain the formation of the Marcellus shale and the subsequent development of natural gas within the shale.

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Extension Educator Offers Advice To Landowners Before Leasing To Drillers

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Nov. 25, 2010

by Glenn Tolbert

Since 2007, more than 100,000 of Garrett County acres have been quietly leased for natural gas production, since the new pro-cess now commonly referred to as fracking provides a method of harvesting natural gas from the Marcellus shale that is sitting underneath much of the county.

The stakes can be very high. National media report that the type of drilling about to occur here can bring individual landowners anywhere from $5 to $2,000 per acre.

“I don’t think that anyone here is getting that high-end money,” said Mikal Zimmerman, who should know. Working through the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service, it is her job to advise landowners who are approached by representatives of natural gas companies.

Zimmerman’s advice is fairly straightforward to anyone finding a natural gas rep knocking on their door: “Do your research,” she said. “Talk to your neighbors and see what they’ve been offered. Do something that I call ‘unification,’ which is seeing if you can put your properties together to negotiate a lease jointly and have one drill site for all of the properties.”

Zimmerman also advocates having an attorney look over any would-be final agreement before signing it.

The fact that Garrett County is about to become a large producer of natural gas was the topic of a meeting last Thursday night, held at Route 40 Elementary School. Nearly 100 people attended, with their primary reason for doing so perhaps best summarized by local resident Natalie Atherton: “I’m here because I want to learn about what impact natural gas drilling can have on our drinking water, rivers, and lakes,” she said.

Atherton went on to argue that the permitting process should be slowed until any potential damage done by the drilling can be studied.

That seemed to be the theme of Thursday’s meeting: “Not enough is known, and we need more study.”

There were no representatives of Chief Oil and Gas present, the company that is ready to begin drilling in the Friendsville area, and numerous phone calls to the company were not returned.

In fact, the company held its own invitation-only meeting at Friendsville Town Hall at exactly the same time the meeting at Rt. 40 school was conducted.

The new technology used to extract natural gas from shale involves sending a drill bit and pipe down into the earth approximately 8,000 feet, through the water table. The drilling mechanism allows the operator to drill horizontally far and wide from the drill site on the surface. The drilling companies claim that since it is operating so deep, there is little chance of harm to the water table. The fracking process, which involves pumping water and toxic chemicals under extreme pressure, frees the natural gas hidden in the shale, and the gas is then brought to the surface. The fracking liquid is then retrieved and placed in holding tanks.

The Marcellus shale layer is enormous, and natural gas companies claim that it contains enough gas to provide an adequate supply for the nation for the next 20 years. The Marcellus shale layer can be found under the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. The first drilling in Garrett County is set for the Finzel area; however, as yet no permits have been granted by the state of Maryland.

According to the Chief Oil and Gas web site, the company hires contractors and employees from the areas around its operations, thus providing jobs to many economically depressed areas in the aforementioned states.

The Garrett County commissioners recently appointed a gas drilling task force that has begun meeting and discussing what steps should be taken to guarantee safety to the local environment.

Landowners seeking advice on this subject are invited to contact Mikal Zimmerman by telephone at 301-334-6960 or by e-mail at mzimmer8@umd.edu

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

60 Minutes reports on Marcellus Shale

60 Minutes video on Marcellsu Shale.

Shale Gas Drilling: Pros & Cons
November 14, 2010 12:34 PM

While some complain that extracting natural gas from shale rock formations is tainting their water supply, others who have allowed drilling on their property are getting wealthy. Lesley Stahl reports…

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7054210n&tag=contentMain;contentBody#ixzz167v6ckVI

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Garrett County Marcellus Documents and Links – Facebook

My Facebook friend Patrick William Riley put this info re: Marcellus Shale together on his Facebook page and I wanted to share it:

“Citizens and Friends of Garrett County Maryland,

Be advised, The current push for the development of the Marcellus Shale gas deposits under Garrett County will massively impact the quiet rural qualities, clean air and safe well water that many of us value highly. Please be informed and let your voice be heard! These proposed wells are not the wells that we have grown accustomed to since the 1950’s and 60’s.

I am convinced that this development should be stopped until the citizens of Garrett County and our public servants have had through opportunity to study the various impacts caused in other areas where Shale gas development is occurring.

Fracking mobilizes URANIUM in Marcellus Shale !

“…University at Buffalo researchers have now found that that process — called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”– also causes uranium that is naturally trapped inside Marcellus shale to be released, raising additional environmental concerns.”

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/10/25/fracking.mobilizes.uranium.marcellus.shale

Scientifically Based Clean Energy ?

Looks like COAL is a better Choice —

http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/howarth/Howarth_Energy%20and%20Environment.html

June 4 2010 Marcellus Shale Briefing By MDE for The Maryland State Water Quality Advisory Committee ___

>Dead Linkpatrickwriley@msn.com and I’ll send you the file ! Status of Applications – Locations of exploratory wells http://www.marylandwaterquality.org/Marcellus%20Briefing%20for%20SWQAC.pdf PENN STATE has been funded by Gas companies to promote drilling. Please remember this when you go to meetings where they are involved! http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100713/NEWS01/7130381/PSU-dean-Marcellus-report-mishandled

Garrett County Resident quoted in Pittsburgh Tribune Review After the film, a resident of Selby’s Port, a small community in Garrett County, Md., one mile from Yough River Lake, said she wanted to see the film because of the hazards of fracking. On March 7,She learned that a gas well was going to be drilled on her neighbor’s property, about 1,000 feet from her kitchen. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/fayette/s_702607.html

Read the Minutes of the Garrett County Planning Commission http://www.garrettcounty.org/PlanningLand/PlanningZoning/documents/min7_10.pdf http://www.garrettcounty.org/PlanningLand/PlanningZoning/documents/min9_10.pdf

Local Laws Tax Changes at the wellhead http://mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/bills/hb/hb0803e.pdf

Local news To Senator Edwards and Delegate Beitzel, I really hope and pray you have a change of heart on this one!!!!! “• An effort to reduce the distance from a natural gas drilling wellhead from a neighbor’s property to 500 feet from 1,000 feet failed despite its origination from the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Ed Larrimore and the support of Sen. George Edwards. Beitzel said the initiative “wasn’t supported by the administration.” However, “we’ll come back to that one next year,”Beitzel said.” http://times-news.com/local/x1612534154/Beitzel-s-hunting-license-suspension-measure-stalls-in-Maryland-Senate

Local State Legislators seem to support Marcellus Drilling http://times-news.com/archive/x546408583

Do you own a mineral right? http://times-news.com/opinion/x657343753/Law-to-help-people-establish-mineral-rights

Radio active wastewater http://times-news.com/archive/x546412731

http://times-news.com/local/x1800095708/New-state-law-will-allow-landowners-to-regain-mineral-rights

http://times-news.com/archive/x546408937 http://times-news.com/archive/x1540427898

From the Maryland Dept. of the Environment http://www.mde.state.md.us/programs/Land/mining/Non%20Coal%20Mining/Pages/Programs/LandPrograms/Mining/mog/naturalgas.aspx

From the Maryland DNR http://dnr.maryland.gov/irc/bibs/marcellusshale.html

From Pennsylvania — DRILLER CANCELS PERMIT AFTER TRYING TO CIRCUMVENT LOCAL RULES! http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/28/2010/october/21/driller-cancels-permit.html

Sep 30, 5:11 PM EDT Pa. DEP targets Texas driller for tainted water By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Writer DIMOCK, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator says the state will sue a Houston-based drilling company unless it agrees to pay nearly $12 million to extend a public water line to at least 18 residents whose water wells have been contaminated with methane gas. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_DRILLING_TAINTED_WATER?SITE=NMALJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Methane in water wells http://americanagriculturist.com/story.aspx/stray/methane/gas/pops/up/near/marcellus/wells/9/42135

Read the comments on the Pa regulation Changes. http://www.irrc.state.pa.us/Regulations/More.cfm?TypeID=3&IRRCNo=2857%EF%BB%BF

Drilling Noise and Local control http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_704795.html

From Colorado — Drilling, Wildlife often don’t mix

http://www.valleyjournal.com/article/20081204/NEWS/812039974/1010/NONE&parentprofile=1001

From Texas — Unwell water Drilling leaves a bad taste for some By Brandon Evans Published Sunday, October 3, 2010 http://www.wcmessenger.com/news/content/EklypuEyukFaSeCoUQ.php

Residents once welcomed the Gas Drilling, Now …Pollution is not welcome http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/01/12/texas-town-welcomed-drilling-now-fears-pollution.html 

Real Estate Values plummet ! Drilling can dig into land value 09:25 AM CDT on Saturday, September 18, 2010 By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe / Staff Writer

DECATUR — One year to the day after a company set up its drilling rigs on their land in eastern Wise County, Tim and Christine Ruggiero confirmed the depth of their loss.

Originally on the 2010 tax rolls for $257,330, their home and 10-acre horse property are now worth $75,240.

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/westdenton/stories/DRC_DrillValues_0918.1046e9a00.html

Living with a Shale Gas Well

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/specialprojects/drilling/stories/DRC_Ruggieros_0328.1ee8c9ff0.html

Northeast Pa. MORTGAGES UNAVAILABLE on LEASED PROPERTIES !

http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2010/06/08/pike_county_courier/news/1.txt

West Virginia

Complete coverage in the Wheeling Intelligencer

http://theintelligencer.net/page/category.detail/nav/5233/Digging-Deeper-Into-The-Marcellus-Shale.html

Wetzel County Action Group

http://www.wcag-wv.org/Default.htm

Do You really think you want these problems in Garrett County?

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/watchdog/2009/10/02/what-caused-big-fracking-fluid-spill-in-doddridge-county/

Dumping waste on the roads, a commonly witnessed practice!!!!

http://www.wcag-wv.org/W/WaterPollution/BlakeHawgHauler.htm

General Information

http://www.marcellus-shale.us/

Chemicals used in Gas Drilling

http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/chemicals.introduction.php

Via >Danny L. Bailey

I continue to allege with no resistance/rebuttal from anyone in the industry/local-county-state-federal gov’t,,,that these petroleum companies are not just “fracking” these underground coal beds,,,,,but chemically ” reacting them with inten…tional/permanent injection of toxic chemicals/heavy metal catalyst that slowly dissovle/convert the coal shale into producer gases, mainly methane. In other countries it is referred to for what it really is,,, UCG (underground coal gasification). Here is just one of many “patented” processes for undergound coal bed gasification by first “fracking”,,,,then “reacting” the coal bed with benzene derivatives. Read the patent an compare this process to what you have witnessed personally in your GasLand regions.

Situ Coal Bed Gasification: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3794116.html

Barnett Shale Emission report: http://www.edf.org/documents/9235_Barnett_Shale_Report.pdf

Links to other GasLand fracking reports: http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23731&st=40

Here is the original link to his Facebook info.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Garrett Marcellus shale forums draw big audiences

Megan Miller
The Cumberland Times-News Mon Nov 22, 2010, 07:51 AM EST

— FROSTBURG — Money, water quality and the Marcellus shale are issues on a lot of Western Marylanders’ minds, if the attendance at two Thursday night meetings in Garrett County is any indication.

Approximately 90 people packed into the cafeteria of Route 40 Elementary School for a public meeting on the subject hosted by the Savage River Watershed Association.

The tone of the discussion was mainly skeptical of the natural gas extraction process, and many speakers expressed concerns over its potential impact on the quality of water and of life in the county.

Eric Robison of the group Save Western Maryland said he was skeptical of the Maryland Department of the Environment’s ability to properly regulate the process.

“I really am concerned about how MDE … is going to be reacting to this,” he said. “This is completely new, and as far as I know they haven’t even written the book on this yet.”

Meanwhile, on the same night, approximately 40 people gathered in the Friendsville Town Hall for a meeting organized by Chief Oil & Gas, a company currently seeking to drill four Marcellus shale natural gas wells in the Friendsville area.

Chief has already secured most of the land leases it will require for those wells and is now pursuing permits required for preparation to drill, according to spokeswoman Kristi Gittins.

The company hopes to apply for its drilling permits in about two weeks, she said.

But first, Gittins said, the company is working on permits for seismic testing, which will allow its engineers to determine the best paths for steering the drills. It has also begun developing an erosion and sediment control plan for the county.

Gittins said the purpose of Thursday’s meeting — the first such the company has held in Garrett County — was “introducing ourselves and explaining how we plan to do business in the area.”

“We had landowners, city council members and the mayor of Friendsville there,” she said. “Both landowners that were leased to us and not leased to us.”

According to Gittins, Chief has been involved in extracting natural gas from shale formations since the mid-1990s, and started drilling its first well in the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania in 2007.

The company now has about 100 wells drilled, and though slightly less than half of those are producing gas, it is collecting an average of 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Friendsville councilman Jess Whittemore said he was impressed with the polish of Chief’s presentation, in a meeting the company had declared was not public but which was attended by town and county officials and a mix of supporters and opponents of Marcellus shale drilling.

“The environmentalists were hammering them with all the smart questions and they had all the answers,” Whittemore said. “I learned an awful lot about it. They made me think that it could potentially be safe.”

But Whittemore, a self-described environmental advocate and skeptic of Marcellus shale drilling, said he still feels concerned that not enough is known about the impact of the process on the land and water.

“Us dumb people, including the people who run the state of Maryland, we’re sort of at their mercy,” he said. “I just hope the state of Maryland has people to keep us safe. … I think there could very well be not enough government study on this, and (drilling companies) are able to say these things because there’s no proof against it.”

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Marcellus Shale meeting at Savage River Watershed Association

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Nov. 11, 2010

Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus shale shelf will be the topic of a meeting of the Savage River Watershed Association next Thursday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m., at Route 40 Elementary School. Gas drilling in Marcellus shale requires hydraulic fracturing, a pro-cess that raises many concerns, particularly for keeping drinking water clean and safe. Local, state, and regional approaches to address these concerns will be discussed. This photo was taken at a drilling site in nearby Pennsylvania. See story.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Marcellus Shale Drilling Will Be Meeting Topic

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Nov. 11, 2010

The Savage River Watershed Association (SRWA) will hold its bimonthly meeting at 7 p.m. next Thursday, Nov. 18, at Route 40 Elementary School, at which the topic will be “Marcellus Shale – Local, State, & Regional Approaches.” The public is welcome to attend.
According to a spokesperson for the SRWA, gas drilling in Marcellus shale requires hydraulic fracturing, a process that raises many concerns, particularly for clean, safe drinking water.

“We will be discussing some local, state, and regional approaches to address these problems,” the spokesperson said.

Brent Walls from Potomac Riverkeeper will share information on drilling activities in nearby West Virginia and how they are organizing there. Andy Galli from Clean Water Action in Maryland will describe legislative and regulatory prospects in Annapolis. Ryan Ewing will discuss the Choose Clean Water Coalition and the regional/national outlook.

“This will be a great opportunity to discover what local residents can do to help protect the water resources of western Maryland, by being proactive and getting involved at the local, state and regional/national levels now,” the spokesperson said.

Walls joined Potomac Riverkeeper as the new Upper Potomac River manager in September 2009. He had several years’ experience as the watershed coordinator at the Chester River Association. He has extensive experience with conducting water quality monitoring programs, coordinating volunteers, investigating pollution, and initiating enforcement actions.

A resident of Inwood, W.Va., Walls is a U.S. Navy veteran and holds a B.S. degree in environmental sciences.

Andy Galli, Baltimore, is the Maryland program coordinator for Clean Water Action, which represents over 57,000 Maryland members and has 1.4 million members nationally.

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Garrett County candidates cautious about exploiting shale for natural gas

Kevin Spradlin
The Cumberland Times-News Fri Oct 29, 2010, 07:57 AM EDT

— MCHENRY — Candidates for Garrett County commissioner have varying degrees of concern about exploitation of the Marcellus shale natural gas field and feel that local residents’ concerns are not a top priority for energy companies.

“I think we have to be very careful,” said District 1 candidate Gregan Crawford, a Republican, during a public forum Monday at Garrett College of the field, located a mile or more below the Earth’s surface. “Outside extraction industries rarely have the community’s interests at heart. I think we have to look out for ourselves. We just need to go slow and practice prudence.”

Eric Robison, a Democrat facing Crawford in the Nov. 2 general election, said he attended an informational seminar at Frostburg State University in which members of the Susquehanna River Valley Commission, a water management agency in Pennsylvania that helps monitor environmental impact on local drilling in natural gas fields, spoke about a highly evolved certification program. The program helped to virtually guarantee water quality would not be adversely impacted, Robison said.

Robison said in Maryland, the state Department of the Environment is responsible for issuing permits for such projects. MDE representatives also attended the seminar but said the certified process would not be used here.

“It bothers me that we have a regulatory agency that has ignored the violations of some of these companies that come in,” Robison said. “We need to do what the state is not doing for us.”

Democrat Bill Welch, one of four candidates vying for the District 3 seat, said he knows the gas is needed for energy production and that drilling will bring much-needed revenue to the county. But “it comes back to property rights,” Welch said. Residents’ attitude of “‘let’s trust the state and federal government to protect us’ is the reason I’m here” as a candidate.

Welch said there needs to be two emergency plans in place for drilling and exploration activities, one each for health and physical demands.

“Neither one is there today,” Welch said.

Bob Gatto, one of three write-in candidates challenging Welch in District 3, said he owns property where drilling companies wanted to lease the mineral rights. Gatto opted to keep total control of the land.

“I bought it for a specific purpose,” Gatto said. “I enjoy it. I felt (drilling) would destroy what I bought it for.”

Gatto, a Republican, said the analysis and general information available on the potential environmental impact on drilling is vague and lacks a level of thoroughness that’s needed for elected officials to pursue policy.

“There’s not enough history with it to make good decisions,” Gatto said.

Crawford gave the current commissioners, including the late Denny Glotfelty, credit for establishing a Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Advisory Committee. Members of the group, created this summer, are charged with gathering information and advising the commissioners about issues related to extraction.

Fellow write-in candidate George Falter, a Democrat, said the hydrofracturing process by which the sheet of rock underneath is split to access and pump out the natural gas is a scary one that involves explosives and chemicals.

“Perhaps they just can’t say the word,” Falter said. “Is ‘insanity’ a strong enough word?”

Republican Tim Thomas did not file as a write-in candidate until two days after the forum. He did not participate in the event.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!

Will ‘waterquakes’ destroy our elixir of life?

To the Editor:
Cumberland Times-News Sun Sep 12, 2010, 08:00 AM EDT

— In case you aren’t aware, the incidence of earthquakes in Marcellus shale areas of West Virginia (and like adjacent areas) not seismically known Richterwise for earthquakes, has surprisingly increased recently, counter to our regular geologic timeframe historically.

Since early April more than eight earthquakes have been recorded in Braxton County, with two more in nearby Lewis and Upshur counties. Those seismic events ranged in magnitude from 2.2 to 3.4, not strong enough to cause significant damage (yet), but powerful enough to rattle shelves and awaken strong sleepers.

Three weeks later (April 29, 2010) west of Frametown three more shook topographies. May 7-8, 2010, both sides of Interstate 79 near the Servia rest stop shook. July 24-25, west of Gassaway, 2.4 and 2.2.

Ronald Martini, Marshall geology professor, addressed the topic of unusual local earthquakes when he said, “It is quite possible that these earthquakes result from fluid injection. Drilling in the Marcellus shale for natural gas in northern West Virginia has involved hydrofracking of horizontal natural gas wells (with unknown millions of gallons of unknown toxic fluids under immense pressure per square inch, insertion mine) essentially lubricating the frictional resistance to movement along the fault zone, allowing the fault to slip more readily.”

You may recall my previous letter pertaining to current natural gas production techniques endangering our pristine waters by shaking up the topography, even of our neighbors without their permission. I didn’t know about the earthquakes then. I do now and the infrastructure of the natural gas drilling process will eventually jeopardize the sanctity of everybody’s inalienable right to clean water.

Inasmuch as the above is evidentiary, safe/clean drinking water is a human right and a primary component in our right(s) to life, liberty and happiness pursuit. Water cannot morally be a commodity for exhorbitant profit(s). The cost of treated tap water in West Virginia averages a penny a gallon. An equivalent amount of bottled (for example, Dasani) water averages $4 a gallon. The Wall Street Journal said 47.8 percent of the most common type of bottled water sold by retailers came from city tap water. Feel ripped off?

Fracking our topography should be freaking us out. Bottled water prices can only escalate. Municipal water systems will have to raise their prices, too.

Eventually, our kids will need to confront their catastrophic choice of sacrifices: water or carbon-based fuels. Many postulations currently exist about what global human life will be like without sufficient water or carbon-based fuel(s).

Consciously permitting “water-quakes” to destroy our elixir of life only certifies our sometimes shortsighted/blinding human stupidity.

Bill Arnold

Romney, W.Va.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website – competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!