126
and tributaries is critically important to the health of the main stream, and many
small streams were seriously damaged in Wetzel County.
In 2008, natural gas prices were at record highs, and ethane was in demand.
Companies were focused on getting pads built, and the wells drilled, fracked, completed, and on-line as quickly as possible. Some managers were pressured to take
shortcuts, and an acute shortage of skilled labor meant that some of the heavy equipment operators being hired to do the work were not exactly experts at building
roads. The U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia documented a
case in Wetzel County where a bulldozer simply plowed a road to an upland area
straight up the bed of a small stream (Ihlenfeld 2012). The original stream was buried under several feet of fill, and what was left was reduced to a trickle in a ditch
alongside the road, destroying any existing aquatic habitat. This and several similar
cases were prosecuted in federal court as violations under Section 404 of the Clean
Water Act (Ihlenfeld 2012).
When flat upland areas were not available for drill pads, cut-and-fill pads were
excavated into hillsides to create level surfaces. Many of these are located on steep
slopes and have high walls that suffered slumping, slippage, or erosion over time.
Sediment from the eroded hillsides has ended up in streams, further compounding
water quality problems. Even after more than ten years, many residents of Wetzel
County are still seething about the environmental damage done to their landscape in
the name of profit driven by the shale gas boom. The worst part of all is that this was
completely unnecessary.
Road and pad construction can and has been done correctly in many places.
County governments in Pennsylvania have worked with drillers to route traffic to
wells around environmentally fragile areas and onto roads that are already slated for
repair. In many cases, the drilling company has re-paved damaged roads at no cost
to local governments after the wells were completed and all the equipment moved
offsite. New roads that were needed for access to pad sites were designed with assistance from highway engineers to meet specifications that reduce runoff and protect
watersheds. Drillers also avoided trying to move equipment and materials around
during local rush hours or when school buses were actively picking up or dropping
off students. It turned out that a little bit of engagement, communication, and preplanning can go a long way toward enlisting the tolerance of local citizens when
companies are drilling and fracking shale wells. This is known as obtaining a “social
license” to operate, and industry has discovered just how valuable it can be.
7.2 North Dakota from Space
Natural gas production requires a pipeline. There is just no other economical method
of transmitting gas from a wellhead to a burner tip. Certainly, methane gas can be
compressed into cylinders, and even liquefied if necessary. However, these processes are expensive, and are only viable when gas prices are high. Natural gas in
locations where no pipeline is available to carry it to market is known as “stranded”
7 Effects on Landscapes
and tributaries is critically important to the health of the main stream, and many
small streams were seriously damaged in Wetzel County.
In 2008, natural gas prices were at record highs, and ethane was in demand.
Companies were focused on getting pads built, and the wells drilled, fracked, completed, and on-line as quickly as possible. Some managers were pressured to take
shortcuts, and an acute shortage of skilled labor meant that some of the heavy equipment operators being hired to do the work were not exactly experts at building
roads. The U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia documented a
case in Wetzel County where a bulldozer simply plowed a road to an upland area
straight up the bed of a small stream (Ihlenfeld 2012). The original stream was buried under several feet of fill, and what was left was reduced to a trickle in a ditch
alongside the road, destroying any existing aquatic habitat. This and several similar
cases were prosecuted in federal court as violations under Section 404 of the Clean
Water Act (Ihlenfeld 2012).
When flat upland areas were not available for drill pads, cut-and-fill pads were
excavated into hillsides to create level surfaces. Many of these are located on steep
slopes and have high walls that suffered slumping, slippage, or erosion over time.
Sediment from the eroded hillsides has ended up in streams, further compounding
water quality problems. Even after more than ten years, many residents of Wetzel
County are still seething about the environmental damage done to their landscape in
the name of profit driven by the shale gas boom. The worst part of all is that this was
completely unnecessary.
Road and pad construction can and has been done correctly in many places.
County governments in Pennsylvania have worked with drillers to route traffic to
wells around environmentally fragile areas and onto roads that are already slated for
repair. In many cases, the drilling company has re-paved damaged roads at no cost
to local governments after the wells were completed and all the equipment moved
offsite. New roads that were needed for access to pad sites were designed with assistance from highway engineers to meet specifications that reduce runoff and protect
watersheds. Drillers also avoided trying to move equipment and materials around
during local rush hours or when school buses were actively picking up or dropping
off students. It turned out that a little bit of engagement, communication, and preplanning can go a long way toward enlisting the tolerance of local citizens when
companies are drilling and fracking shale wells. This is known as obtaining a “social
license” to operate, and industry has discovered just how valuable it can be.
7.2 North Dakota from Space
Natural gas production requires a pipeline. There is just no other economical method
of transmitting gas from a wellhead to a burner tip. Certainly, methane gas can be
compressed into cylinders, and even liquefied if necessary. However, these processes are expensive, and are only viable when gas prices are high. Natural gas in
locations where no pipeline is available to carry it to market is known as “stranded”
7 Effects on Landscapes