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Online Petition Asks Governor for Special Marcellus Session

An online petition asks Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to follow through and schedule a special session of the Legislature to pass a bill regulating the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale.

The petition had been signed by 228 people on the morning of Nov. 29, when it was less than two days old.

"We, the undersigned citizens of West Virginia, request that Governor Tomblin immediately convene a special session of the Legislature to approve legislation to regulate the natural gas industry," reads the petition, which is addressed to Tomblin as well as to Senate President Jeff Kessler and House Speak Richard Thompson. "We support strong rules and tough enforcement and oppose weakening the proposed legislation drafted by the legislature's Joint Select Committee on Marcellus."

Candace Jordan of Westover, an active member of West Virginians for a Moratorium on Marcellus, posted the petition on Sunday, Nov. 27.

"This issue needs a lot of attention," said Jordan, who was active from the beginning in WV4MOM, a group that organized in the spring in response to two Northeast Natural Energy Marcellus wells permitted just outside Morgantown.

"Gov. Tomblin implied that a session was going to happen and then there was some wishy-washy … " she trailed off, frustrated.

Tomblin committed in June to a session if lawmakers came to agreement on the broad and contentious bill.

"The governor has said and continues to say that if the Legislature comes to an agreement, he'd be willing to call a special session," Tomblin spokeswoman Kimberly Osborne said at the time.

But when a joint House-Senate committee achieved on Nov. 16 the compromise that few believed it could, Tomblin backpedaled, saying he wanted to think further about which aspects of the bill might need to be changed before a session would be called.

The gas industry has been clear that it does not like the proposed increase in permit fees — from $650 per well to $10,000 for the first well on a pad and $5,000 for each subsequent well — as well as other aspects of the bill.

"There's still a lot that needs to be addressed," Jordan said, expressing her personal concerns that a 625-foot buffer zone to occupied dwellings is not big enough and that surface owners' rights in general are not adequately addressed.

"But the bill is pretty good for a compromise, and we have to put as much pressure on as we can," she said.  "Some people want to let it die and start it over, but I don't want to. I want to get this bill passed."

Petition host change.org sends an e-mail message to Tomblin, Kessler and Thompson each time a person signs, according to Jordan. The message includes the petition language and any personal comments.

Visit the petition page online to read or sign the petition.