Action | Expanding disclosure of ingredients used in well stimulation & completion & reviewing best practices |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 12/4/2015 |
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed revisions to Virginia's Gas Drilling Regulations.
The natural gas industry would like to use unconventional shale gas drilling methods, including hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling that can extend 1.5 miles horizontally from the drilling pad, in at least two areas of Virginia (shale deposits, including the Marcellus Shale, in the western part of the state, and the Taylorsville Basin in the Tidewater area). While no permits for unconventional methods have been granted yet in the Tidewater area, and no high-volume fracking has yet occurred in Virginia, more than 80,000 acres in the Tidewater area have been leased with the intent to frack. Virginia needs to be prepared with strong regulations that address the many risks.
Industry points to forms of fracking that have occurred in the southwestern part of the state without publicized environmental harm. These include coal bed methane and lower-volume fracking which reportedly use far less water, fewer chemicals, and produce far less toxic wastewater than high-volume techniques. The forms of fracking now under consideration present a greater threat to our natural resources and health.
Virginia had the least protective gas drilling regulations of all 31 states with actual or potential shale gas production, according to a 2013 survey of shale gas regulations by Resources for the Future. The proposed changes will not adequately improve the regulations.
In order for Virginia in develop more protective gas drilling regulations, I would like to see:
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