West Virginia Public Broadcasting did a short segment on what it’s like to live next to Marcellus Shale drilling and production activities. It’s not real pretty. While I’m all for oil and gas development here in West Virginia, I also think that the oil and gas companies should really go a little more out of their way to allow the neighbors to maintain their standard of living. That standard of living isn’t usually extravagant, but it’s often comfortable, quiet, and chosen. It’s Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.
The people that the oil and gas company contract with usually get enough to make up for the disruption in lifestyle. It’s the neighbors who don’t have anything the company wants that get the short end of the deal. They put up with big trucks on little roads, gigantic potholes made by those trucks, noise and light from the drilling rig, the intense rumble of gas being flared off the well when it’s first brought in, and the dust, smoke, and gas from the trucks, rigs, pipelines, and machinery necessary to process the gas. The companies don’t usually do anything about it. People can call and complain all they want, but it won’t usually do a lick of good. The neighbors don’t have any way of forcing the companies to make up for the disruption to their lifestyle, and the change in their environment, other than to file suits.
The article states that over 100 people filed nuisance lawsuits in West Virginia last year against oil and gas production companies of various sorts. 50 of those suits were compiled into a mass litigation suit. Dave McMahon of WVSORO fame noted in the article that there would probably be a lot more of these kinds of suits if there was more money involved. It’s hard for an attorney to take on a nuisance case because there’s often not much of a payday in it.
I’d like to see the companies take more initiative to clean things up. I’ll give them credit, they mostly do a pretty decent job of restoring their well sites to previous contours and otherwise abiding by state regulations. It’s just not enough. The companies are affecting peoples’ lives, making it impossible (not just hard) to live the way they did before the gas wells and pipelines came around. It’s not fair or right that the companies can affect West Virginians’ property and lifestyle without compensating for it.
Perhaps we need a law that allows for double or triple damages in a nuisance lawsuit involving corporations. Or perhaps we need larger setbacks for certain processing facilities and well pads. We certainly need better regulations on trucks and roads. Whatever we do, it should be done soon, before we drive more people out of West Virginia and before the natural gas boom dies off completely.