The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Moratorium on natural gas drilling approved by House of Delegates

By Kevin Spradlin
PhDispatch.com
MOUNT SAVAGE, March 23 -- The Maryland House of Delegates voted on Wednesday in favor of a temporary moratorium on drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, which affects Garrett and Allegany counties in far western Maryland.

The House voted to support House Bill 852, dubbed The Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Act, by a 98-40 vote. That measure was sponsored by Montgomery County Delegate Heather Mizeur (D – District 20).

“This can be our BRAC,” asserted Delegate Wendell Beitzel (R - District 1A) in a news release, referring to the influx of jobs relating to military base realignment that is beginning to provide jobs to Baltimore and Harford Counties.

The bill is set to become law, if approved by the Maryland Senate and signed by the Governor, on June 1. The Senate could consider the House version of the bill or start from scratch with SB 634.

Meanwhile, locals are praising the move as a successful grassroots effort that collided against at least one Western Maryland lawmaker with a potential conflict of interest.

"Today was our 'wow' moment," said Eric Robison, co-founder of Save Western Maryland and a Deer Park resident.

Save Western Maryland, Robison said, is a grassroots effort started late last year after it was learned that both Beitzel and Senator George Edwards (R - District 1) supported drilling for natural gas. Robison said he and supporters of Save Western Maryland understand that, eventually, drilling of the Marcellus Shale will occur - "there's too much money for it not to occur," he said.

All they want is a set of reasonable assurances that the process will be done safely and hold those companies that do the drilling accountable.

"What we've asked for is to have good protection for Maryland waters, its environment and its citizens," Robison said.

Robison countered any property rights proponents by noting the potential adverse impact of the new process, calling hydrofracking, could affect those who never sold their mineral rights.

"Your property rights end at your property line," Robison said. "Accidents ... Usually don't respect that property line."

Both Robison and Matia Vanderbilt, of Mountain Lake Park and another co-founder of Save Western Maryland, said they approached both Edwards and Beitzel and it was clear that "our western Maryland legislators were not going to represent the voice of the majority, but rather the voice of the two percent of the county's population who have leased to the gas industry."

The two said that's when they enlisted the help of Mizeur, Delegate Marvin Holmes Jr. (D-District 23B) and Senator Brian Frosh (D-District 16).

"Drilling now would only increase health and safety risks to a community that lacks the ability to regulate the gas industry becuase our county lacks comprehensive zoning," Vanderbilt said in an e-mail. "Without this bill, Garrett Countians are sitting ducks at the mercy of the gas industry."

It wasn't a victory without a fight. Beitzel, who acknowledged during the recent election cycle that he owned land in Garrett County that he hopes to lease to a gas company, attempted to throw in five amendments to the bill that would have made, in Beitzel's words:

* Set the membership of the commission created to study the issue;
* Require a summer study, and alternatively limit the study to one year; and
* Allow for an extended time period to provide notice of potential mineral rights.

Beitzel argued this week that the economic impact was too great to ignore and cited the 5.5 percent severance tax in Garrett County. The tax provides 5 percent to Garrett County and 0.5 percent to municipalities for roadway improvements.

He also "presented letters from the Office of the Attorney General and acting Secretary Robert Summers, stating that the Maryland Department of the Environment already had sufficient authority to deal with Marcellus Shale exploration."

That last point is one that neither Robison nor Vanderbilt have argued. They acknowledge the state's authority to regulate; they and some 400 other Garrett County residents who e-mailed Mizeur in support of the bill have simply questioned the state's preparedness to do so.

Robison said Save Western Maryland is only asking industry to protect the community.

"Here in Garrett County, we've got to be very, very careful," Robison said. "This is a tourist-based economy. Throwing in an industrial economy inside of that could have detrimental effects."

From Delegate Wendell Beitzel
The bill is set to become law, if approved by the Maryland Senate and signed by the Governor, on June 1.

As passed by the House, those who own natural gas rights would be required to report these rights to the Department of the Environment by July 1 and then pay a $10 an acre tax by August 1.

They must further pay an additional $10 per acre the following year.

If the two year assessments do not cover the cost of the study, the owners of natural gas interest would be further charged a rate to cover the remaining costs without any limitation as to the study’s final cost.

Approximately 70,000 acres have been leased in Garrett & Allegany County. If the mandated fee is enacted by the Maryland General Assembly, the cost of the study could cost an initial $1.4 million.

Failure to provide adequate filings and pay the tax may result in the denial of any future permit if and when natural gas is drilled in Garrett & Allegany Counties. No notice requirements were presented included within the text of the bill.

“With such a short window from enactment to the filing, and with such a great penalty that can be imposed by the Department, this bill may have a number of due process issues that has unfortunately been overlooked by the House,” stated Beitzel.