Oil and gas leases in bay region spark debate

Chesapeake Bay Region:

“A company that’s leasing oil and gas rights in Virginia’s rural coastal plain has tapped a gusher of concern. Some people worry that drilling could pollute waters in the Chesapeake Bay region and turn pastoral Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula counties into noisy industrial zones.

But the president of the Texas company acquiring the leases, Shore Exploration & Production Corp., said drilling could turn landowners into millionaires and help the environment by providing relatively clean-burning natural gas… Much of the bay-region controversy centers on a drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.”

~Writes Rex Springston of the Richmond Times-Dispatch

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Citizens voice concerns over Fracking possibilities

Northern Virginia & Middle Peninsula:

“Citizens aired their concerns last Wednesday over the possibility of fracking taking place in a basin that stretches through parts of the Northern Neck and Essex County. During a regular meeting of the Northern Neck Soil and Water Conservation District, Former 99th District Delegate Albert C. Pollard and Richard Moncure of the Friends of the Rappahannock gave a presentation on fracking, or the horizontal drilling process of injecting chemicals into beds of rock underground known as shale formations to release natural gas, oil and other resources trapped in the rock.

Local interest in the subject first amassed when it was discovered that Texas-based Shore Exploration and Production Corp. had secured 85,000 acres of land in leases for fracking in the Taylorsville Basin, which stretches across Eastern Virginia into parts of Maryland. Most of the acres were leased in Caroline County, followed by Westmoreland, King George, Essex and King and Queen Counties.

Moncure said the leases were for seven years and renewable, while Pollard noted that the landowners were getting $15 per acre each year. If the oil companies found something, Pollard added, then landowners would receive a higher amount. Back in December, Shore Exploration President Stan Sherrill told the Northern Neck News that his company could practice nitrogen fracking in the basin, which, based on a conversation he said he had with a state inspector, produced very little environmental results as opposed to hydrofracking.”

~Writes Westmoreland News

Stomwater Act could devastate growth across the Northern Neck

Northern Neck

“Tiny droplets of rain could soon cost area residents big money if state legislation comes to pass.

Nearly 10 years in the making, the New Virginia Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (SWPP) has officials concerned, citing dire consequences to growth in rural communities if the act passes through and becomes commonwealth law.

According to new SWPP regulations, in accordance with the Chesapeake Bay Protection Act program, any land disturbance of more than 2,500 square feet will incur fees, planning and annual dues that could put an abrupt halt to new construction, renovations, upgrades and home improvements statewide.

As of July 2014, in the Commonwealth’s attempt to improve the quality of local rivers, bays and their tributaries, any party–from a multi-conglomerate building an office park in Fredericksburg to a homeowner in Warsaw looking to put in a driveway–will be subject to fees that will require engineer contracts, stormwater drainage field construction and annual dues with inspections and the costs they involve, all on the taxpayers dime.”

~Writes the Northern Neck News

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