American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015 - 177

ConventionSection: Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia

IOGAWV Seeks To Remedy
AST Bill's Consequences
By Corinne Westeman
CHARLESTON, W.V.-Sometimes correcting an immediate problem leads to
unintended consequences in the long
term.
The Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia says its state government has created such unintended consequences by passing an all-inclusive
aboveground storage tank bill in the wake
of the January 2014 Elk River chemical
spill near Charleston. Chemicals from a
Freedom Industries storage tank spilled
into the river and went undetected for a
short period. As a result, water supplies
were deemed contaminated, effecting
300,000 users in a nine-county area
(AOGR, February 2014, pg. 36).
Association leadership states the group
will discuss the latest news about this
issue at its 2015 winter convention, Feb.
10-11 at the Charleston Town Center
Marriott.
IOGAWV officers argue that its member companies' tanks already must comply
with both state and federal regulations
governing tanks. Furthermore, they say,
those tanks do not contain any chemicals
that pose a hazard to human health.
The association confirms SB 373,
which contains the "Aboveground Storage
Tank Act," passed during the state legislature's 2014 session and requires all
tanks to be registered and inspected.
IOGAWV Executive Director Charlie
Burd indicates the rule governs 640,000
tanks associated with various industries,
including an estimated 40,000 belonging
to approximately 1,500 bonded oil and
natural gas operators. To correct the bill's
unintended consequences, Burd says IOGAWV hopes to help make legislators
aware of the new law's shortcomings
during the 2015 session.
The association confirms that companies or individuals with an aboveground
storage tank were required to register it
with the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection by Oct. 1, 2014,
had to submit a spill prevention response
plan by Dec. 3, and had to have their
tanks inspected and certified fit for service

by Dec. 31.
All aboveground storage tanks located
within the "zone of critical concern"-
those nearer to water intakes-are required
to meet even more stringent AST Act
criteria, he says.
According to Burd, the WVDEP issued
an interpretive rule that described how
the AST Act would be implemented and
enforced. The interpretive rule has provided some temporary relief to oil and
gas operators' obligations regarding inspections and tank certifications.
"The WVDEP secretary has stated
that the chemicals in the industry's storage
tanks are not harmful," he adds. "So,
during this year's legislative session, we
will campaign for the legislature to remove
the language and provisions in SB 373
that apply to storage tanks associated
with the oil and gas industry."
Burd emphasizes that the act has
wrought negative impacts in several industries, such as manufacturing companies and agricultural entities, which
also have aboveground storage tanks
that do not contain harmful chemicals
but still are regulated under the AST
Act. He says IOGAWV likely will work
alongside groups representing those affected industries to argue for change in
the law.
"When the bill was introduced during
the 2014 session, it was intended to regulate storage tanks not yet regulated,
which would not have applied to most
oil and gas tanks," he continues. "The
bill that finally passed, however, overreached in language and scope. Now,
there are more than 60,000 tanks in West
Virginia that have to meet certain requirements. With the amount of available
resources and manpower, that is not practical for either the state government or
the tank owners."
The association's winter meeting will
provide members with a great opportunity
to network with legislators, and potentially
dialogue over the AST issue, Burd adds.
"The membership and legislative reception
gives IOGAWV members direct access
to their delegates and state senators, and
allows time for one-on-one interaction,"

he says. "We have many great men and
women representing us in Charleston,
but sometimes both sides need to come
together and discuss what issues should
be given priority in our state, especially
considering our legislative session only
lasts for two months out of the year."
Affecting Livelihoods
IOGAWV President David Haney,
president of E&H Manufacturing in
Charleston, says he wants to find a solution
to the issue as early in the legislative session as possible. The 2015 West Virginia
Legislature was scheduled to begin its
session on Jan. 14.
Haney remarks that the AST Act is
the association's most pressing issue. The
association conducted a pre-election survey
of legislators concerning SB 373, he reports. Of the 60 percent who responded,
a majority of legislators agreed SB 373
needed to be fixed. "Almost without exception, they admitted that they did not
realize the stipulations that caused the
unintended consequences were even in
the bill," Haney states.
IOGAWV has embraced a proactive
approach and has begun an aggressive
campaign to push for a legislative solution.
According to Haney, the association-
with help from its public relations group,
Charles Ryan Associates-is developing
handouts that will demonstrate the legislation's negative economic impacts, including:
* Job losses;
* Reducing severance and property
tax revenues;
* More bankruptcies; and
* Adverse effects on employees, families and businesses that support the industry.
"As it is written, the AST Act is a real
threat to the livelihood of some, maybe
even most, of IOGAWV's conventional
producers," Haney comments. "It's simple:
After the spill, the legislators panicked
and overreached. They did not expect or
intend operators or business owners to
struggle with this issue, but they have,
and many of them already are looking to
correct it."
JANUARY 2015 177

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015

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