The current STRONGER review of Virginia’s gas and oil regulations ongoing in Virginia this week adds another set of eyes to regulations which govern the extraction, production and transportation of natural gas in the state.
Despite what industry opponents have said publicly, this review is not an industry-funded review, but rather one the state requested in response to requests it received from the environmental community asking for additional review of the state’s existing regulations.
While industry personnel were invited to participate in the review, environmental stakeholders and state regulators from outside Virginia were also invited and will be represented on STRONGER’s official review team.
The STRONGER review will be conducted independent of the years-long review of state regulations which has been ongoing since 2014. In fact, that review and the recommended regulatory actions now being considered remain on track.
STRONGER, which stands for State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations, is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder educational organization with a purpose of assisting states in documenting environmental regulations associated with the production of natural gas and oil. Its partners include environmental groups as well as industry groups, the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy.
STRONGER conducted an initial assessment of Virginia regulations in 2004 and concluded that Virginia regulations and practices were stringent and effective in protecting the environment and exceeded those of most other states. The STRONGER group will be partnering with the StatesFirst Initiative to conduct its review in Virginia this week. StatesFirst is a multi-state collaboration featuring regulatory experts and technical staff from several states.
In advance of the STRONGER recommendations being completed, the Sierra Club pushed its “anti-fracking,” “keep it in the ground,” “no fossil fuels” message through a small gathering at the review location at which it again alleged unproven dangers of fossil fuels and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).
Fossil fuels, including natural gas and oil, have been responsible for the quality of life and energy security all Americans enjoy. In fact, the fracking process has been in use since 1948 and the majority of gas or oil wells in the United States have utilized this well completion technique in order to develop and capture oil and natural gas energy resources. It has been done safely and without environmental contamination as EPA studies have shown time and again including most recently in June 2015. The Sierra Club has continued its attempts to paint a picture of fracturing as a danger, when in fact it is a time-proven and safe process which results in many benefits to our environment, including cleaner water and cleaner air through the processes and products that the production of natural gas and oil make possible. Responsible environmentalists recognize that the increased use of natural gas for power generation in the United States has lowered CO2 emissions to 1992 levels and that use has resulted in the U.S. contributing more to improving air quality in the world than any other country.
The Commonwealth of Virginia has a rich history of natural gas and oil extraction and has more than 80 years of history to back up the facts. The first commercial gas field in the state is located on the Washington/Scott County border. The field produced natural gas from the 1930s through the 1980s. There are more than 9,300 gas wells in Virginia alone and there have been no proven cases of groundwater contamination attributed to fracking.
“It is important to remember all the things natural gas and oil make possible — from lower gas prices at the pump – currently lower than we have seen in decades; to the natural gas used for home heating and cooking; to natural gas in demand for job creating manufacturing processes; to the natural gas which provides all of us with low-cost electricity at our homes and businesses every day,” said Ian Landon, president of the Virginia Oil and Gas Association. “It is important to remember that other energy sources also rely on natural gas. Windmills and solar panels require natural gas and oil from fracked wells to produce the materials that are required to build and operate them, not to mention, transport them to their destinations. The natural gas and oil industry makes all of this possible every day with its continued safe and environmentally sound production and operation.”
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