Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
DRAFT Policy on Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) in the
Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area
**This policy is proposed to simply initiate discussion on the issue. The VASWCD board discussed
issues of fracking at the October 2014 meeting and put forward the general policy statement below for
review and comments by district directors. The VASWCD Board does not recommend this for vote at
the Tuesday, December 10 business meeting but rather provides this information in order to seek
general discussion on the issue and primarily to assist in the development of a VASWCD subcommittee of the legislative committee to address this topic in the coming 2015 calendar year. Such
recommended committee would be responsible for convening meetings on this issue with stakeholders,
providing for educational dialogue between stakeholders and districts through Area meeting
presentations, VASWCD training events and board meetings, and for developing final draft policy on
the issue of hydraulic fracturing for review by the VASWCD board no later than Fall 2015 and for
consideration by the full membership at the 2015 business meeting. Any final policy presented at the
2015 business meeting would be presented to the membership for inclusion in the VASWCD policy
book.
Note that in addition to possible adoption of a finalized fracking policy in December 2015, all items in
the VASWCD policy book will be reviewed and renewed, if still applicable, during the 2015 business
meeting. The full VASWCD Policy Book is available online at http://www.vaswcd.org/vaswcd-policy.
If interested in serving on the sub-committee to address this issue please visit the committee sign-up
table near the registration desk and indicate your interest via the sign-up contact form. The committee
chair will contact all individuals who have expressed interest in serving after the Annual Meeting.
PROPOSED POLICY FOR INITIAL CONVERSATION:
 The Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts supports a study on
drilling for oil and gas in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area to ensure
water quality is maintained.
ISSUE: Several leases for oil and gas drilling have been obtained in the Taylorsville Basin, which is
located in the Coastal Plain of Virginia. Currently, the region does not have any active wells and has
only had exploratory drilling done in the past. Proximity to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, as
well as fragile geology of groundwater aquifers, causes concern of possible water contamination
during the drilling and hydraulic fracturing process.
CONCERNS:
a. Hydraulic fracturing requires massive amounts of water, sometimes in the excess of millions
of gallons, to create a gas producing well. Where will that water come from?
b. Once gas production occurs, much of the water comes back up contaminated. What will be
done with the contaminated water?
c. Fracking wells have been used to dispose of contaminated water and chemicals in other areas
of the country, leading to earthquakes in some of those areas.
.
d. Drilling companies use a variety of chemicals in their drilling process, which is undisclosed
because they are considered ‘trade secrets’. What impact can these chemicals have by
themselves on the surrounding environment and population?
.
e. If drilling were to be approved in the Taylorsville Basin, the minimum
engineering/management efforts that must be accomplished are:
1.
Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy and the Department of Environmental
Quality must have joint approval authority for permits.
2.
Monitoring wells must be in place in close proximity to drilling sites to ensure
groundwater quality is maintained.
3.
All chemicals used in the process should be disclosed to the Departments of Mines,
Minerals, and Energy, Department of Environmental Quality, and Department of
Emergency Management.
4.
All recommendations to the drilling permit application by DEQ MUST be
implemented before DMME grants final approval.
5.
Surface and ground water cleanup plans shall be developed for the drilling site and
all downstream impacts.
6.
Sufficient bond, paid by drilling company, shall be in place to cover any potential
costs in cleanup of contaminated areas around drilling site.
As with uranium mining, we really only have one chance to perform the task right. Should a spill occur,
it is certain that the both the ground and surface within the area will be contaminated with gas and
chemicals, and will continue to be so for years. We support a moratorium until all reservations about
drilling and hydraulic fracturing have been adequately addressed.