Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 29, 1990 TAG: 9007290107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: CLINTWOOD LENGTH: Medium
The governing body also is insisting that the proposed injection well for salt water comes under the county's 1988 solid-waste ordinance, which prohibits the establishment of private dumps and landfills. Representatives of Equitable Resources Exploration, known as Erex, say they will proceed with their attempt to secure a permit for the well from the EPA. George Mason, an Erex attorney, said he is not sure a local governing body has the authority to block it.
Meanwhile, Erex has been cited by a state agency for its disposal of salt water in a Wise County waste lagoon after drilling.
Mike Abbott, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Mining, Minerals and Energy in Big Stone Gap, said Friday that the department's Division of Gas and Oil had cited Erex for improper disposal of brine waste water from a natural gas well. The salt water has been disposed of in the WelTech lagoon operated by Roger Wells of Wise, president of WelTech.
"The lagoon is not covered under our regulations. It doesn't come within the Division of Gas and Oil jurisdiction," Abbott said. "As the operator of it, Wells has no permit with the Gas and Oil Division."
Abbott said the state is holding Erex responsible for proper disposal of its brine water.
The state Water Control Board has cited Wells for operating a waste lagoon without a proper permit and for failure to apply for a permit, according to Dallas Sizemore of the water board's Abingdon office.
Wells has 10 days from the issuance of the citations to respond. They were issued about the middle of the week. The board had received no written response Saturday, but Sizemore said Wells had orally told board officials that he intended to remove the wastes from the lagoon, find some other place for them and convert the lagoon to a fish pond.
by CNB