Dive Brief:

• A bill which would allow drill cuttings from horizontal wells to be disposed of at commercial solid waste plants passed unanimously in the West Virginia Senate.
• The bill include a mandate that the drillings must be placed into separate, lined cells. Drilling companies will be paying $1 per ton, used to fund the Department of Environmental Protection studies surveying the viability of using existing landfill sites for cuttings.
• In addition, the bill sets aside $75,000 to fund a scientific study regarding the leeching of the cells. The bill also instructs sites to install  monitors to measure radioactivity. 

Dive Insight:

Senator Herb Snyder (D-Jefferson/Berkeley) mentioned the importance of this bill in order to govern how drillings are handled because there are not many regulations dealing with this issue. He also said that horizontal drilling is the future of the state, and that the bill was created with high regard to the environment. Changes made to the bill will have to be approved by the House before it reaches the governor.