state; thousands of high-paying jobs with benefits; the incorpo-
ration of hundreds of local businesses used as subcontractors;
hotel and motel night stays; restaurant and food service needs;
increased state, county and local tax revenues; and payments
of millions of dollars in rights-of-way access to landowners.
WVE: What is the one law or one change that would
have a major positive impact on your industry?
CB: IOGAWV’s top legislative priority is to get financial and
regulatory relief on aboveground storage tanks located in the
zone of peripheral concern that are 210 barrels or less in size
that contain produced fluids like brine water and trace oil, are
regulated under other state-approved compliance programs
and that, according to former West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman, present
minimal to nil threat to human health.
The industry absolutely supports the registration of all
aboveground storage tanks. However, the financial and regu-
latory burden associated with the Aboveground Storage Tanks
Act to the classification of tanks described here is, quite simply,
duplicative, extremely costly and unneeded. These unnecessary
costs have caused many oil and gas companies to reduce work-
force and may force them to cease operations. This situation is
dire for many oil and gas producers.
44
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
Rebecca McPhail
President, West Virginia
Manufacturers Association
WVE: Give us a brief update
on your industry.
RM: Manufacturing is well posi-
tioned for growth in West Virginia
thanks in large part to the poten-
tial for downstream development of
ethane and other shale-related byprod-
ucts. Manufacturing employs nearly
48,000 people, more than any other
heavy industry in the state.
WVE: How do you think the new state and national
leadership will affect your industry?
RM: The administration and legislative leadership seem to
understand the potential for growth that exists in the manufac-
turing sector. Legislative leadership is demonstrating a will to
consider policy that helps make West Virginia more competitive
with surrounding states and is also looking carefully at existing
policies and regulations that may be impeding industry growth.