Wetzel County Action Group
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Reflections on the Law

This page has not been approved by the WCAG Directors. It was written by Ray Renaud for review and approval.


The topic that causes the most discomfort in our meetings with Chesapeake Energy is the degree of compliance with the laws and regulations of the State of West Virginia. The areas of concern, and Chesapeake's responses follows:

  1. Road conditions. Blanket permits for oversize loads contain the following restriction: "No travel is allowed when the surface of highways is made hazardous by rain, sleet, snow, ice, or when movement is made hazardous by fog or wind.". Chesapeake responds that this is a judgment call, and will only restrict travel if the Wetzel County Sheriff closes the road. In practice they have moved trucks on roads that were glare ice. A person could not stand on the road without falling down. Numerous incidents have occurred during these road conditions as can be seen on the truck incident link.
  2. Permits. When over length trucks operating without a permit are brought to their attention, nothing is done to correct the condition. See the over length truck link for examples. The permit information document lists the following restriction: "Travel for oversize vehicles which are 14' 0" or less wide, 75' 0" or less length, 10' 0" or less overhang and 14' 0" or less high is allowed where appropriate (when requested) from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week.". The over length truck link shows examples of the travel late at night.
  3. Weight limits. Gravel trucks are known to be carrying more than the 71,500 pound weight limit for the local service routes. The Public Service Commission (PSC) inspectors have issued warnings, and our members have seen the scale weights that exceeded the limit when they followed a gravel truck on the scale. We can tell when PSC inspectors are in the area by the level of gravel in the trucks. When they are not in the area the level is well above the side boards for the smaller trucks. When they are in the area the level is below the sideboards. Two bridge inspectors were inspecting culverts and made the observation that the trucks are not running with the tag wheels down, increasing the axle weight on the highway and culverts. See culverts link.

The reason I wrote these reflections on the law was a renewal notice for my portable radio licenses. The portable radios are standard models purchased at Wal-Mart and commonly used by hunters. The renewal for using the radios on the GMRS frequencies was $85 for 5 years. I checked with other users of this radio type, and no one bothered with the license. I renewed the license with great difficulty, due to the obscure nature of the web registration process, because I felt that it was not proper for me to judge which laws I could obey and which ones that I could discard. I feel that if I restricted Chesapeake's access to my leased mineral, they would rightfully use the law to enforce their rights. By the same token they should not act as judges as to which laws and regulations that they must obey as outlined in this paper. Some further observations about the three issues follows:

  1. Road conditions. It is extremely difficult for us to get in touch with our County Sheriff under any circumstances. We are working on this communications issue and will be making proposals for a secure website that the Sheriff can use to close the roads under the appropriate conditions. In the meanwhile common sense should prevail. Running trucks when the roads were covered in ice exposed their personnel and the local citizens to extremely dangerous conditions.
  2. Permits. All oversize loads should have permits. If there are permit restrictions that are not reasonable such as "Travel for oversize vehicles which are 14' 0" or less wide, 75' 0" or less length, 10' 0" or less overhang and 14' 0" or less high is allowed where appropriate (when requested) from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week."; they should work with the citizens and lawmakers to change that rule. The WCAG feels that it would be in the interests of its members to run around the clock, rather than have heavier traffic during the daylight hours when more members are on the road. We would be willing to work with Chesapeake to have this changed, and would like Chesapeake's support for regulations that do not make any sense on local service routes such as the over length regulation: "Escort vehicle required with Oversize Load sign at rear". In this case it is better to have the escort in front because there is no passing situation on a local service route as there is on other classes of roads where the passer could misjudge the length of the vehicle being passed.
  3. Weight Limits. Chesapeake receives the weight slips for the gravel trucks and should remind the drivers to comply with the weight limit when they see it being exceeded.