Marcellus Drilling Job Boom? Not for West Virginians
Dan Heyman, Public News Service-WV
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/27054-1
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(06/20/12) CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Statistics confirm what some in West Virginia already suspected: Local residents are not seeing the employment boom expected in the Marcellus natural gas fields.
In fact, Workforce West Virginia reports a slight decline this year in the number of West Virginians working directly in natural-gas production.
Dave Efaw, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia State Building Trades, says they've been fighting to see local workers get these jobs, but many are going to people brought in from out of state.
"There has been no increase in job numbers for West Virginians. The unemployment has increased in northern West Virginia, while all this Marcellus Shale industry is booming."
The industry claims West Virginians lack the skills for many of those positions - but Efaw says that isn't true.
The economic boost which also was predicted from out-of-state workers staying and eating here is proving to be very limited, Efaw says.
Recent figures show an increase in West Virginians doing things such as building pipelines, although Efaw says local workers expected to see a lot more.
"Kind of like a gold rush. They led us to believe there's this great resource in West Virginia, which there is - and we're on the outside, looking in."
At least 17 county and local governments in Ohio and northern West Virginia have passed resolutions calling for more jobs for local workers. Efaw says people are reacting to what they're seeing every day.
"When you go through northern West Virginia, you see a lot of out-of-state license plates. That's why I think people are signing these resolutions - because they want to see West Virginians working on these projects."
West Virginia State Building Trades has been distributing yard signs and bumper stickers promoting local jobs for local workers. Efaw says they've given out hundreds of the signs.
"It's hard to go anywhere in the area and not see one of them, and the bumper stickers - I mean, we bought thousands of those. We have given out thousands."
There may be some jobs coming to run the plants being built to use the gas and its byproducts, Efaw says, but for the next several years, the bulk of the work will be in drilling and building infrastructure.
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