WHEELING, W.Va.

Every week, without fail, frustrated neighbors call the NEWS9 newsroom with complaints that companies coming in to drill in the Marcellus Shale for natural gas are bringing in heavy load after load, tearing up their roads.

Some call us because they're concerned about safety for themselves, for school buses and emergency vehicles.

NEWS9 launched a Target9 investigation to find out whether there is a long-term plan to put a stop to the poor road conditions people are dealing with.

In Wetzel County, American Ridge Road has taken a beating.

"We still have potholes and dust and all of these issues," said American Ridge Road resident Jim Holler.  "Why come in and just totally destroy, for a year, everything and then try to decide, ok we need to do something?"

Under West Virginia’s Oil and Gas Policy, drilling companies are supposed to maintain and repair the roads to the state's standards.

That's where Jim McCune comes in.  He's the oil and gas coordinator for District 6, which is the Northern Panhandle.

"We have about 500 miles of road that are impacted by the industry,” he said.

Under the state policy:

•  Drilling companies have to notify the state of which roads they'll be using.
•  The route should be filmed if at all possible before the project begins.
•  The company and state should secure an agreement defining improvements.
•  Any work within the DOH right-of-way should be performed to DOH standards.

"Some of the exploration companies, not all of them, are taking a paved road or an improved road and making it a gravel haul road, which is unacceptable to the Division [of Highways].  We'll allow that to happen for a short period of time, while they get their equipment in but we also want to see action plans to how you're going to rehab the road or reconstruct that road," McCune said.

He gives Chesapeake Energy high marks for being proactive.  The company said it is spending $60 million to $70 million to upgrade and repair roads it's using.

But McCune said that's not the case with everyone.  The Oil and Gas Policy says that if companies don't maintain the roads or if they create safety issues the state can make the repairs and bill the company for the cost.  Or the state can revoke the company's bond -- that's money that each business is supposed to put up before using the roads -- ranging up to a million dollars.

The state has not had to go through with bond revocation in the Northern Panhandle yet. 

The state has stepped in in some situations, sending a letter to Stone Energy in August.

"The DOH had requested immediate repairs to Doolin Run due to safety concerns affecting the traveling public. It took Stone Energy approximately 8 weeks to perform the requested base repairs and asphalt replacement. This is an unacceptable time frame for repairs... We will pursue other remedies if the repair work does not proceed on an acceptable schedule."

People like Jim Holler think it's time the state moves in.

"Why not fix it? Why wait until someone had to complain to get these issues addressed?"

NEWS9 called and emailed representatives at Stone Energy earlier this month, but did not hear back. 

WEB EXTRA: Chesapeake Energy’s progress of road repairs

Source: Bob Whipp, director of Corporate Development, Transportation and Infrastructure

• Macedonia Road will be partially completed this year; Route 89 will have base failure repairs this year; Fork Ridge will only have repairs; Stone Church Road was patched and some sections received overlay; Oklahoma Road was maintained as stone; there was no work on Route 67, as there was no noted damage; and, Apple Pie Ridge is being maintained.

• The biggest challenge we encountered was the availability of contractors. Because we brought on an engineering consulting firm later in the winter, we weren’t able to get the roads evaluated and repairs designed and out to contract before many of the contractors had filled their schedules. This led to some delays and the inability to complete some of the planned work this year. We expect to work throughout the winter to get the contracts bid and be ready to begin work again in early spring. Until then, we will maintain contractors to perform repairs during winter months.

• There have been detours and delays throughout the repair processes, and we recognize these may have been frustrating at times for residents. We do appreciate their patience, because by doing these upgrades and repairs now, we expect to have less damage and fewer repairs in the future and in many cases, the roads will be in better condition than when we arrived.

• We have become more proactive when it comes to keeping roads in safe condition, so in many cases, we make upgrades to roads before our traffic uses them. Also, because we do have an engineering consulting firm that reviews all of the roads we use throughout the Northern Panhandle, we are able to dedicate contractors to year-round maintenance.
  
  
•  Our traffic uses several roads that are used by multiple companies. With the aid of the West Virginia Division of Highways, we are in negotiations with these companies to share the costs.
  
  
•   We’ve spent about $60 million to $70 million to upgrade and repair more than 83 miles of roads throughout the Northern Panhandle.