New West Virginia gas drilling rules changed at last minute, perhaps due to industry influence

Earlier this week I blogged that the Governor of West Virginia had filed an executive order directing the state Department of Environmental Protection to establish new rules for Marcellus Shale drilling activities. I wrote that the new rules were not sufficient to protect the environment and public health. This morning I read that the Tomblin administration weakened the executive order "just hours before the order was signed and publicly announced," that a draft was provided to industry but not to the environmental experts, and that governor's office is refusing to make public its correspondence with industry lobbyists "who were helping craft state drilling policies." The Charleston Gazette has the report.