W. Va. Code § 22-6-38

This article shall not apply to or affect any well work permitted prior to the effective date of this article under former article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code, unless such well is, after completion, whether such completion is prior to or subsequent to the effective date of this article, deepened subsequent to the effective date of this article through another coal seam to another formation above the top of the uppermost member of the "Onondaga Group" or to a depth of less than six thousand feet, whichever is shallower.