North Carolina and fracking
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In June, 2012, the state Senate and House approved the legalization of fracking in North Carolina,[1] and overrode a veto by Gov. Bev Perdue.[2][3] However, in June 2014 Gov. Pat McCrory (R) legalized fracking in the state. In August, 2014 the state’s Mining and Energy Commission began holding hearings that would determine. If the Commission approves the practice, fracking in North Carolina could begin as early as May 2015.[4]
The legalization of fracking would roll back state laws dating back to 1945 that prohibit horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, the two main components of producing natural gas from prehistoric shale rock formations.[5]
Introduction
Geologists have estimated a 40-year supply concentrated around Lee, Chatham, and Moore counties in the state, but the actual reserve could be smaller; some say test wells would help assess.[6]
On March 16, 2012, state environmental regulators released a study concluding that fracking could be used safely in North Carolina if lawmakers adopt the right precautions. It listed a little over a dozen recommendations before authorizing the drilling method, including full disclosure of chemicals used to regulators; banning the use of diesel fuel; collecting data on groundwater, surface water and air quality before wells in an area are drilled; and limiting how much local water oil and gas companies can use. Release of the study coincided with a trip by NC Gov. Bev Perdue to Pennsylvania to meet with energy companies and fracking-friendly local officials. Perde said that she believes natural gas drilling could be done safely, but has not made up her mind on whether she'll support efforts to make fracking legal in the state.[7]
On May 1, 2012, the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued its final report incorporating public comment, but did not change the agency’s overall conclusions that could fracking could be done safely in the state.[8]
On June 6, 2012, the state Senate approved the legalization of fracking in the state. The bill is widely expected to be approved by the Republican-led House.[9] The vote came just hours after a 2012 U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the state has 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Deep River Basin -- much less optimistic than earlier estimates by state geologists.[10]
On July 1, 2012, Governor Perdue (D) vetoed the legislation, saying that the measure approved by the Republican-led legislature would not ensure adequate environmental protections.[11]
Republicans successfully overrode Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto on July 2, 2012.[12][13]
However, a moratorium was put on hydraulic fracturing to provide time for fracking-specific regulations to be drafted. The North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission expects to finalize fracking regulations by January 1, 2015. They would go into effect in March 2015, with the first drilling permits becoming available on July 1, 2015.[14] As noted, Gov. Pat McCrory approved fracking in North Carolina in June 2014.[4]
In May 2015 a judge halted the approval of gas drilling operations in North Carolina until a "higher court weighs in on the legality of the appointment of several boards that manage state resources and the environment."[15]
Reserves and resources
In June 2012 an assessment was released by the U.S. Geological Survey estimating that North Carolina's Deep River Basin potentially holds 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas and 83 million barrels of natural gas liquids.[16]
The Deep River Basin spans 150 miles from Durham to the South Carolina border. The USGS estimate for the Basin is equivalent to about 5.6 years of NC usage based on 2010 state consumption; state geologists had originally estimated 5 years of gas in an area 13 times smaller.[17]
Legislative issues and regulations
2011 veto
In 2011, NC Gov. Perdue (D) vetoed legislation that would have put shale gas exploration on a fast track in the state, calling it unconstitutional.[18]
In early May 2012, Perdue created a work group to develop guidelines that would allow fracking. North Carolina state regulators concluded fracking could be done safely in the state.[19]
SB 820
On May 16, 2012, SB 820 Clean Energy and Economic Security Act advanced, which would legalize fracking within two years in this state, giving agency officials until 2014 to come up with provisions to protect the public health and the environment. The bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Bob Rucho, and would create a new agency, the N.C. Oil and Gas Board, to oversee fracking and write regulations, and would prohibit local city or county governments from passing ordinances that would ban fracking. The bill would also protect natural gas drilling companies with a 2-year ban on public disclosure of all records, with data classified as a trade secret shielded forever. The bill will compete for votes against a more moderate approach expected from Sen. Mitch Gillespie, a McDowell County Republican who favors greater public safeguards.[20]
On June 5, 2012, SB 820 was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, and was later approved by the full Senate and the House of Representatives.[21][16]
On July 1, 2012, Governor Perdue (D) vetoed the legislation, saying that the measure approved by the Republican-led legislature would not ensure adequate environmental protections.[22]
Republicans successfully overrode Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto on July 2, 2012, after rallying some Democrats to vote with them. The key vote was Rep. Becky Carney, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County who opposes fracking but pushed the wrong button and accidentally voted with pro-fracking Republicans. A maneuver by Wake County Republican Paul “Skip” Stam prevented her from changing her vote, giving Republicans the final vote needed to override the Governor's veto.[23][24]
Senate Bill 820 prohibits the state from issuing permits for hydraulic fracturing “until the General Assembly takes legislative action to allow the issuance of such permits,” and approves of regulations being considered by the Mining and Energy Commission (MEC).[25]
SB 76
On February 11, 2013, the NC Senate introduced SB 76, which would allows permits to be issued on or after March 1, 2015, regardless of the MEC’s findings. On June 7, 2013, the state House approved a fracking policy that keeps the moratorium on shale gas exploration in place until at least March 2015 and includes a number of public protections and environmental safeguards, rebuffing the Senate bill.[25]
Chemical disclosure
In 2012 a panel was created by the state legislature to craft safety rules for shale gas exploration. The panel - the N.C. Mining & Energy Commission - approved its first rule in March 2013, exempting certain chemicals from public disclosure as "trade secrets," but requiring fracking operators to submit trade secrets under seal to the state in case the data is needed to treat emergency injuries. According to the Charlotte Observer, fracking giant Halliburton told the state’s environmental regulators the rule goes too far, and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is therefore working to get the rule changed.[26]
Fracking waste
In 2013 NC state lawmakers introduced a bill to allow for injecting brines and toxins deep underground. The bill would undo 40 years of state law, as underwater leakage in the 1960s and 70s led to the state’s ban on deep injection wells. The state’s environmental agency, in a 484-page report published in 2012, urged against legalizing deep disposal of fracking wastes; state geologists say the underground geology west of Raleigh is not porous enough to absorb fluids, forcing the pressurized injections to seek fissures and faults, potentially contaminating freshwater supplies.
The bill would also lift the state’s fracking moratorium in March 2015. The bill has passed the state Senate and will go to the House, where it is likely to be assigned to the Public Utilities Committee.[27]
Eastern Cherokee Band Forbids Fracking on Its Sovereign Lands
In October 2014 the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians declared a ban on fracking on its sovereign land in what is today North Carolina. The reasons noted for the ban were adverse health and environmental impacts.[28]
Offshore Drilling
In January 2014, 300 residents of Kure Beach, North Carolina protested Mayor Dean Lambeth's decision to sign a letter, written by America's Energy Forum part of the American Petroleum Institute, supporting seismic testing for future offshore oil and gas drilling. The seismic testing is part of a plan to open an area 50 miles off the East Coast from Virginia to Georgia to oil and gas drilling by 2022. [29]
Citizen activism
On July 8, 2013 it was reported that over one hundred activists in North Carolina associated with Earth Frist! shut down an oil & gas chemical supplier to protest fracking. “We are here to send a message to the oil and gas industries: we will not stand idly by as you destroy this land, or any other, for your personal profit. Respect existence, or expect resistance,” said an Earth First! activist.[30]
In June 2015 the National Association of Colored People (NCAAP) fighting fracking in North Carolina. The NCAAP is contemplated a lawsuit in Stokes County. This came a few weeks after the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources got permission from the town of Walnut Cove commissioners to use land in the predominately black community of Walnut Tree to assess shale gas prospects in the Dan River basin.[31]
Citizen groups
- Don't Frack NC
- Frack Free NC
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- NC Citizens Against Fracking
Industry groups
Groups accused of paying supporters of fracking
In September 2014 N.C. Energy Coalition and Energy Creates Jobs were accused of hiring homeless individuals unfamiliar with fracking to hold signs in support of the practice during a state hearing. These supporters were bused from Winston-Salem. N.C. Energy Coalition is sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute.[32]
Reports
In June 2012 an assessment was released by the U.S. Geological Survey estimating that North Carolina's Deep River Basin holds 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas and 83 million barrels of natural gas liquids.[16]
Resources
References
- ↑ "Senate passes fracking bill, but N.C. may be less rich in gas," Sacramento Bee, June 7, 2012.
- ↑ John Murawski, "Carney's mistaken vote is key in fracking override," Charlotte Observer, Jul. 03, 2012.
- ↑ "What the frack? North Carolina lawmaker accidentally votes to legalize fracking" Dylan Stableford, ABC News, July 3, 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Fracking fight advances in North Carolina" Sarah Ferris, Washington Post, August 20, 2014.
- ↑ "Senate passes fracking bill, but N.C. may be less rich in gas," Sacramento Bee, June 7, 2012.
- ↑ John Murawski, "N.C. regulators support fracking, but report calls for safeguards," News Observer, May 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Report: Fracking for shale gas can be safe in N.C., if protections in place," Fay Observer, March 17, 2012.
- ↑ John Murawski, "N.C. regulators support fracking, but report calls for safeguards," News Observer, May 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Senate passes fracking bill, but N.C. may be less rich in gas," Sacramento Bee, June 7, 2012.
- ↑ "Senate passes fracking bill, but N.C. may be less rich in gas," Sacramento Bee, June 7, 2012.
- ↑ Wade Rawlins, "North Carolina governor rejects fracking law," Reuters, July 1, 2012.
- ↑ John Murawski, "Carney's mistaken vote is key in fracking override," Charlotte Observer, Jul. 03, 2012.
- ↑ "What the frack? North Carolina lawmaker accidentally votes to legalize fracking" Dylan Stableford, ABC News, July 3, 2012.
- ↑ Bonner R. Cohen, "North Carolina Lifts Fracking Moratorium," Heartland, July 14, 2014.
- ↑ [ http://www.wral.com/judge-temporarily-halts-fracking-permits-in-north-carolina/14657900/#qwQvCmOLeeHGdv4v.99 "Judge temporarily halts 'fracking' permits in NC", WRAL.com, May 20, 2015
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 NORTH CAROLINA: Senate passes fracking bill as USGS counts limited resources" Ellen Gilmer, Energywire, June 7, 2012.
- ↑ "Senate passes fracking bill, but N.C. may be less rich in gas," Sacramento Bee, June 7, 2012.
- ↑ Wade Rawlins, "North Carolina governor rejects fracking law," Reuters, July 1, 2012.
- ↑ "N.C. regulators support fracking, but report calls for safeguards" John Murawski, News Observer, May 2, 2012.
- ↑ John Murawski, "Controversial fracking bill advances," Charlotte News Observer, May. 17, 2012.
- ↑ John Murawski, "Fracking bill approved by NC Senate committee," News Observer, June 5, 2012.
- ↑ Wade Rawlins, "North Carolina governor rejects fracking law," Reuters, July 1, 2012.
- ↑ John Murawski, "Carney's mistaken vote is key in fracking override," Charlotte Observer, Jul. 03, 2012.
- ↑ "What the frack? North Carolina lawmaker accidentally votes to legalize fracking" Dylan Stableford, ABC News, July 3, 2012.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 John Murawski, "House approves bill that keeps fracking moratorium in place," Charlotte News Observer, June 7, 2013.
- ↑ John Murawski, "Fracking giant Halliburton nixes NC’s chemical disclosure rule," newsobserver.com May 03, 2013.
- ↑ Anne Blythe, "Fracking waste could go to N.C. coastal towns if ban is lifted," McClatchy, March 5, 2013.
- ↑ "Eastern Cherokee Band Forbids Fracking on Its Sovereign Lands" Indian Country, ICTMN Staff, October 20, 2014.
- ↑ "NC town called 'ground zero' in offshore drilling fight shows political cost of backing Big Oil over local jobs" Facing South, January 2016.
- ↑ "Hundreds of Protesters Shut Down Oil & Gas Chemical Supplier to Protest Fracking" Earth First! Newswire, July 8, 2013.
- ↑ John Cox, "Over 100 people sign up to support NAACP fracking lawsuit," Winston Salem Journal, June 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Did energy group bus homeless in to support fracking?" John Boyle, Citizen-Times, September 16, 2014.
Related GEM.wiki articles
Click on the map below for state-by-state information on fracking:
External links
External articles
- Fractured North Carolina, Fay Observer, May 2014
