Fracking fights are not over in North Carolina. This week in CIB.

Legislative Watch: Fracking Continues to Generate Controversy in Legislature

The fight over fracking is far from over in North Carolina. Last week in the General Assembly, legislation was filed in both chambers to disapprove the rules on fracking finalized late last year by the Mining and Energy Commission (MEC).

Introduction of disapproval bills places the effective date of those rules on hold until the bills have been acted upon or the legislative session adjourns. The disapproval bills are HB 76 and SB 72.

Conservationists have roundly criticized the fracking rules adopted by the MEC as inadequate to protect public health and our state’s natural resources from the risks of natural gas mining via hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The technique of horizontal drilling, combined with fracturing rock layers containing natural gas through the forced underground injection of water and other fluids, is commonly referred to as “fracking.” It has not been allowed previously in our state, but some mining and political interests have pushed hard for an accelerated permitting process which could in theory have the first fracking permits issued in North Carolina this year.

Conservationist criticisms of the rules on fracking adopted by the MEC include the following:

• There are inadequate safeguards against contamination of groundwater by toxic chemicals in the fracking fluids.
• There are inadequate measures for disposal of the used and contaminated water returned to the surface during the process.
• There are no standards to address air pollution from the fracking process.
• The rules lack basic procedural safeguards such as clear “stop work” order authority for regulators when violations of the rules and related standards and permits are found.
• The rules allow mining companies to force unwilling landowners to permit fracking-related drilling underneath their properties (“compulsory pooling”).
• The rules allow mining companies to make overbroad claims of “trade secrecy” to keep the identity of toxic chemicals in their fracking fluids hidden from the public and first responders.

Fracking critics also point out that the estimated possible reserves of gas in North Carolina shale rock formations are small, and that the market price of natural gas has dropped so much that there is little incentive for a rush to permit fracking here.

Some conservation advocates are concerned that the majority legislative leadership may co-opt the disapproval legislation for the purpose of weakening the rules even further. Disapproval and legislative re-write of the rules could be used as a tool to eliminate the modest concessions to public protections now contained in the fracking rules as adopted by MEC. However, the debate over that risk is effectively moot, since rule disapproval legislation has already been introduced.

NCLCV will closely follow the progress of this legislation and advocate for stronger restrictions on the hazards of fracking.

Around the State: Rogue Bees

Cue the music from “Jaws.” SolarBees, the million-dollar placebo dictated by the General Assembly as a substitute for the painstakingly developed Jordan Lake cleanup rules, are going adrift and roaming the reservoir.

Our first reaction was to laugh at the thought of “rogue solarbees,” the effectiveness of which has been a matter of derision from environmental advocates from the start, but sobered quickly. The last thing anyone wants to see is floating metal debris on water frequented by boaters and fishing trips day and night. At the least, the newly documented tendency of the experimental water-mixing devices to lose their moorings and wander about underscores the absurdity of this “solution” to heavy pollutant loads in the lake.

According to media reports, eight of the 850-pound units went adrift between November and January, one of them actually leaving its designated lagoon altogether and drifting down the Haw River arm into the wide-open area of the main lake.

Despite the bees’ wandering tendencies, the vice president of their manufacturing company called initial results “promising”. But promising what? A good laugh?

Coast Watch: Offshore Drilling Forum, March 12

NCLCV encourages coastal conservation advocates to save the date of March 12 for a South Atlantic Offshore Drilling Forum to be held in Chapel Hill. The event will be hosted by Save Our Coast, an alliance against offshore oil and gas drilling along the southeastern coast. More information and public registration details will be announced soon.

In the meantime, conservationists are also reminded about the hearing February 17 in Wrightsville Beach on the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management’s draft plan for drilling leases off the south-central and south Atlantic coast. As previously noted in CIB, more information about the public comment process can be found here and details on the February 17 meeting here.

Education & Resources: Duke Energy Tops the List of Special Interest Campaign Spenders and Lobbies in NC

Citizens involved in conservation advocacy in North Carolina will likely find it no surprise to learn that Duke Energy tops the list of special interest “power brokers” in our state, according to a new report from the Institute for Southern Studies (ISS). The ISS analysis ranked influence according to a combined rating of spending to influence elections, and legislative lobbying effectiveness.

In evaluating which economic interests wield the biggest influence stick over state public policy, the report details election spending levels and pathways to influence. In addition to Duke at the top spot, the report ranks two other entities with a special interest in environmental regulations in the three and four spots (NC Association of Realtors and NC Chamber, respectively).

Click here for more information and a link to the full report.

That’s our report for this week.