Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

5:56 a.m. • 5-19-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Today: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 78° F
  • Mon: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 78° F
  • Tue: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 83° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Published: 2012-12-19 08:26:00
Updated: 2012-12-19 09:13:14

Drilling rules panel will hear from public Wednesday


Fracking
Fracking
print friendly

The state commission tasked with developing regulations that would allow for expanded natural gas drilling in North Carolina will hear from the public Wednesday in a second day of meetings in downtown Raleigh.

The Mining and Energy commission has until 2014 to draft rules for drilling, including the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” The process involves horizontal drilling through underground shale deposits and injecting a high-pressure mix of water and chemicals into the well to break apart the rock and release trapped natural gas.

After discussing water use and waste management Tuesday, commission members on Wednesday will discuss forced pooling, a method by which energy companies can potentially force land owners into lease agreements that allow the companies to drill on their land.

Wednesday’s meeting will also include a public comment period for 10 speakers, each of whom will get three minutes to describe their thoughts about fracking. Despite lacking a forum inside the commission’s meeting Tuesday, those against the controversial drilling process made their opinions known.

Four protesters, including two who padlocked themselves to the doors of the Archdale Building, were arrested Tuesday morning as the commission met inside.

Tamara Matheson and Vincent Michael Gonzalez were charged with disorderly conduct in a public building.

"We are not going to let profiteers exploit and endanger our land and our loved ones," said Maria Roan, a member of the environmental group Earth First! "This hydraulic fracturing has never been done safely. There's been contaminated water. There's been exploding pipelines."

Drilling opponents say fracking will contaminate North Carolina's underground water supplies and would compete with other water uses during droughts.


28 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 28 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
Well they heard from the public Tuesday and Wednesday, and I'm betting it was a group who is tell em what a fine job they doing, since it's not reported what the "groups" had to say, I guess because it don't matter, they'll do whatever they want anyway.

Can take your land if needed, then there should not be any property taxes on land. IF I think I own it, and I have to pay property taxes only to be ran off of it, something sure is wrong in the thinking process here.

"We'll allow them to take your land if the gas company needs it."

They can now take my land if someone wanted to put a strip mall in place of my home. We lost our property rights thanks to the Supreme Court. We now live in the land and home of the tax serf.

There is really only one thing that people should be upset about when it comes to fracking in NC. People on the right and the left should be upset that so much of their hard-earned tax dollars are being wasted on the debate over something that will never happen in NC. $250K a year currently being spent on this commission's work, PLUS the distraction of legislators and numerous state officials in departments of commerce, health, and environment from other more important business that will have a more immediate and more significant effect on the NC economy. Read the numbers: there's 1/50th the amount of gas here that exists in the Marcellus, and natural gas prices are at historic lows. Why would anyone waste their time coming to NC when they can get the stuff in far greater quantities in any of 20 other states that already have stable laws and the pipelines to get the stuff to market?

This is a classic case of 'the emperor has no clothes.' There is not enough gas here to make a difference economically or environmentally. Let 'em come and try to get gas out of the ground. They won't be successful AND they won't do enough environmental damage to amount to anything.

View Comments VIEW ALL 28 COMMENTS

Political Video Picks

 
  • Dozens of proposals failed to clear the House or Senate before the General Assembly's self-imposed "crossover" deadline this week for…

  • The scandal within the Internal Revenue Service was front and center Friday on Capitol Hill, as a committee heard testimony from…

  • The House and Ways Committee holds a hearing on the Internal Revenue Service's practice of targeting conservative political groups.…

  • The state House has released its own version of a tax reform bill that lower income and sales tax rates, but makes fewer sweeping…

  • The House approved several bills before the "crossover" deadline, including measures on abortion and social media privacy.

  • President Obama says he'll hold a Rose Garden news conference Thursday to answer questions about the scandal enveloping the Internal…