Fracking bill passes NC Senate

A bill to legalize hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, in NC passed the NC Senate on June 5 and moved to the House. Fracking is a process of extracting natural gas from shale by injection of water and chemicals into the shale in order to break the shale and release trapped gas. It has been linked to contamination of ground water, problems with the disposal of contaminated water that returns to the surface, and other environmental problems.

The environmental community in NC as well as other states has strongly opposed fracking. It is now being used in Pennsylvania and is threatened to be used in NY, Ohio, and NC.

The bill, SB820, was introduced by Sen. Bob Rucho from Mecklenburg county. It has several provisions that are considered particularly bad:

It would immediately legalize fracking. Although permits would not be issued for about two years, legalization would encourage drilling companies to pursue leases and plan for fracking operations.

It would change the Mining and Energy Commission to be dominated by representatives from the industry it is supposed to regulate.

It would allow “forced pooling”, which would require land owners to sell mineral rights of their land even if they do not want to sell them.

It would prevent local governments from regulating fracking.

The bill would at least prevent permits to be issued until there is another measure past by the General Assembly after regulations have been adopted.

Sen. Neal Hunt (R-Wake) tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to prevent industry control of the Mining and Energy Commission. Sen. Josh Stein (D-Wake) tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to only allow study of fracking but not to legalize it. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 29 to 19. The vote was largly along party lines, but Democratic Sens. Jenkins (Edgecombe) and Walters (Hoke) voted for it while Republican Senators Hunt and Stevens (both from Wake) voted against it.