Fracking rules will fail NC

by Sally Morgan, Clean Water for NC, published in Asheville Citizen-Times, November 17, 2014.

The editorial from Nov. 13, “Teeth being added to fracking rules?” was unfortunately misleading. The Mining and Energy Commission (MEC) has finished drafting the rules to regulate fracking, but the 217,000 public comments on the rules were barely considered, the changes made were minimal, and the rules they are getting ready to finalize certainly do not “have teeth”.

One change touted by the MEC is that they will now allow unannounced inspections at well sites. They won’t require them, but simply remove a few words that required that a driller be notified before an inspection. This change says more about how poorly framed the earlier draft rules were than the MEC’s willingness to listen to the public. We wouldn’t trust food prepared by a restaurant that only got inspected after a warning, and yet the commission’s earlier draft rule had specifically required notifying operators of inspections.

The only nod to thousands of comments calling for more protective setbacks for buildings and water supplies is to increase the distance from “municipal water supplies” that depend on surface water only, leaving small groundwater-based public water system customers more vulnerable than ever. The MEC did not make the substantive changes that large numbers of commenters called for, such as increasing bonding, improving gas well construction standards, and eliminating toxic waste pits. The one thing demonstrated by the MEC’s response has been that they will not slow down their rule-making.

The fracking rules are still inadequate and unable to protect N.C. from the harms of fracking. To anyone in the public watching the process, and especially the most recent discussions by the Mining and Energy Commission, it’s clear that the state is nowhere near ready to issue permits for gas extraction. The chance for adequate funding for enforcement staff is small, the tools they’ll have are feeble, and our weak bonding rules are an invitation to irresponsible drillers.

As for whether “environmental organizations generally do not flatly oppose fracking,” national NRDC certainly does not speak for the many grassroots organizations opposing fracking in North Carolina. Frack Free NC is a growing network of over 30 local, regional and statewide organizations, representing tens of thousands of members across the state who believe that fracking cannot be done without bringing harm to our waters, land, air, communities and public health. We recently presented over 59,000 signatures to Gov. Pat McCrory opposing it and will continue to work to prevent fracking in N.C.

Sally Morgan is the Energy and Water Justice Researcher for Clean Water for NC, a statewide environmental justice nonprofit.