CHAPEL HILL – Opponents of natural gas “fracking” heckled, hissed and tried to drown out vastly outnumbered speakers supporting the controversial process during a public hearing Tuesday night. Some promised to prevent the gas extraction method by civil disobedience or “any means necessary.”
Nearly 700 placard-waving people filled the East Chapel Hill High School auditorium and still more were turned away due to crowding. Fifty of the 90-plus people who signed up to speak at the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ public hearing testified before the lively three-hour proceeding ended.
It was the second of three public hearings being conducted by DENR, whose draft report recommended approval of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to pull reservoirs of natural gas out of underground shale deposits.
Large volumes of water and smaller amounts of chemicals are injected into the ground to crack the shale and release the gas. That is at the core of the opposition.
Bill Weatherspoon of Durham, executive director of the N.C. Petroleum Council at the American Petroleum Institute, said he was not surprised to hear varying opinions about fracking.
“Your comments are not lost on me as a fellow North Carolinian,” Weatherspoon said, but “there are many people in this state who are getting weary with the answer ‘No.’ There are many people in this state who have seen ‘no’ in Alaska, ‘no’ in the Pacific” on the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico when it comes to drilling for natural resources.
“The reality, my friends — this is even harder for you to hear — is that three out of four North Carolinians want more natural gas delivered in this state,” Weatherspoon said.
“You can say no again, but there is a backlash among your fellow North Carolinians,” he said. “Those people are saying in a very dramatic voice that they want us to move ahead with more safe energy.”
Justin Jacobs of Chapel Hill was more representative of the majority of those testifying.
“You’ll be known as the monsters and the bastards that destroyed our water,” land and future if fracking is approved in North Carolina, Jacobs told DENR officials to hearty applause.
Monica Ganguly, who did not list a town of residence, said DENR had not figured into its draft report “the cost of popular resistance. I can guarantee you it will cost more to bring fracking here than you can possibly make.”
She warned that people are pledging with their hearts “that they will stop fracking by any means necessary. … Let’s get organized and take action, y’all.”
Tamara Matheson, who described herself simply as a citizen, spoke of health risks associated with fracking. She said she would engage in civil disobedience to prevent the gas well drilling.
Others, such as Nancy Corson Carter, a college professor, activist, and member of the Earth Care Committee at the Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill, spoke of “ecojustice.”
North Carolina is “flirting with matricide” if it approves fracking on “Mother Earth,” she said. She urged more vigorous development of renewable energy.
“Where’s our vision?” she asked. “Are we afraid to unshackle ourselves from the addiction of fossil fuel?”
Anti-fracking residents of Pennsylvania and local residents who vacation there spoke of environmental damage and community social schisms from the influx of gas field workers causing rents to go up and citizens to argue over the merits of the gas industry. Others claimed that job-creation claims are exaggerated and most jobs will go to workers from out of state.
Most speakers said they fear the drain on water supplies, especially in drought-prone areas.
They worry that groundwater and surface water may be contaminated by the fluids used. The chemicals could damage the environment and wildlife, causing cancer, endocrine, respiratory, and other medical ailments in humans. It is impossible to predict long-term risks to chemical exposure that are not known now, many said.
Most states shield from public disclosure the types of chemicals used as proprietary trade secrets. DENR is recommending a similar policy.
“There are no trade secrets in the southern part of heaven, so we need to get rid of those right away,” said Cullen Zimmer of Chapel Hill, echoing others’ call to make state laws tougher than the federal environmental laws from which gas companies are exempt in most states.
Noise and light pollution and continuous lines of tanker trucks damaging local roads from the 24-7 drilling are among other ill effects generated by this form of gas drilling, critics testified.
“We think there are ways to do this safely,” said Robin Smith, DENR assistant secretary for the environment.
She acknowledged the agency’s draft report is not comprehensive and there is much more to learn about fracking, and more regulations and safeguards are needed.
“The reasons we don’t (have sufficient laws and management rules) is because we don’t have an industry right now,” Smith said. “We want to hear from people about things that you think we may have missed . . . or analyses that need done.”
David Harris of the Durham People’s Alliance was among those who asked, “Why can’t we wait until all of the studies have been completed and you have the information to make an intelligent decision as to whether fracking will be safe in North Carolina?”
Advocates were outnumbered by opponents by a 10-1 ratio. They were met with taunts, lusty boos, hissing, and sustained shouting that sometimes made it impossible to hear their remarks.
Some state lawmakers in attendance signaled for calm, and the behavior drew a humorous rebuke from Smith. She asked audience members to listen respectfully to other speakers and warned that their shouting could confuse those watching at home on live stream into thinking they were watching debate in the English House of Commons.
Jon Sanders, associate director of research at the John Locke Foundation, reacted to the level of opposition at the hearing by saying it was “an exaggerated display of the legitimate worries that people are going to have.” The gas industry would be wise to get out in front of those concerns and explain industry safeguards, he said.
“This is an area of great growth potential for the oil and gas industry, and they should be as eager to get this right as state regulators are,” Sanders said of environmental safety issues. Most concerns “can really be addressed with proper well construction, and beyond that with regulation,” he said.
Entering the fracking field late in the game gives North Carolina an advantage because it can learn from other states’ experience on best practices and what did not work well elsewhere, Sanders said.
Jim Erb, an international consultant and retired director of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Oil and Gas Management, commended DENR for its draft report, created under tight time constraints.
“In my opinion, the study conclusions are reasonable and are supported by the report,” Erb said. It is “a good road map towards a good regulatory program” that can properly manage risks.
The decision whether to proceed “will be a political one,” he said. He advised DENR to “stick with sound science. Don’t believe everything you read or hear” from vocal opponents, but rely on peer-reviewed research, visit other states to study best practices and trust expert staff recommendations.
Lew Ebert, president and CEO of the N.C. Chamber of Commerce, said “North Carolina is ready” to pursue “all of the above” in its energy portfolio, from wind and solar, geothermal and biomass, to gas, coal and nuclear.
“Energy will have an increasingly important role” in the state as it helps to attract, keep and grow jobs while the state is on track to become the seventh most populous by 2030, Ebert said.
A final report is due May 1 to the General Assembly.
Dan Way is a contributor to Carolina Journal.