Commissioners of Lee County, North Carolina voted 5 to 2 late Monday to rescind a resolution passed in 2012 supporting the extraction of natural gas by fracking (hydro-fracturing). Next they passed a resolution opposing fracking and the 120 proposed fracking rules and regulations proposed by the NC Mining and Energy Commission. The Republican dominated NC legislature is expected to approve those rules drafted by the commission they created in the next few months. Chairwoman of the Lee County Commissioners, Amy Dalrymple, explained that Monday's resolution against fracking was taken because the proposed rules do not protect local interests.
"The 2012 [resolution] that we just rescinded was to encourage the General Assembly and the Mining and Energy Commission to look after the localities, the counties and the cities impacted by fracking," Dalrymple said. "Now that the rules have been completed ... they do not protect local interests, and so that is the genesis of this resolution."
The vote was along strict party lines with the 2 Republicans voting no. The key change between 2012 and 2015 was not the nature of the rules, however. It was the election in Lee County that replaced Republicans that supported fracking with Democrats who supported local property rights, safe water, clean air and healthy communities. Lee County voters said no to fracking at the polls.
Hard work by local environmental activists and the local Democratic party turned the tide, but fracking will continue to be an issue, because these local votes will not stop it. However, the drop in natural gas and oil prices has undermined the financing of all new fracking projects. Because Lee County's gas deposits are low grade and economically marginal at high gas prices, no one is likely to propose to begin drilling until prices go much higher.
The public is learning about the potential dangers of fracking and the harm it does to communities. Hard work by local activists, like me, is paying off. I was very pleasantly surprised when my statement before the commissioners received good coverage from our local paper, the Sanford Herald because it leans conservative. I believe that our message is receiving support from conservatives
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But Sanford resident George Birchard, a retired nuclear waste project manager, said he supported the commissioners' action Monday because states that have been fracking for years now are experiencing problems.
"Just about six months ago, the state of Pennsylvania finally came out with a delayed, partial report of hundreds of cases of water contamination. They're admitting they weren't ready for it," he said. "This is not a safe place to do gas development — fracking. We need to take a proactive stop to say 'no.'"