SELC: NC Piedmont One Of The Top 10 Endangered Places of 2012

North Carolina Piedmont

NC Piedmont | Photo: ©Kevin Adams

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Rural lands in the North Carolina Piedmont and drinking water sources for some 2.4 million people

THE THREAT

Pressure to repeal a law that thus far has kept “fracking” wells out of North Carolina.

FrackUpdate: June 9-12! URGENT:

Reposted from Clean Water For North Carolina

Senate Bill 820 is moving fast in the NC House! A new version of S820, to be heard in the House Environment Committee at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, will be unveiled shortly, but the changes are just tinkering around the edges. The bill would still: Legalize fracking and horizontal drilling now, with no further studies of potential impacts or NC-specific conditions, Create an industry-controlled Mining and Energy Commission that would have over-arching regulatory authority, Allow “forced pooling” of landowners who don’t want to lease or sell their mineral rights for drilling, Leave local governments who want to ban or control gas development vulnerable to preemption. PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY and tell them how important their vote is to you and your community, and that NC’s communities will NOT benefit economically, but will pay heavily in reduced protections for their health and safety, quality of life, water and air. To get your Representative’s contact info, click here. In today’s Frackupdate are two powerful stories about regulatory failure in North Dakota and California that could become what happens to North Carolina if we don’t keep working to rein in the rush to frack and weaken regulations here! Events 7-9 PM, June 15, Macon County Public Library: CWFNC’s Katie Hicks presents on fracking.7 PM, June 17th. The Depot in Hillsborough (Map/Directions). Free screening of “Message from the Marcellus.” A short film by Todd Tinkham with latest update from Hope Taylor. June 20, Hendersonville: Gasland Screening. Details TBA Recent News:

 

Call the Governor and your House Representatives!

Reposted from Clean Water For North Carolina

FrackUpdate: June 7-8!

 

Keep Up Those Contacts with Representatives and Governor! 
 

As you know, the Senate passed SB820 this week. Find out how your Senator voted on SB820 by clicking here. If your Senator voted against the bill, call and thank them for their support!

Next week S820 will be heard in the House Environment Committee. Watch for an update when we know exactly when, and prepare to call or email your Representatives! Check to see if your representative is on the Environment Committee by clicking here. Find your  Representative’s contact info here. 

Please contact the Governor’s office (919-733-4240) to tell her that you know that S820 is NOT consistent with the Governor’s recent Executive Order or the values for protecting NC that she has laid out, and ask her to VETO Senate Bill 820! 

Events

• 7-9 PM, June 15, Macon County Public Library: CWFNC’s Katie Hicks presents on fracking. Contact Donn Erickson for details sandidonn2@yahoo.com.
• 7 PM, June 17th. The Depot in Hillsborough. Free screening of “Message from the Marcellus.” A short film by Todd Tinkham and the Dispersed Crew. 
• June 20, Hendersonville:  Gasland Screening. Details TBA 

Clarification on Estimated NC Gas Supply from NC Shale Basins–Thanks to Grady McCallie
 
The June 4 USGS assessment for the Deep River Basin (mostly Lee, Chatham, Moore Counties) reported roughly 1,660 billion cubic feet (bcf) of “technically recoverable, undiscovered” shale gas.  The term has a precise meaning: ‘technically recoverable’ means, recoverable at the current limit of technology; ‘undiscovered’ means it is an estimate based on what we know about the rocks, but has not been confirmed by drilling, so the gas might or might not actually turn out to be there.  If the estimate is right, and we spent whatever it cost to pump it all, that would amount to roughly 5.6 years of supply (at 304 bcf/yr, the state’s consumption in 2010).  However, it isn’t ever economical to pump it all. 
 
The DENR Shale Gas study assumed only 20% of the technically recoverable resource would actually be recovered, and used that as the basis for its economic impact analysis.  If you apply the same rule to the updated USGS estimate, you get 1,660 bcf * 0.2 = 332 bcf/ 304 bcf per year = a 1.1 year supply.  Right now, the economics are worse than that; it’s probably not economical to pump any of it given the market price of natural gas, which is expected to stay low for years to come. We hope that helps!

Recent News: 

Senate Posses Controversial Fracking Bill
“The bill that passed the North Carolina Senate was the committee substitute, an agreement reached by Senator Bob Rucho and Representative Mitch Gillespie, the two Republican factions who had been at odds regarding their vision for the proposed changes in hydraulic fracturing legislation.” June 6, Raleigh Public Record

State gas deposit not a ‘major play,’ one expert says
“The average estimate from the U.S. Geological Survey is that the so-called Deep River Basin contains about 1.7 trillion cubic feet – enough, a state official said, to meet North Carolina’s entire demand for natural gas for 5.6 years.” June 6, Durham Herald Sun

Hands Across Riverdale: The Human Costs of Fracking
Another link between water privatization and fracking:“The Susquehanna River Basin Commission had given Aqua America permission to withdraw up to 3 million gallons of water per day from the Susquehanna River to their fracking operations in the north, and the residents of Riverdale had been given a “generous” offer.”  June 3, Huffington Post