Environmental

Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid deep into the ground at high pressure to fracture shale rocks that release natural gas. The fluid is comprise of water mixed with sand and approximately 40,000 gallons of chemicals that include methanol, hydrochloric acid, formaldehyde and mercury. As a result of fracking, methane gas and the other toxins leach out from the fracking system and contaminate groundwater (2). In North Carolina, water resources from the Jordan Lake, Falls Lake, the Deep River and Eno River are all polluted and contaminated by methane gas emitted from the drilling process. Beginning in 2015, out of state companies will begin drilling in 9,000 acres of the Chatham, Moore and Lee counties as allowed by the General Assembly’s pro-drilling commission (1). Water resources like the Deep River are not only sources for drinking water, but home to wildlife and leisure sites for canoeing and fishing. For now, there is a moratorium on drilling that protects water resources by lawmakers and gas companies are threatening the sanctity of the moratorium.

(1) http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/

(2) http://www.dangersoffracking.com/