NC Mining Commission ruled fracking chemical cocktails to remain secret...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

heads to legislature for vote later this year or next. (Quelle surprise...)

NC fracking panel passes chemical disclosure rule

By John Murawski
[e-mail] 14, 2014 Updated 2 hours ago

RALEIGH — Fracking companies won the right to keep secret the chemical cocktails they pump underground during shale gas drilling in North Carolina under a chemical disclosure rule approved Tuesday by the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission.

The public safety standard will help the energy companies protect their secret sauce used in natural gas drilling, but critics said it would also keep residents in the dark about potent chemicals used near local farms and waterways.

The rule passed unanimously after nearly three hours of intense debate Tuesday, and it follows more than a year of deliberations that had the commissioners tied up in knots. Commissioners sought to appease frightened residents, the energy industry and lawmakers eager to promote drilling for economic development.

The rule as passed by the commission is merely a recommendation to the state legislature, which will have final say over fracking standards later this year or next year. But as it now stands, the rule puts North Carolina among the states that don’t require energy exploration companies to turn over corporate trade secrets to government agencies for safeguarding in case of emergency.

Lots more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/14/3532704/nc-fracking-panel-passes-chemical.html#storylink=cpy

[rdharma]

1. Mining and Energy Commision Members.......

http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=0c10fcc4-90c1-4fb1-87f2-c8024f929032&groupId=8198095

[WorseBeforeBetter]

2. Good ol' "Tex"...

Environment advocates: Fracking panel has drill bias
http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/11303939/

Per the USGS, NC may have 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Deep River Basin, or a 5-year supply to the state (and a 12-day nationwide supply, or so I've heard).

Ex-officio commission members:

--State geologist
--Assistant secretary for energy in the Commerce Department
--Appointee of the North Carolina State University Minerals Research Laboratory Advisory

Appointed by Governor Perdue (D):

None yet, but she has four appointments to make.

Appointed by Tillis (R):

--Ray Covington, founder of North Carolina Oil and Gas
--Charles Holbrook, retired geologist from the petroleum industry
--William McNeeley III, member of the state's mining commission; family company rents equipment and provides material for landscaping
--Charles Taylor, Sanford Town Councilman

Appointed by Berger (R):

--Vikram Roa, former Halliburton exec
--Ivan "Tex" Gilmore, former executive with mining company PCS Phosphate
--James Womack, Lee County Commissioner
--George Howard, president of Restoration Systems, which restores wetlands and sells "mitigation credits" to companies doing construction elsewhere

And the money quote from Womack:

"I don't think it's anywhere in our mission statement that it's our job to make people feel comfortable," he said as he got ready for a trip to look at natural gas drilling operations in Pennsylvania with a National Association of Counties tour."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1069583

[rdharma]

3. Your post above reads like a who's who.....

.... of arrogant douchebags with conflicts of interest.