Wednesday, June 26, 2013



Hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.

UPDATE ON CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE CONTINUED

"The blades are long, clenched tight in their fist, aimin' straight at your back, and I don't think they'll miss..." Backstabbers by the O'Jays

I couldn't sleep last night. I was mulling over this continuing debacle around chemical disclosure, what it portends for future rules and the political will to enforce them if fracking is allowed to happen in North Carolina.


Mining and Energy Commission (MEC) Chairman Jim Womack in the News and Observer:

 "I feel, No.1, a little bit disappointed, and No. 2, blindsided." 

More from the article: 

"Womack, a Lee County commissioner and Army veteran who earned a Bronze Star in Operation Desert Storm, called the trade-secret exemption a cop-out. “You can’t have the industry come in and say, ‘It’s a trade secret so I’m not going to disclose it,’ ” he said. “Someone needs to verify the assertion of a trade secret; otherwise it’s ripe for exploitation.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/25/2988546/nc-senate-committee-says-full.html#storylink=cpy


Friends, this was how some MEC members felt in May when they were blindsided by Mr.Womack's decision to pull the draft chemical disclosure rule from consideration. I was skeptical of Chairman Womack's reassurances that we were moving towards a "full disclosure rule" and endured a bit of a lecture from some MEC members about my comments to the Commission. Afterwards, Vice Chairman George Howard took me to task for being critical of what had occurred. As I recall I told Mr. Howard that I wondered just what we would be giving up. (If you would like to hear my comments, the link is pasted below. Public comment is at the end of Audio 3).
http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mining-and-energy-commission/mec-05-3-2013

Someone made an end-run around the Mining and Energy Commission.process; is this what we can expect in future?

Chairman Womack, I agree that its a cop-out and ripe for exploitation. From where I sit, "a few of your buddies, they sure look shady."






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