And friends,somewhere in North Carolina, enshrined in some little folder...named "Haliburton [sic]" (With apologies to Arlo Guthrie)

Friends,

Please join me in welcoming two new members to the family, D. Bowen Heath, and Benne Hutson! They are both of the McGuireWoods law firm. Its past time that I introduced them-they've already been visiting members of my extended family, I am forgetting my manners 

Here's a link to their website:

McGuireWoods

• Benne Hutson was recently appointed as chairman of the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission by Governor Pat McCrory.

• D. Bowen Heath was a registered lobbyist for Halliburton in 2012, as well as the Koch Companies and others in 2011 and 2012. See the Institute for Southern Studies' list here:

The Corporate Lobby

On with the story....

On June 27 2013, I sent a substantial public records request to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) asking for documents from DENR Secretary John Skvarla, Assistant Secretary Mitch Gillespie, Mining and Energy Commissioner (formerly vice-chair) George Howard and others around the chemical disclosure controversy. It took almost a month to get it, and then a couple of weeks for me to sort through the four discs, one of which contained this little file:

In case you forgot-

Here are links to the N&O stories about the controversy:

Fracking giant Halliburton nixes NC's Chemical Disclosure Rule 

"Halliburton’s local lawyer, D. Bowen Heath of the McGuireWoods firm in Raleigh, referred questions to the Texas corporation’s media department. Halliburton spokeswoman Susie McMichael said by email that key people were in meetings or traveling."

Fracking chemical rule sent back for revisions

"Therese Vick, an organizer with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, chastised the commission for the sinister appearance of its dealings with Halliburton.
“The fact remains that these rules on chemical disclosure were debated, talked about and publicly commented on over months, and where was the industry then?” Vick said Friday. “Why did they not come to this podium and speak for three minutes or less?”

From MEC Commissioner George Howard's calendar

Well, I don't know where they were that week, but I know where Bo was on December 5, 2012. He was having a beer with George! I wonder if it had fracking fluid in it?

More to come...