“A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

,

On November 22, I returned from a tour of the North Carolina shale basin to attend the Mining and Energy Commission meeting dreading another long day.

 Never let it be said that I can't be surprised, especially at a family reunion. Although there are still  problems with the draft chemical disclosure rule being considered by the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission (MEC),  it was sent back to the drawing board, again, and is not likely to come up for consideration until January 2014. You can listen to the audio here: November 22 Mining and Energy Committee Meeting

Some of the fundamental problems with the disclosure rule include:

• Limiting those who have standing to challenge a confidentiality claim.
• Making emergency responders and medical providers wait up to two hours for urgently needed information.
• Requiring a trade secret challenge to be brought to the North Carolina business court, which costs $1000.00 just to get it considered, and is very difficult to navigate without an attorney.This  adds to costs
• It is not clear how signing a confidentiality agreement will constrain a medical provider. For instance, can they even tell the patient what they have been exposed to?
• Industry holding the information which could cause unnecessary delays during an emergency. 
• With industry holding all the cards- who is accountable to the people of North Carolina?

There was spirited debate, with MEC Chairman Jim Womack pointing out that the industry would take advantage of and abuse trade secret exemptions unless it was clear that there would be penalties for doing so, and a way for trade secret claims to be reviewed. Commissioner Rao strongly felt that industries that claim trade secret exemptions should be able to explain how they protect them in house, and should be prepared to sign a document stating (under threat of some yet to be decided penalty for fibbing) that the substance, process, etc, is truly a trade secret. The only dissenters were Commissioners George Howard and Charles Holbrook, which is not new, or surprising.


Commissioner Howard, who has repeatedly reminded other MEC members that "they were not proscribed to protect health and safety" by the General Assembly, made an about- face when discussing the trade secret/chemical disclosure rule stating, "What bad outcome are we seeking to avoid? If there's not public safety of health implications to that, why are we here?" 

Commissioner "Industry might not come here" Holbrook expressed his concern that well, industry might not come here. Commissioner Rao explained, again, that companies have in-house practices to protect business sensitive information and should have no problem explaining them to whatever state agency is inquiring. Rao went on to say, "By golly, of that means they don't come here, I'm sorry."

We must all remember, that no matter what is disclosed, or when, it will not keep our groundwater, our air, our land, and our politics from being contaminated.

Stay tuned kids- the next round starts this week- committees meet December 5, and the full Commission meets December 6, 2013.

An Early Christmas Gift...

BREDL No Toxic Trespass-No Fracking Way! Tour Featuring Lois Gibbs, Executive Director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice

Friends,

While I am working on what may be three new blog posts I wanted to make you aware of an exciting upcoming event. BREDL is bringing Lois Gibbs to North Carolina November 18-21, 2013! Lois is known as the mother of grassroots activism and is well-known for her part in the struggle to clean up her community at Love Canal. Recent Newsweek article here:  Love Hurts

NO Toxic Trespass! NO Fracking Way! Tour

Sponsored by Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Cumnock Preservation Association, No Fracking in Stokes and Pee Dee WALL

---

Featuring Lois Gibbs, Founder and Executive Director of the

Center for Health, Environment and Justice

November 18-21, 2013

o   November 18: Winston-Salem- Tour kick-off Press conference at 11:00 am, City Hall, 101 N Main St, Winston-Salem, NC, 27101.

Germanton, Stokes County- Community meeting at 7:00 pm, Germanton United Methodist Church, 3615 NC 8 & 65 Hwy, Germanton NC, 27019.

o   November 19:  Sanford, Lee County- Press conference at 11:00 am, Lee County Courthouse (Tentative), 1408 S Horner Blvd, Sanford, NC, 27330.

Candlelight vigil and community meeting at 7:00 pm, Cumnock Union United Methodist Church, 851 Cumnock Rd, Sanford, NC ,27330.

o   November 20:  Raleigh- NC State University (Tentative)

Pittsboro, Chatham County- Public Forum at Central Carolina Community College

Multi-Purpose Room 7:00-9:00 pm, 764 West St, Pittsboro, NC, 27312.

 November 21: Wadesboro, Anson County- Press conference at 1:00 pm,  followed by meet and greet at  Hampton B. Allen Library, 120 South Greene Street, Wadesboro, NC 28170.

Luncheon (Location TBA)

For Tour Information Contact:

Lou Zeller: (336) 982-2691 mailto:bredl@skybest.com

Beverly Kerr: (336) 376-9060 mailto:beverlykerr@triad.rr.com

Kate Dunnagan: (919) 417-4939 mailto:katedunnagan@gmail.com

Therese Vick: (919) 345-3673 mailto:therese.vick@gmail.com

Lois Marie Gibbs,
CHEJ Executive Director
In 1978, Lois founded the Love Canal Homeowners’ Association, and CHEJ in 1981. Her vision has guided our efforts to provide critical organizing and technical assistance to communities engaged in their own environmental struggles. Lois sits on numerous Boards and Advisory Committees. She is the recipient of an honorary Doctorate from SUNY at Cortland, Haverford College in May 2006, Green Mountain College 2009 and Medaille College in 2010. Received the 1990 Goldman Environmental Prize, the 1998 Heinz Award, and the 1999 John Gardner Leadership Award from Independent Sector.

www.chej.org

Water, Water Everywhere, and Not a Drop to Drink : Part One

Tom Reeder, Director of the Division of Water Resources

Who is this man and why is he so angry?

Good Morning Dear Readers,

Its been a while since my last post and a lot has happened. This will be the first of several posts updating you on family activities and some actions of our distant cousins at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. For your reading and listening pleasure, I include a recent development around DENR turning down start-up funds to evaluate pre- drilling monitoring of surface waters in the shale basin.

DENR turns down grant for water monitoring in gas drilling areas

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina has turned down a pair of federal grants, one of which would have helped monitor water quality in areas where drilling for natural gas is likely to take place, provoking criticism from advocates who say the cash-strapped agency needs the money.

Water Regulator Defends Return of Grants

RALEIGH, N.C. — Speaking before the state Mining and Energy Commission Friday morning, state water quality chief Tom Reeder offered a passionate, sometimes caustic, defense of his recent decision to return $580,000 in federal grants. 

Some insight on the Division of Water Resources Director can be found here: A Message from Tom Reeder

After listening to this, it seems as if "helping and serving the citizens of this state" means helping and serving permittees, not people. Not one single word about the communities that polluting facilities affect. He drops the L-word- saying that the North Carolina Legislature has a bulls-eye on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, can you say intimidation?

The Aftermath:

I was at the Mining and Energy Commission (MEC) on Friday when Director Reeder presented his rationale for the Division of Water Resources' (DWR) refusal of the grant money. Not having had an opportunity to review the grant (and neither had MEC members!), I listened carefully. Mr. Reeder said again and again that there had been no coordination with the MEC by the grant writers, that it didn't even include groundwater, and that "studies have a shelf life."

These are my thoughts:

1. Part of DENR's reasoning for refusing the grant was the lack of the Division of Water Quality's coordination with the Mining and Energy Commission. Ummmm, MEC members had not been informed or consulted by DENR when they refused the grant, nor had they been provided with a copy prior to the Friday meeting.

2. Mr. Reeder said that DWR would do a study for the MEC as they needed it for less than the $200,000+ listed in the grant proposal- and even include groundwater. And that the Division had "plenty of money." Really? Over the past 12 months, on issues BREDL is working on  DENR agencies have refused public hearings requested by affected communities, and recently held a public hearing on a major issue affecting many North Carolina backyards in Raleigh, at 3pm, on a weekday, citing "costs."

"DENR spokesman Tom Mather says department finances are limited and don’t always allow for multiple public hearings." - Groups protest proposed air toxics changes

4. Staff responsible for applying for the grant were not allowed to explain their rationale for seeking it, was EPA consulted?

5. Will this refusal have repercussions for future EPA grant funding?

6. Until the whole truth is exposed- we can only guess at the real reasons for North Carolina being the first state in the Southeast to refuse an EPA grant, ever.

Follow the breadcrumbs...or maybe the water droplets...

This Land is Their Land

Chart showing what forced pooling will do to Lee County landowners- Rural Advancement Fund International(RAFI) 

Friends,

While I don't generally post my own comments on things here sticking instead to my extended family's, I wanted to share with you what I said at the close of the Compulsory Pooling Study Group's last meeting. As many of you know, the Study Group, which is conducted by Dr. Ray Covington, decided to recommend keeping North Carolina's forced pooling statutes on the books with some suggested additions. Here's a link to the News and Observer article:

Officials OK rule to force fracking on NC landowners

 The members of the Mining and Energy Commission who are eligible to vote on study group recommendations are Ray Covington, Jim Womack, Charles Holbrook, and Charlotte Mitchell. Mitchell cast the lone "no" vote. This study group deliberated carefully but there was never any question of them deciding we should not keep the law, some "talked purty" but having been there for most meetings I can say that in reality, it just wasn't on the table.

This is a pretty good description of forced pooling:

“[To be] Forced Pooled is the act of being forced by state law into participation in an oil and/or gas producing unit. Pooling is a technique used by oil and gas development companies to organize an oil or gas field.

When two or more separately owned tracts are embraced within a drilling unit, or when there are separately owned interests in all or a part of the drilling unit, then persons owning such interests may pool their interests for the development and operation of the drilling unit. It is sometimes the case that not all interests within a drilling unit are in agreement about development. In that case, a party interested in development can make an application to the concerned state authority for forced or involuntary pooling."

Definitions: Forced Pooling

Among the recommendations are:

• No surface disturbance allowed for any unleased owner compelled into a pool
• A 200% risk penalty for those that are forced into a pool (I will explain that later-its not so great, you are being punished because you did not want to participate)
• Parcels from 1-10 acres will have no risk penalty

Many spoke out eloquently and passionately during the time allotted for public comment, in addition to Study Group resource members Grady McCallie of the North Carolina Conservation Network and James Robinson of RAFI. When the audios are up I will share them in another blog post.

.I had written my remarks the night before,  but rewrote them twice during the course of the meeting. This is what I said:

" I recognize the hard work and soul searching that this Study Group has gone through to try and make forced pooling "fair." I thought a lot on what I would say today, most of last night in fact. I could speak on percentages, or other numbers, but no matter where they land on the scale it simply makes a worse policy bad, especially for those who do not want their property rights violated. 

You have spoken of fairness, but the unprecedented power and influence of this industry precludes fairness. Forced pooling cannot be made right and will never be fair. Let us be clear, we are not merely talking about convenience, or economics, or wastefulness, we are talking about justice, and allowing a for-profit industry to take away personal freedoms with the blessing and assistance of the government.

Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King gave a speech reminding the country that the "American Dream" was not yet available or accessible to all. He was speaking of those disenfranchised in America. He stated, "I have a dream that one day this Nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed; "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men [and women] are created equal." Personal freedoms and equality are seldom on the radar when the gas companies come to town."

Hallibeerton

'Nuff said, y'all.

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

Hallibeerton, 'nuff said

Friends..an update on Mr. Bo Heath:  April 23, 2026: Oh Mr. Bo Heath...I remember getting public records from the then Mining and Energy Commission that included a calendar from one of the members. There was an entry listed "beer with Bo." Won't name-check the Commissioner up top here (if you want to know, read on) because he took the request seriously. Heath was repping Halliburton and Koch at the time, as well as others.

Mr. Bo has been indicted, apparently. See NC Newsline article linked below. Now, keep in mind these are allegations unless and until he is found guilty.

Four prominent NC lobbyists indicted over bourbon-tasting junket

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...