A major concern among residents of Chatham County is Hydraulic Fracturing. Many landowners in this area are on a well. What happens if a neighbor leases their land for fracking?
Is fracking dangerous?
I get asked often if hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking or hydrofracking) is dangerous or not. Simply put, I do not know. The industry insists that it is safe although great lengths have been gone through to keep people from finding out what chemicals are in it. There are plenty of stories online of people who claim they have ended up with ruined wells, severe illnesses, and flammable tap water. In North Carolina we now have a new law which makes it a criminal act to disclose which chemicals are used in fracking. Additional information from an organization which is against fracking in North Carolina is available on their website, frackfreenc.org.
What is fracking?
I am definitely not the fracking expert but in short, fracking is a method of extracting natural gas which involves injecting high pressure fluid mixture thousands of feet deep. The mixture includes water, sand, and chemicals.
Why frack in Chatham County?
There is potential shale gas in the Triassic strata of the Deep River Basin. NCSU explains here.
