MEC NC

<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In North Carolina, Halliburton and other fracking industry interests helped write a fracking chemical disclosure bill.  But when that bill ended up requiring disclosure of harmful chemicals to the state environmental agency, the bill was killed and replaced with one that further limited disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">cache of emails</a> obtained by Greenpeace has revealed the cozy relationship between the hydraulic fracturing industry and North Carolina’s Mining and Energy Commission.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px;">The Mining and Energy Commission (MEC) was set up after an errant vote by a state senator <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/03/2174842/state-senate-overrides-gov-perdues.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">legalized fracking in North Carolina</a>. Because the state had not seen oil and gas drilling in recent history, the Mining and Energy Commission was tasked with writing oil and gas regulations, specifically for fracking. The 15 members of the MEC propose regulations for fracking, which are then passed on to the North Carolina legislature to be turned into law.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px;"><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">Emails and meeting schedules</a> from members of the North Carolina’s Mining and Energy Commission reveal how various fracking companies and national lobby groups, including America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), Energy in Depth (EID), Halliburton, and Koch Industries, influenced the Mining and Energy Commissioners, in regards to disclosure of chemicals used in fracking.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Halliburton’s Hand<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Halliburton has played a significant role in shaping potential fracking regulations in North Carolina. In March of 2013, the Commissioners approved a chemical disclosure bill in committee which would have required fracking companies to disclose to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) the chemical ingredients in <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/The-Problem/fracking/Environmental-Impacts-Water/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">fracking fluid</a>, many of which are extremely toxic. However, Halliburton, a major fracking services company, raised some reservations which killed the bill, as <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2014/05/nc-board-members-met-lobbyist-fracking-rules" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">AP reporter Michael Biesecker confirmed:</a><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In an interview with AP, Mining and Energy Commission Chairman Jim Womack acknowledged that before deciding to delay the vote, he spoke with a senior Halliburton executive.<div id="attachment_26763" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 430px;">
</div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“They indicated to me in a phone conversation that there may be other options than what was written in that rule,” Womack said.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The bill was taken off the agenda by Womack, and sent back to be rewritten by the chemical disclosure committee. Commissioner Womack himself is not worried about <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201302148261/natural-resources-news-service/pro-fracking-industry-interests-dominate-north-carolina-mining-and-energy-commission-tasked-with-writing-hydraulic-fracturing-regulations.html#sthash.6JdJlAPw.dpuf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">water contamination from fracking.</a> He once said:<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“You’re more likely to have a meteorite fall from the sky and hit you on the head than you are to contaminate groundwater with fracking fluid percolating up from under the ground.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Halliburton has always cast a long shadow over the MEC. Commissioner<a href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Letter-to-NC-AG-final.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">Vikram Rao</a> was at Halliburton for over 30 years, ultimately as the company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.  He maintains a significant financial stake in Halliburton, and also has over $10,000 invested in BioLargo, a company involved in disposal of fracking wastewater.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rao has also called the idea of disclosing the contents of frackfluid “a joke.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">Documents obtained by Greenpeace</a> also reveal that the shale industry was close with one commissioner in particular.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">George Howard, the pro-fracking conservationist<div id="attachment_26769" class="wp-caption alignright" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 490px;">
</div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">George Howard serves as vice chairman of the MEC, and as the chairman of the chemical disclosure committee, which is tasked with creating regulations for frack fluid and other fracking chemicals. He was appointed by North Carolina’s Senate President Pro-Tem Philip E. Berger to serve in one of two “conservation” slots on the MEC. Berger received $46,700 in campaign contributions from <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/16/3169151/north-carolina-fracking-chemicals/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">fracking interests</a> between 2009 and 2011.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In his tenure as Mining and Energy Commissioner, George Howard has been a<a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/22/3396977/nc-energy-and-mining-commission.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">strong proponent of hydraulic fracturing</a>. He has said that public fears around fracking are exaggerated and that responding to public pressure is “pandering.” He has also claimed “it is physically impossible for hydraulic fracturing – the full industry term for fracking – to contaminate underground aquifers.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In addition to serving as commissioner for the MEC, Howard is the founder and CEO of Restoration Systems, an environmental remediation company. Through Restoration Systems, Howard has a significant financial stake in the fracking industry, including a multi-million dollar <a href="http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/article_1b1aeeda-680f-11e2-801d-001a4bcf6878.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">shale play project in Pennsylvania</a>. Howard has also invested in the area of North Carolina most likely to be leased by fracking companies.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Howard is connected to other top regulators, especially <a href="http://www.bluenc.com/mccrorys-denr-pick-conflicted-they-come" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">John Skvarla</a>, the Head of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR), who was president of Restoration Systems before becoming an environmental regulator. DENR would be the agency responsible for enforcing fracking laws recommended by the MEC.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Halliburton/Koch Industries Lobbyist Pushed ALEC fracking bill<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">Documents obtained by Greenpeace</a> include correspondence between George Howard and various representatives of the oil and gas industry during the creation of the first chemical disclosure bill. Howard had multiple meetings with the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">American Petroleum Institute</a> (API) and spoke with high-ranking members of the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">American Natural Gas Association</a> (ANGA). Howard specifically requested help from <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">Energy In Depth (EID)</a>, an oil and gas front group <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/12/11921/%E2%80%9Cenergy-depth%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-reporters%E2%80%99-guide-its-founding-funding-and-flacks" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">run by the PR firm FTI Consulting</a> and funded by the fracking industry. Howard asked Steve Everley, the spokesman for EID and an FTI Consulting operative, to help him prepare for a MEC meeting on chemical disclosure.<div id="attachment_26766" class="wp-caption alignright" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 135px;"><a href="http://greenpeaceblogs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bowen-Heath.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32);"><img class="size-full wp-image-26766 " alt="Bo Heath" src="http://greenpeaceblogs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bowen-Heath.jpg" width="125" height="125" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: none; max-width: 100%; height: auto;" /></a>Bowen Heath</div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Although George Howard met with and solicited information from multiple shale industry groups, one lobbyist was particularly influential.  <a href="http://www.mwcllc.com/people/d.-heath" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">Bowen Heath</a>, who represents Halliburton, Koch Industries, and various other oil and gas interests for the lobbying firm McGuireWoods, had unparalleled access to the Commission. Emails reveal a chummy relationship between George Howard and Heath, who spent evenings together and <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html#document/p8/a145566" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">went for beers</a> in the afternoons.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Heath used that access to advocate for a fracking chemical disclosure system that allows generous exemptions for chemicals that companies deem “trade secrets.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Heath provided a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html#document/p47/a145581" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">fracking chemical disclosure bill </a> to Howard that the shale industry and its political allies previously passed in Colorado. The Colorado bill was <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/12/04/alec-csg-exxonmobil-fracking-fluid-disclosure-model-bill-failing-by-design" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">based on a model bill</a> from the <a href="http://www.polluterwatch.com/category/freetagging/american-legislative-exchange-council" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)</a>, a corporate-funded group dedicated to passing legislation approved by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Corporations" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">ALEC’s corporate funders</a>, including fracking companies like Chesapeake Energy. Bo Heath has longstanding <a href="http://www.mwcllc.com/news-events/news/news-detail?id=504" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">ties to ALEC</a>, and has attended ALEC annual meetings.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A New York Times investigation found that the Colorado chemical disclosure bill was the handiwork of one ALEC funder in particular, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/us/alec-a-tax-exempt-group-mixes-legislators-and-lobbyists.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">ExxonMobil</a>.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px;">As part of the push for the ALEC fracking bill passed in Colorado, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html#document/p66/a145582" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">Bo Heath arranged</a> for Colorado ex-governor Bill Ritter to fly down to North Carolina to meet with George Howard and the MEC. The <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2014/05/nc-board-members-met-lobbyist-fracking-rules" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">AP confirmed</a> that Ritter’s fees and expenses were not paid by the MEC, and Bo Heath’s lobbying group refused to comment on Ritter’s funding.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Hallmarks of the ALEC fracking bill include generous <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/alec-and-exxonmobil-push-loopholes-in-fracking-chemical-disclosure-rules" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">exemptions from disclosure</a> for “trade secrets,” and reliance on the FracFocus website for disclosing chemicals to the public. <a href="http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1059976058" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">FracFocus’s</a> operational costs are paid for by the oil and gas industry lobbying groups <a href="http://www.polluterwatch.com/american-petroleum-institute" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">American Petroleum Institute (API)</a> and <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/14449" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA)</a>.<a href="http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/environmentallawprogram/files/2013/04/4-23-2013-LEGAL-FRACTURES.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;"> FracFocus</a> was found to be “severely lacking” as a regulatory tool by a recent Harvard study.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Heath continued to advocate for the industry/ALEC approach to chemical disclosure, and even brought in a key member of <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html#document/p69/a145583" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">FracFocus, Mike Paque</a>. Paque is the executive director of the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC). The GWPC has long been an ally of the oil and gas industry, receiving funding from the American Petroleum Institute and other industry affiliates. Reports produced by GWPC are the backbone of the oil and gas industry’s claims about the safety of fracking. The GWPC also runs  the FracFocus website, and advocates for its use.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Taking up his drinking buddy’s suggestion, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/905820-greenpeace-request-howard-response.html#document/p41/a145579" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">George Howard</a> selected Paque as an expert witness for the MEC. Paque presented the industry-funded FracFocus website in an <a href="http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=cd77e21d-917a-43fb-8b0f-1ccb2c513e4a&groupId=8198095" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">unrecorded meeting</a> on December 18, 2012.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The New Bill Further Limits Disclosure<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In the end, even though the bill that George Howard passed through committee was shot down by Jim Womack and Halliburton, it contained most of what Bo Heath and other industry lobbyists wanted. It used the API, ANGA funded website FracFocus for disclosure of chemicals, and exempted chemicals deemed trade secrets from being disclosed to the public on that website. However, Halliburton killed the bill because it required disclosure of all chemicals to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The new bill, which has passed through the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/16/3169151/north-carolina-fracking-chemicals/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">MEC committee</a> and is headed for ratification in the State House of North Carolina, included a requirement to use the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/16/3169151/north-carolina-fracking-chemicals/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">FracFocus website</a>, following the ALEC fracking model legislation passed in multiple states. And like those states, trade secrets are <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/14/3532704/nc-fracking-panel-passes-chemical.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(126, 189, 32); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: 700;">not disclosed</a> to the state, or the public.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">sturgis<h1 class="title" itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; font-size: 22px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1; letter-spacing: -0.05em; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">NC fracking bill orders prison time for disclosing chemicals, ignores health risks</h1><div id="node-12565" class="node node-type-article node-promoted clearfix" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 19.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><article class="article-content"><div id="fb-root" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" />North Carolina's legislature convened last week, and lawmakers introduced a bill that brings the state one step closer to allowing oil and gas drilling.One aspect of the <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2013&BillID=s786&submitButton=Go" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">Energy Modernization Act (SB 786)</a> that's gotten considerable attention is the provision that would make it a Class I felony for someone to intentionally disclose chemicals in fracking fluids that are classified as trade secrets. A conviction of this lowest-level felony could bring civil fines and several months in prison.The bill requires the state geologist in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to serve as the custodian of trade secrets, including ingredients in fracking fluid. It allows information about such secrets to be disclosed only to emergency responders, health care providers dealing with emergencies, and federal and state agencies that need the information to carry out their functions.Hannah Wiseman, a Florida State University assistant law professor who studies fracking regulations, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/05/north-carolina-felony-fracking-chemicals-disclosure" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">told</a> Mother Jones that North Carolina's proposed law "is far stricter than most states' provisions in terms of the penalty for violating trade secrets." She said that the bill was "so poorly worded" that it's unclear whether emergency responders would be charged with a felony for disclosing the information they obtain legally.But while the bill is careful to protect what corporations claim are trade secrets, it fails to address some of the biggest risks fracking poses for the environment, public health and landowners, according to an <a href="http://frackfreenc.org/wp-content/uploads/s786-short-5-16-14.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">analysis</a> by the N.C. Conservation Network.Among the concerns the legislation does not address are compulsory pooling, whereby drillers can drill on land without the owners' permission; disposal of toxic fracking wastewater; toxic air emissions from fracking operations; long-term contamination that comes to light after a drilling operation is finished; and how to protect landowners and the environment from the lines that move gas from wells to processing facilities. In addition, the bill shrinks the zone of liability for drillers who cause drinking well contamination from 5,000 feet to 2,640 feet, and it prohibits local bans on fracking or the siting of wells.The bill's primary sponsors are Republican Sens. <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=S&nUserID=11" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">Robert Rucho</a> of Mecklenburg County, <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=S&nUserID=362" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">E.S. "Buck" Newton</a> of Wilson, and <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=S&nUserID=104" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">Andrew Brock</a> of Mocksville. It also has <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2013&BillID=s786&submitButton=Go" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">six co-sponsors</a>, all of them Republicans. The GOP holds supermajorities in both the North Carolina House and Senate.The legislation was introduced as new revelations surfaced about the outsized role industry interests have played in shaping the state's proposed approach to chemical disclosure.Greenpeace recently <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/16/emails-reveal-officials-close-with-fracking-lobbyest/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">obtained a cache of emails and meeting schedules</a> from members of the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission (MEC), a 15-person body in charge of crafting fracking regulations for state lawmakers. The documents show what the environmental advocacy group calls a "cozy relationship" between the industry and the MEC -- including Chairman George Howard drinking beer and spending evenings with <a href="http://www.mcguirewoods.com/People/H/D-Bowen-Heath.aspx" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">D. Bowen "Bo" Heath</a>, a lobbyist with the law firm McGuireWoods who represents fracking giants Halliburton and Koch Industries. Howard is the CEO of <a href="http://www.restorationsystems.com/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">Restoration Systems</a>, an environmental remediation company; his former business partner is DENR Secretary John Skvarla.An earlier version of the chemical disclosure rule crafted by the MEC was pulled from consideration last year after Halliburton complained it went too far. Instead, Greenpeace<a href="http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/16/emails-reveal-officials-close-with-fracking-lobbyest/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(71, 109, 151); text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium;">reports</a>, Heath promoted a weaker chemical disclosure bill from Colorado that was based on model legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a group that promotes corporate interests in state legislatures. Heath has ties to ALEC, having attended the group's annual meetings.The legislation introduced last week in North Carolina would disband the MEC next year and replace it with an Oil and Gas Commission that would administer civil penalties and adopt new rules as needed. The bill also creates a Mining Commission within DENR to issue fracking permits.</article></div></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.125em; color: rgb(51, 60, 61); font-family: proxima_nova_rgregular, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">