For Immediate Release – 5/15/12    For interview call 919-200-0061

Don’t Frack NC!:  Public Makes Final Plea To Uphold North Carolina’s Ban

on Fracking

Raleigh, NC – On Saturday May 19th at 12 noon, protesters will gather at

Nash Park and march to the legislative building at 16 W. Jones St. to

voice their opposition to proposed legislation that would legalize

hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in North Carolina.  This demonstration

is part of the National Day of Action Against Extraction, and follows

overwhelming public opposition to fracking at recent legislative public

comment periods.

Activists oppose fracking due to numerous environmental and public health

crises seen at frack sites across the country. Demonstrators emphasize

that natural gas puts off large amounts of methane into the atmosphere,

which speeds climate change faster than CO2 by 20X, raising local ozone

levels for up to 200 miles. A recent study by Duke University linked

methane likely from drill rigs to methane contamination in water wells.

Last December, the EPA found fracking chemicals inside Wyoming’s water

aquifer.  NPR reported that residents in Dimock, Pennsylvania were moving

their families away in droves due to complaints of bad water, truck

traffic, and air pollution from fracking.  While industry claims that much

of the frack water is “recycled,” a 2011 New York Times investigation

found that much of this water was sent to municipal waste facilities that

could not treat the radioactive and toxic materials which ended up in

nearby rivers.   Injection of it into the ground was linked toearthquakes

in Ohio and across the country.

Demonstrators oppose fracking due to the risk of massive blowouts, which

have occurred at fracking wells across the country, some resulting in

injuries of workers, large releases of methane, and, recently in Wyoming,

the evacuation of residents. “Blowouts and spills are just run-of-the-mill

occurrences at fracking sites,” says Earth First! activist Michelle

Matheson.  “We can expect the same disasters to happen in North Carolina

if this is legalized.  Expecting anything different would be wishful

thinking.  The government has never shown itself to be effective in

regulating the fracking industry.”

Croatan Earth First!, Cumnock Preservation Association, and Blue Ridge

Environmental Defense League will be marching on the general assembly to

deliver a coffin representing the proposed death of NC’s clean water.

Activists will demand legislators reject the bill to frack our state.  “If

they legalize fracking in our state we will have no other choice but to

take direct action and civil disobedience to stop industry,” says one

Earth First!er. “If you like clean air and water, then you have to fight

for it.”

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