The Walnut Cove Board of Commissioners is taking a stand against fracking legislation passed last week by the General Assembly.
The new legislation limits the ability of local governments to delay or prevent fracking through local ordinances and moratoriums.
The Board of Commissioners is considering a nine-page moratorium to temporarily ban the practice. Town manager Bobby Miller says Walnut Cove already has its own land-use laws on the books.
“This is something that locally lets us be in charge of our own destiny,” says Miller. “It gives us time to study the issue. We're talking a three year moratorium and, hopefully, if there's not a court challenge, we will be in a much more informed position by then. ”
Miller says many people in Walnut Cove are concerned about the potential impact of fracking on drinking water, air pollution and noise. And he says, they're upset that the state passed the legislation without any input from communities like theirs.
The Walnut Cove Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the issue on Nov 10.
The Stokes County Commission recently passed a similar moratorium on fracking.
In July, state geologists said samples taken during a test drill in Walnut Cove indicated unconfirmed signs of shale gas.
*Follow Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news
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