Proponents and detractors on the issue of fracking in North Carolina are focused now on a small hole to be drilled in a Piedmont community. Walnut Cove may be home to the first North Carolina use of this controversial mining technique.
State officials plan to drill a small “core hole” deep into the rock formation under a piece of land the town owns.
According to the Greensboro News and Record, the Walnut Cove Town Council approved the sample drilling last month. The issue will be discussed again at its Tuesday meeting.
David McGowan, the executive director of the industry-affiliated N.C. Petroleum Council, said not enough is known about how valuable this shale vein could be, a good reason to sample it.
Local residents don't all agree. Mary Kerley, a leader of the No Fracking in Stokes protest group, believes that the drilling will cause major damage, offsetting the temporary economic good. Kerley worries that fracking operations could trigger earthquakes that would threaten Duke Energy's massive coal ash pond and the dam at Belews Creek Steam Station near town.
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