CULLOWHEE – Fracking would would pose a serious threat to the environment in Western North Carolina and proposed state rules are inadequate to prevent problems, speakers said repeatedly during a public hearing here Sept. 12.

The hearing about hydraulic fracturing drew about 600 people who voiced an overwhelming opposition over four hours at Western Carolina University’s Ramsey Center. It was hosted by the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission

Fracking involves pumping a mixture of sand, water and chemicals into deep shale formations, then fracturing the rock to release the gas. Opponents say it can pollute groundwater and leave property owners with useless land.

Areas \where fracking to collect natural gas is considered most likely to be commercially viable are in the Piedmont and eastern North Carolina. The state had funded a preliminary study to determine whether fracking in a rock formation in seven of the state’s westernmost counties would be feasible, but an official recently said it is setting that aside for 2014-15.

The N.C. General Assembly fast-tracked approving fracking last year, but it has not yet begun in North Carolina. At the earliest, natural gas extraction could start in March 2015, according to Jamie Kritzer, spokesman for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Meanwhile, Asheville Citizen-Times columnist John Boyle reported that “Homeless men unfamiliar with fracking were bused from Winston-Salem to a state hearing Friday on the controversial technique for extracting natural gas, an effort to bolster a pro-fracking turnout, according to an environmental group and a published report.

As for the pro-frackers, Bettie “Betsy” Ashby, a member of the Jackson County Coalition Against Fracking. was quoted in the AC-T as saying, “They were clueless,” said “At least two of them I met definitely came from a homeless shelter.”