Frack around and find out: Lee County’s water is at risk

Follow the money to learn who is to blame if fracking comes to Lee County.

Clean Water for North Carolina advertised on social media for opponents of fracking and a data center in Lee County to attend the commissioners’ Jan. 5 meeting to speak during the public comments period.

Video of the meeting, a standard, was not functional for the Jan. 5 meeting.

One of the problems with fracking deals with water.

Natural gas in Lee County is about 2,700 feet deep, while groundwater can be as close as 1,000 feet. Fracking fractures can travel up to 2,000 feet, close enough to contaminate the water supply.

Deep River’s adjoining lands rest on a water table, making an unstable drilling environment.

During public comments, thirteen people requested a fracking moratorium because the historic Butler Well No.3 near U.S. Highway 421 in Cumnock is at risk of being drilled by the North Carolina company, Deep River Data.

Concerns ranged from well water contamination to grazing animal dangers, to structural damage and property value, to quality-of-life destruction.

Who is to blame for the fracking interest?

Opponents sitting in the audience at the Jan. 5 meeting mumbled, “Trump,” each time Chaiman Kirk Smith advocated for the data center, associating Republicans as fracking proponents, and Smith is a Republican, too.

During the Dec. 15, 2025, commissioner’s meeting, Smith said recent congressional hearings showed the Chinese Communist Party was funding environmental organizations that oppose data centers and fracking. He said moratoriums are authoritarian, comparing them to Marxist policies, and argued that restricting development violates property rights.

On Jan. 5, Smith repeated that a moratorium violates property rights.

What about laws protecting property owners to enjoy their land unencumbered?

It may be the party with the most evidence and the most expensive lawyer earns the most enjoyment from a land parcel.

In a split estate, one party owns the surface land, and another party owns the mineral rights. The dominant party is the one with mineral rights, and fracking companies must respect surface owners’ rights to reasonably use and enjoy their land.

The Crowder‑Wentz v. EQT lawsuit is an example of when mineral owners exceed what is necessary, such as entering land without permission or causing excessive surface damage, surface owners can sue for trespass or damages.

Review the North Carolina laws on drilling here.

Are communists or Republicans responsible?

Consider how North Carolina’s most distressed areas are induced with grants to welcome fracking for data centers in rural places under North Carolina’s Democrat Governor Josh Stein’s Industrial Development Fund—Utility Account.

According to the governor’s website, Utility Account grants help local governments build public infrastructure to attract industrial-grade utility services in rural areas. To apply, counties must be ranked as one of the 80 most distressed.

Lee County does not qualify for the grant because it is a Tier 3.

However, advocates against fracking may want to stay alert for data center and fracking proposals in counties with rich shale deposits coupled with Tier 1 and 2 statuses: Montgomery, Richmond, Rockingham, Stokes and Anson.

Applicants are not always required to reveal the exact industrial business type, such as data centers, during public discourse in municipal or county meetings.

Data centers use billions of gallons of water, stressing local services.

Data centers handle hazardous materials through water-treatment chemicals, diesel for backup generators, and lithium-ion battery systems. Wastewater from these facilities can contain solvents, heavy metals, fluorides, nanoparticles, and PFAS, all of which require strict environmental controls.

“They won’t pass fracking until we have a Republican governor,” Lee County Republican Party Chairman Jim Womack said during an interview on Dec. 17.

Is AI consumption responsible?

Simon Kemp wrote the article, Digital 2026: more than 1 billion people use AI, and DataReportal published it on Oct. 15, 2025.

“For initial perspective, Alibaba announced that its Quark AI platform had 150 million worldwide monthly active users in April 2025, and while that figure undoubtedly includes users outside of China, our analysis suggests that a meaningful proportion of Quark’s users live within its home country.

But perhaps more importantly, a July 2025 report indicated that China is now home to 250 million “AI agent users”, which is more than enough to push our global user figure well above 1 billion.

So, while an exact figure remains elusive, the available evidence indicates that there are now well over 1 billion people around the world using standalone AI platforms each month,” DataReportal shares on its website, highlighting the investment possibilities.

Are individual mineral rights owners responsible, or is the entire State of North Carolina responsible?

Developers, investors and tree harvesting companies have been buying mineral rights from land they purchase and selling the surface land.

Ask developer Bobby Branch, Bobby Hall with International Paper or Dan Butler from Cumnock about their investments.

North Carolina realtors are required by law to have buyers sign the NC Residential Offer to Purchase and Contract (Form 2-T) in which the seller is obligated to reveal if mineral rights have been sold.

If the seller does not reveal this, the buyer may sue.

Better yet, ask Dan Spuller, when he’s not in Washington, about how he is pushing legislation to enable his blockchain puppy’s popularity with North Carolina’s House Bill 92. It was sent to the rules and operations committee in May 2025.

Republican cosponsors in the North Carolina House of Representatives include: Stephen Ross, Mark Brody, Mike Schietzelt, Destin Hall, Jonathan Almond, Brian Biggs, Celeste Cairns, Grant Campbell, Todd Carver, Brian Echevarria, Kyle Hall, Kelly Hastings, Neal Jackson, Keith Kidwell, Donnie Loftis, John Lowery, Jeffrey McNeely, Ben Moss, Ray Pickett, Reece Pyrtle, Timothy Reeder, Heather Rhyne, Dennis Riddell, Phil Shepard, Bill Ward, Harry Warren, and Matthew Winslow.

No Democrats cosponsor Bill 92.

Bill 92 would allow the state treasury to invest in digital assets, and that would increase demand for energy from natural gas. Digital asset operations, like cryptocurrency networks, require massive amounts of electricity, and data centers that store and process these assets need reliable, continuous power, some accessed from natural gas, which is often extracted through fracking.

So, what is one to do about fracking and data centers coming to Lee County?

Consult with your representatives or your financial advisor, depending on your ethics.

In other Lee County news…

During a public hearing, Senior Planner Amy McNeil reviewed a request to rezone 2.17 acres from commercial to residential 20. RA20 is uncommon in Lee County. The owner’s father had planned a convenience store that did not come to fruition, and his son, Jeffrey Godfrey, inherited the property and reached out to Ronnie Turner, a developer, who helped him make a workable plan to market the property for residential.

Godfrey said the 2.17 triangular-shaped property passed perk tests for four homes at the end of Nicholson Road joining Edwards Road.

Jan. 6, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers

Read Lee County’s record of success in researching a potentially contaminated site and how the county ended up spending $600,000 toward clean-up of which no one knows the end date or total expense, after the county purchased the former Magnetti Marelli property here.

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Sandhills News is plain-English local government reporting that explains how decisions affect your land, taxes, schools and rights.