Protesters gather on the plaza across from the state Capitol in Nashville on Friday to speak out against a University of Tennessee plan to allow hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas on a state-owned tract of rolling woodland.NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Building Commission unanimously approved a request Friday by the University of Tennessee to allow hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on 8,636 acres in the university’s Cumberland Forest.
Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes, who sits on the executive subcommittee of the commission, made a motion to approve the request after hearing three hours of comments from the university and 25 other private speakers for and against the proposal.
The university had asked to be allowed to lease the land and its mineral and oil rights to an energy company as an opportunity to research the impacts of hydraulic fracturing — a method of mining natural gas by injecting high-pressure water or nitrogen gas and chemicals into shale rock to cause fractures for gas to escape.
The lease term is for five years, with three five-year renewals — or as long as there is enough gas being extracted to make a profit.
Emkes said he supports the move to research the drilling method because no other meaningful research on industrial practices or environmental impact was being conducted at any of the 350-plus fractured mining sites in the area.