The North Carolina Geological Survey estimated there is about 40 years worth of natural gas supply trapped less than a mile below Lee, Moore, Chatham, Durham and Wake counties.

But the process to remove natural gas from shale rock using water, sand and a cocktail of chemicals, called “fracking,” is illegal in North Carolina — for now.

On Tuesday, January 31 at 5 p.m. The UNC Institute for the Environment with host the lecture “To Frac or Not to Frac: Risks & Rewards of Natural Gas Production From Shale” featuring Larry Murdock of Clemson University’s Department of Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will be held in the Tate Turner Kuralt Auditorium.

The lecture comes in anticipation of a March report by state officials on whether the North Carolina lands are to be drilled into to extract natural gas reserves.

To read more about the complex process of “fracking” follow these links:

• reesenews: NC Counties could face natural gas drilling
• Indy Week: Despite the dangers of fracking, North Carolina lawmakers want to legalize it
• PBS: ’Fracking’ for Natural Gas Continues to Raise Health Concerns
• New York Times: Unlocking the Secrets Behind Hydraulic Fracturing
• PhysOrg : US health experts seek more study on ‘fracking’
• Duke Professor and Geochemist Robert Jackson explains “fracking”:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq0LFhw-klM[/youtube]