Clean Water for North Carolina and the Yadkin Riverkeeper are presenting the film Split Estate this week in Winston-Salem. The event is part of the national "Reel Power" film festival. The movie documents natural gas drilling in Colorado and other Western states.

Katie Hicks of Clean Water of North Carolina says some of the issues in the film are already being dealt with by some residents in the Tar Heel state.

"There has been some news recently about a housing development company down near Cary that actually hasn't been selling people the mineral rights with their homes.” In addition to the “split estate” issue, Hicks says many mineral rights leases in Lee County, North Carolina, are considered predatory leases. “They are not really giving people a good deal in a lot of cases," said Hicks.

"Fracking", or hydraulic fracturing, is a drilling technique that involves horizontal drilling and high-pressure injection of water and chemicals to draw out natural gas in shale formations.

Currently, the technique is banned in NC, but since the gas deposits became known, the gas industry has been putting pressure on state decision-makers to overturn the ban. Some of the natural gas deposits or "shales" underlie Rockingham and Stokes Counties.

Hicks said she hopes the film will educate Piedmont Triad residents on the process, so they can make informed decisions.

"Whether it is air pollutants, contamination of drinking water wells, health impacts from the contaminants, noise or traffic, there are just so many impacts.  I think the important thing in North Carolina is that we have an opportunity to learn from what has been going on for years in the West, and quite a while in Pennsylvania, New York and other states. We need to have a voice in what is being done in Raleigh to make sure that people are participating in that," said Hicks.