MORGANTON - Several arrests were made after protestors blocked an entrance to a chemical plant in Morganton which makes products used in the natural gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Croatan Earth First! Spokeswoman Maria Rowan of Carrboro says the group aims to stop the spread of fracking to North Carolina, where lawmakers want to allow the process used to extract gas from underground rock. “People from around the country told about their experiences with fracking in their communities and…we shared our fears about it coming to North Carolina.”

“There have been methane well fires in some communities and places have had to be evacuated. People had family members who have had their wells poisoned or who live in areas with very high childhood asthma rates.”

The chemical plant Momentive is one of the largest worldwide distributors of a necessary component for fracking which could be in place in North Carolina by 2015.