“We are in serious negotiations with lawyers right now about looking at legal actions,” Barber said. Later, after asking Stokes County residents at the meeting to join as parties to the lawsuit, he said: “It doesn’t need to be just a (legal) action of an organization; it needs to be an action by the impacted people.”

The announcement comes a few weeks after the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources got permission from the Walnut Cove commissioners to use town land in the predominately black community of Walnut Tree to assess the Dan River basin for potential shale-gas resources.

The assessment will start June 12, which means that the commissioners meeting June 9 will likely bring out a large crowd opposed to the project, according to discussions here Thursday.

Among the chief concerns is that a confirmation that shale exists in sufficient quantities could attract oil-and-gas companies that use the much-debated drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to extract the gas.

Although the project may not cause immediate harm to anyone’s health, conservationists say, it brings a renewed sense of urgency not only to the issue of fracking but also to the wider issue of fossil-fuel pollution, including that caused by coal ash.

“If you touch the Stokes County people, you touch the Forward Together movement all across this state. If you touch the Stokes County NAACP, you touch the entire NAACP around this nation,” Barber said, standing in front of a large crowd of supporters at Rising Star Baptist Church.

For years, conservationists such as Appalachian Voices and folks in this area have wondered about the possible detrimental health effects that may be caused by the Belews Creek Steam Station.

The power plant, built in the early 1970s by Duke Energy, dumps its coal ash in a lagoon with a surface area of up to 350 acres, according to one of the company’s latest reports. By comparison, the waste pond that spilled into the Dan River in February 2014 was 27 acres.

The smokestacks have caused concerns about air pollution. Although emissions have been reduced significantly in the past few years, the smokestacks at one time shot enough soot into the air to cover cars and roofs, residents say.

“Tonight means that we’re going forward. Barber is going to get things done that have needed to be done for the past 40 years,” said Alfred Warren, 59, who has lived just east of Walnut Cove all his life.

Lately, the Belews waste pond has received attention for groundwater pollution.

Private wells near Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds statewide were recently tested for potentially toxic metals. Around the Belews coal ash pond, four of the 11 wells tested showed high iron, vanadium or acidic pH levels, though it is not known clearly whether the pollutants were from the coal ash pond or are naturally occurring components of the soil.

Letters from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services advised the four well owners against drinking the water.

If a lawsuit does come, it would likely be supported by Title XI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In a memorandum, former President Bill Clinton identified Title VI as one of several laws that can help "to prevent minority communities and low-income communities from being subject to disproportionately high and adverse environmental effects," according to the EPA.

Taking aim at elected officials at the local, state and federal level who represent this area, Barber questioned why they “are not raising holy hell about the issues.” Later, he said, “That’s part of what we’re going to be doing.”

bgutierrez@wsjournal.com

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