A spokesman for North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue says her one-day trip to Pennsylvania to examine a natural gas exploration method wasn't publicized because she was only gathering information and held no public events.
Perdue, state environment Secretary Dee Freeman and others traveled March 5 to north-central Pennsylvania to visit Shell Oil operations in the region where a process called hydraulic fracturing occurs to extract natural gas from shale.
Perdue spokesman Mark Johnson said Tuesday the delegation also met with regulators and local officials.
Freeman's department is expected soon to release a report the Legislature mandated to examine the procedure known as "fracking" and recommend what steps the state should now take.
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