Chatham County hosts the public information session on oil and gas exploration Monday night in Pittsboro. 

The forum is intended to inform residents who live in areas where some land has already been leased for future natural gas drilling.

 

Opponents packed two earlier hearings on hydraulic fracturing in Sanford and Chapel Hill.

 

Fracturing involves injecting a drilled well with water, chemicals and sand to crack shale rock and free trapped gas.

 

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources set a deadline for Monday to receive public comments on its study released last month saying that it's possible for fracking to be done safely if lawmakers adopt the right precautions.