Hundreds protest hydro-fracking in Fredericton
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2011/11/19/nb-hydro-fracking-rally.html
CBC News Posted: Nov 19, 2011 12:44 PM AT
Last Updated: Nov 19, 2011 6:10 PM AT
Related Links - (Links on wwebsite)
SWN says N.B.'s underground gas widespread
Hydro-fracking: Are we ready?
Gas exploration company defends hydro-fracking
Police estimate more than 600 people gathered for a hydro-fracking rally in Fredericton, New Brunswick Saturday.
An alliance made up of 28 community groups organized the event to show the Alward government it doesn't want shale gas development in the province.
Among the groups were members of the St. Mary's First Nation, who set up a large teepee on the front lawn of the provincial legislature.
Angee Acquin, a member of the community, said they're planning on staying there until the legislature opens on Wednesday.
"We're here because we have a stake in our New Brunswick government, and we've put a pretty big stake on the government right now with our teepee, literally. And I think that's what needs to happen," Acquin said.
They say the development of shale gas in New Brunswick is unacceptable and they want the government to put an end to it.
"I've seen firsthand that regulations cannot cover everything. They will not. You cannot control how the soil's going to react with all these forces exerting on it,"said Maxime Daigle, one of the protestors, who has worked in the oil and gas industry.
Hydro-fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is a controversial practice that injects a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the ground, creating cracks in shale rock formations so that natural gas can be released from areas that would otherwise go untapped.
Earlier this week, federal Environment Minister Peter Kent said while he has the power to stop hydro-fracking in N.B., he's waiting on a review from the Council of Canadian Academies on hydro-fracking.
MORE:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/
2011/11/19/nb-hydro-fracking-rally.html
- - - - -
Durandal
2011/11/19
at 11:05 AM ET
Too many unanswered questions remain on this process.
The fact that most companies have failed to uphold basic environmental controls at test wells should be enough of a warning to all.
The onus should be on the people that stand to benefit from this to PROVE it's safe.
The onus should not be on the people that stand to loose the most to TRUST the former blindly.
If it is safe, show us the data that proves it, case closed.... what no data? Hmmmmm.....
SaskinCalgary
2011/11/19
at 11:18 AM ET
I can't tell you how much it irks me to my core when people protest "fracking" when clearly they don't understand the geologic and engineering variables which go into the process. We are talking about 1000's of meters under the ground and a wide variety of rock types which have prevented the escape of hydrocarbons to the surface over geologic time. The type of fractures created for the release of hydrocarbons into a wellbore are unlikey to tap into the water table.
dogandpony
2011/11/19
at 12:30 PM ET
oh, so we're looking to get flammable drinking water here in Canada too huh, yup, always count on private corps to do what's right...BTW, you can find plenty examples of the flammable drinking water due to fracking in the US on youtube
jlinke
2011/11/19
at 12:49 PM ET
Joemajom and anybody who missed today's rally, there will be another rally on Wednesday Nov. 23 in front of the Legislature at noon:
Anybody opposed to shale gas in the province, join and stand united with your fellow New Brunswickers on Wednesday Nov 23 from noon till afternoon. CUPE has formed a national resolution against shale gas and they will be bringing their message also to the Legislature on Wednesday!
Since noon today, the Legislature is being occupied until next week! Go and visit, people are bringing their message directly to the grounds of the Legislature now and for the days to come!
countryboy100
2011/11/19
at 2:42 PM ET
Wow! I can't believe there are still people that don't think hydro-fracking is dangerous! Come on people! Take 5 minutes to research the internet! You don't have to look too far, or be a genius to see how scary this monster is. Is this industry really worth these risks?
If this industry does get a take off in NB, I would love to hear how many of you gain personally from it!
- - - - - -
Throwing gas on the fracking fire
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/o ... le/1456239
Published Wednesday November 16th, 2011 D6
By Alec Bruce Times & Transcript
A made-in-Canada technology that uses propane to extract natural gas from sedimentary rock without fouling water tables or harming the environment in any other discernible way is one of those feats of engineering that qualifies, to the untrained layman, as weird science.
Weirder still, however, is why news of the technique has not yet reached the eyes and ears of most people in New Brunswick - where the debate over hydraulic fracturing has become a pitched battle between intractable foes - even though 'gas fracking' has been tested successfully at development plays just outside Moncton.
According to a report posted on insideclimatenews.org earlier this month, Phillip Knoll, president of Halifax-based Corridor Resources (one of two major exploration companies currently operating in New Brunswick) says the procedure works.
"We had absolutely tremendous results that compared favourably with other techniques," he enthused in the article. "The technology is improving substantially."
Specifically, the technology, developed and patented by Calgary-based GasFrac, pumps propane emulsion into shale, cracking the formations and liberating the gas therein.
Says the article: "Unlike water, the gel does a kind of disappearing act underground. It reverts to vapor due to pressure and heat, then returns to the surface - along with the natural gas - for collection, possible reuse and ultimate resale. And, also unlike water, propane does not carry back to the surface drilling chemicals, ancient seabed salts and underground radioactivity."
Added GasFrac's Chief Technology Officer Robert Lestz: "We leave the nasties in the ground, where they belong."
If this is true (and the claims are not just more pennies for industry's wishing well), then are we not now sitting on a credible alternative to the extraordinarily controversial water-based method, which has riven polluted communities across North America? More pointedly, perhaps, shouldn't the provincial government aggressively research the broad commercial potential of a technique that is, apparently, both productive and benign before the arched hyperbole on both sides of the issue finally devolves into irredeemable nonsense?
Premier Alward and his ruling Tories are staring into the maw of the toughest challenge any New Brunswick government has faced in modern times.
Cavernously deep, annual deficits and long-term debt have effectively hobbled meaningful progress in almost every sphere of public administration.
The size of the civil service is unsustainably large. Health care, social and education costs are badly aligned with available resources.
And economic development, despite some promising initiatives up north, is proceeding with all the haste of an advancing glacier.
Like it or not, shale gas promises enormous boons for the province at a time when it most needs them. Some estimates peg the yearly royalties accruing from a fully developed industry at more than $400 million - a nice chunk of rolling change for a province that, apart from all its other financial burdens, must soon worry about a $2-billion capital upgrade (or decommission) of the Mactaquac hydroelectric plant.
Still, drilling only makes sense if the social and environmental costs do not exceed the putative economic benefits. Unfortunately, the provincial government has found little to comfort the growing number of New Brunswickers, from all walks of life and political persuasions, who are convinced that Fredericton's latest league of extraordinary ladies and gentlemen is simply spooning with its Big Gas paramour.
That the propane procedure is not well known outside industry circles may only suggest that the companies currently engaged in testing and exploration consider the technology experimental or, more likely, prohibitively expensive.
Indeed, exploiting a free, public resource (water), rather than a refined petrochemical, to meet their financial objectives is the logical, if amoral, choice.
But the private sector's narrow, bottom-line preoccupations should not supersede the public interest.
And, in this respect, the provincial government is obligated to openly explore all options that may serve to heal the rift between producers and consumers, between corporations and communities.
For the sake of New Brunswick's long-term economic future, this is a conversation we need to have, even if (especially if) the science behind gas fraccing turns out to be truly weird, after all.
* Alec Bruce is a Moncton-based writer on politics, economics and current affairs. His column appears in this space Monday through Friday.