Hydro-fracking: Are we ready?
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nbvotes2010/story/2010/09/08/
nbvotes-analysis-brad-walters-hydro-fracking.html
Eleventh in a series of expert analysis articles on major issues in the 2010 N.B. election
Last Updated: Thursday, September 9, 2010 | 3:57 AM ET CBC News
Brad Walters is a professor of geography and environmental studies at Mount Allison University. He is internationally recognized as a scholar on the human dimensions of environmental change.
Walters has authored two edited books and more than 40 published articles in his field of expertise.
He teaches about environmental policy issues, climate change and the inter-relations between economic development and environmental protection.
The recent controversy surrounding oil and gas exploration in the Sackville area has, rather suddenly and unexpectedly, catapulted the issue of hydraulic fracturing of natural gas to the forefront of New Brunswick politics.
Hydraulic fracturing or "hydro-fracking" is a relatively novel form of gas extraction that involves the injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemicals under high pressure to create cracks or fissures in shale rock formations deep underground.
Such fracturing facilitates the release of previously trapped methane gas deposits that are subsequently collected and extracted through the original drill bore.
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nbvotes-analysis-brad-walters-hydro-fracking.html