An extraordinarily brave woman coming to convention

An extraordinarily brave woman coming to Convention National Farmers Union Region 7 (Alberta) Newsletter, Spring 2012
Related to Jessica’s case, the NFU passed a resolution at the 2011 convention calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. In the NFU news release of February 2012, the call for a moratorium was made, as well as the conditions that would have to be met before it could be lifted. All voluntary recommendations issued by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) need to become mandatory, which means, aquifer protection is guaranteed by better casing construction, volumes and essence of fluids, and the use of all chemicals are disclosed and recorded. In addition, the NFU demands that instead of industry’s self-policing a truly independent regulator also enforce regulation and fines in case of non compliance, and that a third party regulator needs to be present on sites during all drilling and fracturing processes. Typically, when there is a case of contamination or disruption of neighbouring water wells, the common practice of energy companies ERCB and/or Alberta Environment is to address it somewhat and to have land owners sign a confidentiality agreement. That practice must be made illegal as it camouflages the extent of the environmental damage and it forms an affront to the public interest.