41st PARLIAMENT, 1st Session Standing Committee on Natural Resources EVIDENCE presented by Encana, February 12, 2013
Mr. Richard Dunn (Vice-President, Canadian Division, Regulatory and Government Relations, Encana Corporation): In addition to our own internal focus on innovation, we support external R and D efforts through third-party partnerships with academia. Recently, for example, Encana made a five-year pledge of $1 million to support research activity at the University of Calgary’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, partnering with Alberta Innovates—Technology Futures, which is a Government of Alberta-sponsored organization dedicated to helping industries find solutions and move technologies to market. A portion of this investment was directed toward an endowed chair dedicated toward research in unconventional natural gas. …
At Encana we’re proud—having implemented this practice—of taking the step to eliminate the use of diesel, benzene, and heavy metals, such as cadmium, arsenic, chromium, lead, and mercury in our hydraulic fracturing fluids. [Emphasis added]
[Reality check. Refer below to snap from fracfocus.ca on hydraulic fracturing fluid composition used by Encana to frac near Rosebud, Alberta after the above testimony by Mr. Dunn:
MSDS Aviation Kerosene CAS #64742-47-8 (Synonyms : QAV-1 / Jet Fuel / Jet A1)
Biological and health effects of exposure to kerosene-based jet fuels and performance additives by Ritchie G, Still K, Rossi J 3rd, Bekkedal M, Bobb A, Arfsten D, J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2003 Jul-Aug;6(4):357-451
Kerosene-based hydrocarbon fuels are complex mixtures of up to 260+ aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (C(6) -C(17+); possibly 2000+ isomeric forms), including varying concentrations of potential toxicants such as benzene, n-hexane, toluene, xylenes, trimethylpentane, methoxyethanol, naphthalenes (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], and certain other C(9)-C(12) fractions (i.e., n-propylbenzene, trimethylbenzene isomers). [Emphasis added]
[Sampling by Alberta Environment detected kerosene range hydrocarbons, toluene and other toxics in the Rosebud Hamlet drinking water supply, after Encana repeatedly perforated and fractured Rosebud’s fresh water aquifers ]