Is Quebec next on the undo a frac ban hit list? PEI?
Four Chapters to this post:
1) A tiny bit of frac history (I didn’t include the many drinking water contamination cases in the states, including those proven in court). It would take me days/weeks to list all the frac bans and contamination/health harm cases. Read Andrew Nikiforuk’s Slick Water, and Frac Harm Compendium 9 if you want gory details.
2) Maryland
3) California
4) Nova Scotia.
2006: NEWS ALERT: Water Supply for Hamlet of Rosebud, Alberta Contaminated
2011: European Union report says ban fracking
EU Report: “high risk if the technology is not used adequately and partly have a possible high risk for environmental damages and hazards to human health even when applied properly….”
2011: France Becomes First Country to Ban Extraction of Natural Gas by Fracking
A proportion (25% to 100%) of the water used in hydraulic fracturing is not recovered, and consequently this water is lost permanently to re-use, which differs from some other water uses in which water can be recovered and processed for re-use.
2013: Legal Advice 4:43 Min. AER’s outside counsel Glenn Solomon spells out how oil and gas companies escape liability for contaminating community drinking water supplies with water tank systems forever and gag orders so that they can go down the street and do it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again….
2015: Another Court Ruling: France will remain frac free
2017: Bravo Brava Courage, Compassion, Community! Republic of Ireland Frack Ban Completes Final Stage: Seanad passes fracking ban! The Irish are too wise to be conned by twisted definitions and other dirty tricks.
2017: Another Wow! Oregon House passes 10-year fracking ban
2019: UK Frac Ban Adds to the Tremors Taking Down the Fracking Industry
2021: Frac’ing Ontario? Wheatley (thermogenic corrosive) sour gas explosion injures 20, destroys two buildings, more, many families displaced. Still leaking, area remains at risk of more explosions like Hutchinson Kansas where two were killed in their home from industry’s leaking gas migrating 7 miles. Chatham-Kent top administrator, Don Shropshire: “Our area has hundreds, if not thousands of abandoned gas wells. They stretch from Niagara Peninsula to Windsor.” Also exploded from industry’s gas 85 years ago. The community must be relocated. But, where?
*MARYLAND*
State Senators propose bill to legalize fracking by Claire Sullivan, Feb 13, 2025, Garrett County Republican
OAKLAND — Republican State Senator Steve Hershey has submitted a bill to allow hydraulic fracking in the state of Maryland.
State Senators Mike McKay (R) and William Folden (R) are co-sponsors. Co-sponsors do no submit testimony or participate in the hearing.
The bill was introduced on Feb. 3 and is currently in committee. It will be discussed at the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Hearing on Feb. 27. If the bill were to pass, fracking’s legalization would be effective Oct. 1, 2025.
Maryland was the first state to successfully pass a legislative, state-wide ban on hydraulic fracking in 2017.
“I have always been consistent concerning my support of safe fracking 
There is no such thing as safe frac’ing. It’s impossible to do safely. That’s been proven again and again. Fra’cing intentionally contaminates drinking water (vital to life), and removes 25-100% of water injected from the hydrogeological cycle forever. In today’s human pollution induced climate chaos and raging wildfires and or severe drought hitting many jurisdictions leading to water shortages, frac’ing is irresponsible, impossible to do safely and no regulation or law can make it so – because it intentionally destroys water! Idiots. as Allegany County Commissioner, Delegate and now as a Senator,” said co-sponsor McKay. “The poor cannot afford to live in Appalachia Maryland even if they can find affordable housing.”Cut Nazi Musk’s wasteful contracts for Mars and SpaceX and put the money into providing solar energy on every home in Maryland and California – heck, I bet every home in the USA could be powered with solar financed from the billions of dollars the USA wastes annually giving it to Musk companies. Musk is already the world’s richest man, he does not need more hundreds of billions, ordinary Americans need assistance, not Musk.
McKay stated that the Governor, Senate President and the Speaker have asked for energy policy to be addressed.
“They have acknowledged that all forms of energy can be used to solve the problem,” McKay added. “Senator Hershey [the sponsor of the bill] brought this to my attention during a Republican Caucus meeting during the third week of the 2025 session as we discussed subjects in this year’s session.”
McKay also said that the Allegany County Commissioners asked him to put in this bill in December, but he declined “…due to the possibility of it being passed.”
“No company will come to Maryland to drill because of the return on investment,” McKay stated.
Fracking is a method used to extract natural gas and oil from shale. The controversial method forces water, sand, and a mix of chemicals into horizontally drilled wells, which cracks the shale and releases gas and oil.
The controversy surrounding fracking involves not only environmental damage, but health risks to those in communities where fracking is happening. Fracking is known to cause contamination to well water and damages infrastructures.
When the bill was revealed to have made it to committee, it led to a bit of an uproar locally and throughout the region.Good!
Mark Stutzman, President of Engage Mountain Maryland from 2015-2022, took time to elaborate on these risks. He said the bill is a “backhanded slap to the face for not only Garrett County citizens but the entire General Assembly of Maryland.”
“Groups like the Environmental Health Project in Pennsylvania share many stories of people ending up with contaminated well water and various health issues, particularly among developing children living near well sites. Studies link natural gas development to low birth weights, bloody noses, asthma, lymphoma, and childhood leukemia,” Stutzman said. “The health issues are broad and attributed to ongoing gas emissions, chemicals used to extract the gas, and diesel exhaust from the heavy equipment needed during development.”
According to Stutzman, they ignored the harsh realities of fracking back in 2017.
“Nothing has changed with the gas drilling process to make it a good choice for Maryland’s unspoiled mountains,” said Stutzman. “McKay is tone-deaf and outmoded regarding energy policy. There are multiple avenues and well-recognized technologies that take the environment and efficiency into account.”
Stutzman said that the initial fracking ban in Maryland was the result of years of effort and research from both local and national organizations that revealed “undeniable truths” of the practice.
“The Western Maryland Delegation, at that time, falsely told fellow legislators in Annapolis that the people of Garrett County wanted fracking,” Stutzman added.
“It wasn’t until outraged citizens visited Annapolis in person to express strong opposition to fracking that the tide began to change. It’s very difficult for citizens to be heard when they are at odds with their elected officials, but time and persistence prevail.”
Stutzman also touched on the notion of job creation surrounding fracking. Drilling is a specialized, constantly traveling practice. Teams move from site to site rather than employing unskilled residents living in the area. When a well has been drained of its resources, it is abandoned with occasional inspections.
“When visiting gas sites in West Virginia, we had full access to the completed well pads,” he said. “There was no locked gate preventing people from wandering around. Wildlife can also co-mingle with well pads, making hunting game for food hazardous.”
Stutzman also added that there is a risk of deterring vacation traffic looking to enjoy the wilds of Maryland.
“The tourism economy, vacation rentals, and real estate around Deep Creek Lake generate over 60 percent of the county’s tax base,” Stutzman said. “Should that be jeopardized, this county will be in serious trouble. Our most significant deficit is full-time residents. Garrett County’s population has stagnated for decades, contradicting a growing economy.
“Displacing our tourists and Deep Creek Lake real estate with fracking could cause a complete collapse of the county’s revenue stream. There is no other source of income of that magnitude to fall back on. Fracking and tourism don’t mix, making the decision about fracking simple.”
Staff Writer Claire Sullivan can be reached at 301-334-3963 or by email at email hidden; JavaScript is required
Refer also to:
2017: Republican Maryland governor signs fracking ban into law
2017: Maryland Senate voted 35-10 to ban fracking
2017: Frack ban advances to Maryland Senate floor
2017: Another wow! Maryland House votes (97-40) to ban fracking by veto-proof margin
2014: Frac’ing could threaten air quality, workers’ and public health, University of Maryland report says
*CALIFORNIA*
Newsom loses bid to exit fracking lawsuits by John Cox, Feb 20, 2025, Bakersfield.com
A Kern County judge ruled Thursday that Gov. Gavin Newsom will remain a defendant in a trio of lawsuits brought against his administration by local oil producers arguing the governor overstepped his authority when he imposed a de-facto ban on fracking in 2021.
Kern County Superior Court Judge Bernard C. Barmann Jr. denied the administration’s request for summary judgment that would have excused the governor from the cases. State agencies were to remain defendants regardless.
The lawsuits, which are headed for a bench trial set to start Sept. 2, could decide the fate of a controversial oil-field technique that at one point accounted for up to a fifth of all oil produced in California, virtually all of it in Kern County.
Plaintiffs Chevron USA Inc., Aera Energy LLC and the trade group Western States Petroleum Association allege Newsom had acknowledged prior to imposing the de-facto ban that he lacked legal power to prohibit fracking but did it anyway to appease environmental groups.
Fracking injects water, sand and small concentrationsbut massive volumesof toxic chemicals deep underground at high pressure to release oil and gas that is otherwise hard to access. Environmental groups say the practice risks polluting groundwater and air. California’s oil industry says there is no evidence of such contamination despite decades of use in the state.They lie like Trump; there are endless cases of groundwater contamination in California caused by the oil and gas industry’s injection/frac practices, notably the state permitting 2,500 industry wells to inject toxic waste directly into protected drinking water aquifers there. Hydraulic fracturing/waste injection are among the stupidest, most arrogant, harmful human inventions, intentionally contaminating groundwater.
The state Legislature went through a long process more than a decade ago to establish regulations governing fracking. But in 2021, the state oil and gas supervisor began denying oil producers’ permit applications for the stated purpose of climate action rather than technical reasons.
The administration carried out an administrative ban on fracking last year in order, it said, to protect life, health, safety, property and natural resources, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It remains to be seen whether the lawsuits against Newsom will have any effect on that formal prohibition.
Meanwhile, it has been almost four years since California has authorized a frack job in the state.
Deputy Attorney General Clint Woods argued in Barmann’s courtroom Thursday morning that there is no dispute the state oil and gas supervisor at the time denied fracking permits, not the governor, and so the appropriate remedy is to consider whether to order permits be issued by the primary permitting agency involved, now called the California Geologic Energy Management Division.
“You don’t get to sue up the chain of command every time there is a directive from the executive” branch of government, Woods said.
He added that the plaintiffs’ request that Newsom not tell his appointees to issue fracking permits amounts to a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Woods emphasized it is not the administration’s intent to imply the governor can’t be sued.
“We’re not arguing that the governor’s above the law. We’re not,” he said.
Plaintiffs attorney Jeffrey Dintzer, in his counter-argument, referred to statements made by the state oil and gas supervisor at the time, Uduak-Joe Ntuk.
Ntuk said in a deposition that a member of Newsom’s cabinet, Secretary Wade Crowfoot of the California Natural Resources Agency, told him that “the governor was no longer comfortable with (Ntuk) approving any more (fracking) permits” and told Ntuk “to find a way to stop issuing permits” or face termination.
Dintzer said the state Legislature has decided oil producers are entitled to fracking permits and that the governor must stop telling the acting state oil and gas supervisor not to issue them.
“All the evidence is that this is a case of abuse of authority by a governor who knowingly and illegally issued an order and threatened an officer of government to issue a ban on (fracking) permits legally sought and (which) … met all the technical requirements,” Dintzer said.
He added later, “This is a case about the governor and his unlawful activities.”
Chevron said in a statement after Thursday’s hearing that its fracking permit application at issue in the case met CalGEM’s technical requirements and that the agency’s permit denial was illegal.
“The hearing brings visibility to the executive office’s attempt to sidestep the law to advance a political agenda against an industry that is essential to providing affordable, reliable and lower carbon energy to Californians,” There are many other ways to produce cheaper, safer, less polluting, less explosive, less wildfire-fuelling ways of providing energy, especially in fire prone sunny California! I cringe to think of the wildfires destroying entire communities in California that may have been and will be fuelled by the oil and gas industry’s leaking methane contaminating groundwater and rising to surface, in oilfields in the state.the company stated.
“The state’s politically motivated effort to decrease oil production in California increases energy prices for inflation weary California consumers and makes the state more dependent on oil imported from other parts of the world.”Frac shit! Industry’s usual lying threat to terrify ordinary families.
Many possible outcomes of the case remain on the table, including approval of previously denied fracking permits and possibly an end to the existing ban on the procedure.
The next hearing in the case is set for March 12.
Refer also to:
2023: California v. Big Oil: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
….but where monitoring has occurred, impact to aquifers used for public and agricultural water supply has been observed and has proven to be too expensive to actively remediate. …
2021: California: Oil industry lobby group demands groundwater protections stripped
2021: California ban on new frac’ing – yes, no, maybe, maybe not
2016: California Attorney General, Coastal Commission, others sue feds to block offshore fracking
2016: California: Carson introduces ban on fracking, acidizing of oil wells, and similar operations
2015: In California, Big Oil finds water is its most prized commodity.
2014: Santa Cruz becomes first California county to ban fracking in unanimous 5-0 vote
2014: California proposal for state-wide fracking moratorium advances in state Senate
2014: 5-0 Vote: Carson, California, slaps moratorium on oil drilling over fracking concerns
2014: California Democrats Move To Ban Fracking In State
2014: Oil rigs dumping billion of gallons of toxic frac waste off California coast with OK from feds
2014: Drought Emergency Declared in California as Residents Urge Halt to Fracking
2014: Los Angeles City Council Passes LA ‘Fracking’ Ban in 10 – 0 vote!
2013: Fracking ban moves forward in California Legislature
2012: Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources A California Perspective
2012: Fracking is a bad and dangerous idea for California
2012: California, All ‘Fracked Up’?
2012: Mystery of fracking chemicals worries Californians
2012: California Regulators Turn a Blind Eye to Fracking
2012: Migration of Gas from Oil/Gas Fields
2004: Environmental hazards posed by the Los Angeles Basin urban oilfields
… Four aspects of these environmental hazards are presented: 1. Oilfield gas migration into the near-surface deposits and aquifers 2. Soil and groundwater contamination from upward migration of oilfields fluids, mainly gases 3. Subsidence caused by oilfield fluid withdrawal and declining reservoir pressures 4. Outgassing and release of air toxics from the oil-and-gas-field operations. These issues are interactive and must be evaluated in combination. Ignoring these issues could result in substantial legal liability upon oilfield operator and upon those responsible for the public safety. …
Gas fingerprinting has confirmed that the gas seeps at the La Brea Tar Pits match the leaking gases that caused the Ross Department Store explosion (Jenden 1985). … The near disaster of February 7, 1989 … There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the gas accumulations were the direct result of oil and gas production and leaking oil wells. Well records clearly demonstrate that the Metropolitan No. 5 well had developed serious corrosion leaks in the well casing. These leaks were ongoing, and caused large quantities of oilfield gases to leak into secondary collector zones below both the explosion site and under the Hancock Park Elementary School. The gas fingerprinting experts (Schoell and others 1993, Jenden 1985) showed the match between the field production gases and the gas from seeps at the surface…. Virtually all well leaks can be traced to poor well completion and/or abandonment procedures (e.g., poor cementing practices). …
Tests showed that even when the most up-to date cement types and techniques are used, leakage can and will occur in a significant number of cases (Marlow 1989 pp. 1147, 1148). For example, in a study of 250 casing jobs over a 15-month period with new cements, 15% of the wells leaked (Watters and Sabins 1980). Accordingly, the poor cementing and completion practices in the Los Angeles Basin, are giving rise to very serious environmental problems associated with gas leakage to the surface…. Numerous fields have accumulations of hydrogen sulfide that will eventually destroy the integrity of both the steel and cement relied upon to provide protection against gas migration….
The corrosive conditions of hydrogen sulfide are well known, and have defied engineering solutions (Craig 1993). … In January 2003, serious gas leakage problems were discovered in the South Salt Lake Oilfield, located in a residential area…. The oilfield operator had been injecting natural gas into the South Salt Lake Oilfield for approximately two years, under elevated pressures to enhance recovery. …
These examples indicate the importance of a systematic examination of how wells leak, and the dangers posed by allowing residential construction to occur directly over old wells. … The gas leakage was traced to a leaking storage gas reservoir about 7 miles from town. …
Approximately 75% of the wells were found to be leaking. The waterflooding for enhanced oilfield recovery can be a dangerous practice due to hydraulic fracturing which would create avenues for the migration of gas to the surface creating an explosive hazard.
2000:
1991: Environmental hazards of urban oilfield operations
… Today, unfortunately, many oil fields in urban settings are managed by catastrophe rather than preventative management. This paper discusses appropriate standards for the monitoring of surface gas seepage, and the related problems created by land subsidence due to the fluid withdrawal, as well as procedures necessary to insure the mechanical integrity of well casing and cement, necessary to protect against unwanted gas seepage. Migration of gas along faults if also discussed in this paper. …
Unfortunately, these studies failed to address the increased hazards of gas migration resulting from water injection. Typically, the water injection significantly increases pressures in the reservoir causing gas to migrate to the surface along paths of least resistance. The latter can include faults, fractures, abandoned wells, and producing or idle wells lacking mechanical integrity.
Thus, water injection is hazardous in a producing oilfield that also contains improperly abandoned oil wells. …
….in October of 1980, a serious gas leak developed in a storage field located in Mont Belview, Texas, a suburb of the greater Houston area. The gas seepage was detected when an explosion ripped through the kitchen of a house upon starting a dishwasher. More than 50 families were evacuated from their homes as a result of the gas leak.
1985: Ross Dress for Less Explodes
*NOVA SCOTIA*
Me, hauling alternate water, a brutal chore in Alberta winters
Tory bill would lift N.S. fracking ban by Aaron Beswick, Feb 18, 2025, The Chronicle Herald
The Tories are lifting Nova Scotia’s fracking ban.
An omnibus bill introduced Tuesday will also allow for government research into the province’s uranium resource without lifting the ban mining it.
“We know that with the threat of tariffs and just the economic challenge we face now as a country and as a province that it is time to pull every lever that we have,” said Premier Tim Houston on Tuesday.Dreadful low, even for a con. Nothing on earth makes frac’ing ok, not even Nazis destroying the USA and threatening to destroy Canada, serving Putin
“We are rich in resources and we can develop them safely.”That’s a lie loaded with stupidity. It’s impossible to frac safely, anywhere. Read Compendium 9!
The previous Liberal government put in place a ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas in 2014.
“The world is demanding critical minerals and other natural resources in the transition to net zero by 2050. Nova Scotia can be a safe, responsible and ethical source of those materials, and we need to remove barriers to explore all our options,” More lies, arrogance and stupidity. Alternate energies are more economical, less polluting, and provide much stronger protections against invasion by Putin-run Nazi Musk USAsaid Tory Rushton, minister of natural resources, in a written statement announcing the bill dubbed An Act Respecting Agriculture, Energy and Natural Resources.
“If we’re going to use natural resources here, we should be having the conversations about extracting them here and keeping all the jobs and economic benefits for Nova Scotians.”Frac’ing is now largely automated because oil and gas companies are too greedy to use the endless subsidies given to them by gov’ts to provide jobs, and frac’ers bring their own camps, workers, and support staff, etc. Frac jobs and frac prosperity are lies; frac’ing permanently destroys water.
The Nova Scotia Onshore Petroleum Atlas, released by the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables in 2017, estimated there is seven trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas (triple the amount recovered from Sable Island’s offshore reserves) located primarily in Cumberland and Hants Counties.
The estimate was developed with data from wells drilled before 2013 and information on geological formations but would require fracking to confirm as the gas is locked in shale rock formations.
- Trump’s tariff threats spur ‘mature conversation’ in N.S. on lifting fracking, uranium bans
- Premier wants to tap natural resources, make N.S. more self-sufficient
- Environmental non-profit groups challenge N.S. premier on resource extraction
Fracking is a controversial method used in Western Canada and the United States that sees large volumes of water mixed with chemicals and pumped under the ground to fracture shale rock formations and allow trapped natural gas to flow.
Many Nova Scotians, along with advocacy groups, have opposed the practice in the past.
“This isn’t something (Premier Tim Houston) ran on; they didn’t campaign on lifting the fracking moratorium,” said Badia Nehme, energy co-ordinator for the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, referring to the fall provincial election when Tim Houston’s Tories won a super majority.Would you look at that! More con politicians “lawmaking” with lies!
“The people who will be affected most by this are rural Nova Scotians.”Politicians don’t give a shit about the frac harmed, that’s obvious, nor do so called regulators.
Nehme raised concerns about the potential impact of fracking on well water and said the province should instead be looking to invest in renewable generation and making deals with neighbouring provinces to buy their renewable electricity for when the wind isn’t blowing here.
The province argues that it has a regulatory regime already in place based on best practices in other jurisdictions and that the lifting of the ban won’t allow a gold rush; rather, it will allow the practice after “conversations” happen with Nova Scotians.Best practices, also called voluntary guidelines are unenforceable shit shows that only protect frac’ers and their enabling corrupt politicos.
“All natural gas currently used in Nova Scotia is imported and it comes from places that use hydraulic fracturing,” said Trevor Boudreau, the minister of energy, in a written statement.
“We have banned an activity here while encouraging that activity elsewhere.”So, spend the money on alternate energies, not on frac’ing which is uneconomical without massive subsidies from the public. Put those subsidies into non water destroying, non polluting energies. Start by ending energy waste
Nova Scotia imports natural gas via the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline, which runs into the New England states, for use generating electricity, and heating large industrial and institutional buildings and many homes.
The act won’t lift the province’s 40-year uranium mining ban. It will allow for government research into the resource, the exploration of which by several private companies between 1976 and 1982 was ended by the blanket ban.
Rushton pointed to the federal government’s commitment to triple nuclear energy production by 2050 as part of its clean energy goals and the need for uranium to meet those targets.
Canada is the world’s third largest producer of uranium.
The act will also:
- amend the Public Utilities Act to extend Efficiency Nova Scotia’s demand-side management plan by one year while changes to the electricity system are put in place,
- repeal and replace the Agrologist Act to better address requests from the agriculture industry, and
- change the Agricultural Weed Control Act to allow for combatting noxious weeds.
Nova Scotia government bill would lift ban on fracking, uranium exploration, Premier says changes needed to make the province more self-reliant by Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press, Feb 18, 2025, CBC News
Nova Scotia’s government has put forward a bill that would lift blanket bans on uranium exploration and hydraulic fracking of fossil fuels — a move the premier says will make the province more self-reliant in the face of potential U.S. tariffs.Beyond dirty for Quisling Tim Houston to use Trump/Putin’s threats against Canada to unban frac’ing. Con politicos never cease to amaze me how low they stoop to serve their corporate masters.
The province says the omnibus bill tabled Tuesday would repeal the existing Uranium Exploration and Mining Prohibition Act to allow for research about the presence and distribution of uranium in Nova Scotia. It would also make changes to the Petroleum Resources Act to “create the potential” for hydraulic fracking to access onshore natural gas.
Premier Tim Houston told reporters the legislative changes are needed to make the province better able to withstand economic challenges that would result from U.S. tariffs. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose tariffs of 25 per cent starting in March on Canadian exports.
There’s been a moratorium on uranium exploration for more than 40 years and a ban on mining it for 15 years.
The former Liberal government passed legislation banning fracking in 2014. Officials with the Department of Natural Resources said the existing legislation has significantly limited industry interest in exploring for natural gas and critical minerals in Nova Scotia.And so it should; let the bastards keep destroying MB, SK, AB, BC. Leave Nova Scotia unfrac’d
“With the economic challenges we face right now as a country and as a province, it’s time to pull every lever that we have. We’re rich in resources and we can NOTdevelop them safely, so it’s time to have that discussion and move forward,” Houston said.
The premier said he’s confident there’s a way to exploit these resources while meeting provincial greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.Such lying frac shit. Frac’ing has been proven to be much more polluting than even coal. Quisling Idiot.
However, Thomas Arnason McNeil, a senior energy co-ordinator with the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre, said he can’t fathom how that could be true.
“In terms of their ability to do this sustainably or safely, there is no way,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
In terms of fracking, “we’re talking about a potential explosion of emissions that will completely derail our targets,” Arnason McNeil said, adding that fracking can result in the leaking of methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas.
Fracking could also pose a serious risk to the province’s supply of drinking water, he said. “Trapping toxic effluent from fracking underground or in a tailings pond without any impact on our drinking water is just a complete fantasy.”
Uranium is also a concern, Arnason McNeil said. Despite advancements in how uranium is retrieved, there remain environmental and health risks associated with the radioactive waste products that come from mining the element, he said.
In response, Houston said assessments and research will be done to protect the province.
“As projects come forward, there will be extensive industry propaganda, secrets and liesreviews, consultation. The process will be followed. Having just a blanket ban — that’s lazy policy,” he said.
The Natural Resources Department says it estimates there is seven trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas potential in the province. With uranium, the department said it won’t know how much is underground until the legislation is changed and research moves forward, adding that international demand for it continues to rise.
Both resources “are being mined safely in other jurisdictions within Canada,”BIG FUCKING LIE Houston said. “It could be done safely here as well. It’s time for us to be adults about that.”Ya, sure, could be in fantasy land, but never is in reality.
Poster by Will Koop, BC Tap Water Alliance
Refer also to:
2015: Nova Scotia fracking regulations still a few months away
2014: Nova Scotia: Mi’kmaq unanimous in opposition to fracking
2014: Nova Scotia: Dr. Wheeler’s Frac Patent Frac Panel’s Questionable Public Consultations
2014: Breaking in Nova Scotia: Dr. David Wheeler suddently changing his frac tune
P2014: Mi’kmaq women shut down Nova Scotia Energy Minister event
2014: Nova Scotia Expert Panel on Hydraulic Fracturing Turns down Nomination for Jessica Ernst; Announces Nine Panel MembersThat still makes me laugh. Of course our politicos will not allow someone on their “expert” panels who speaks the truth; I was also nominated to be on the board of the AER by an industry gas migration expert, which of course our corrupt frac-enabling politicians did not allow.
2014: Nova Scotia: The future of fracking calls for a provincial referendum
2013: Political parties in Nova Scotia appear to have shifted views on hydraulic fracturing
2013: Nova Scotia: Atlantic Industrial systems (AIS) calls fracking wastewater decision ‘political’
2013: Is There a Regulator in the House? Through the Fracking Rabbit Hole with Nova Scotia Environment
2013: Triangle Petroleum fracking radioactive waste water cleanup target missed in Nova Scotia
2012: Nova Scotia accepting fracking waste from New Brunswick
JUMP AHEAD A DECADE:
2021: Presentation by Justin Nobel on frac waste and its “terrifying levels of radioactivity”
2013: Brief review of threats to Canada’s groundwater from the oil and gas industry’s methane migration and hydraulic fracturing by Ernst Environmental Services (EES) – many cases summarized in this brief outlining the many harms done by frac’ing.
2012: Nova Scotia extends PetroWorth agreement
2012: Nova Scotia judge reserves ruling on appeal of government decision to drill oil
2012: Nova Scotia judge reserves ruling on appeal of government decision to drill oil
2012: Jessica Ernst at Westville & Wallace Nova Scotia
2012: If You Knew Fracking…. Jessica Ernst at Baddeck Nova Scotia
2012: Nova Scotia Enacts Two-Year FrackingBan
2012: Nova Scotia government puts hydraulic fracturing on hold for two more years
2011: Jessica Ernst at Tatamagouche Nova Scotia
2011: Dr. Tony Ingraffea and Jessica Ernst at Truro, Nova Scotia
2011: Dr. Tony Ingraffea and Jessica Ernst at Halifax, Nova Scotia
2011: Hydraulic fracturing would destroy Nova Scotia
One of Canada’s better-known opponents of hydraulic fracturing said Saturday that the drilling process and the industry it would spawn would destroy Nova Scotia. Jessica Ernst rose to prominence among environmentalists in April after launching a $33-million lawsuit against Encana, the Alberta government and the province’s energy regulator over groundwater contamination inked to coal-bed methane drilling.
“Nova Scotia’s fishing, agriculture and tourism industries would not mix well with the influx of oil and gas companies that would occur if fracturing was permitted,” Ernst said in an interview from her home in Rosebud, Alta.
She said hydraulic fracturing has contaminated wells in Rosebud and other central Alberta communities and has no place in Nova Scotia.
“Even in Alberta, where we have the geographic vastness to support the industry and the process, there have been so many problems,” she said. “There are so many wonderful little rural communities in Nova Scotia. It’s inconceivable that government or regulators would allow fracturing to occur there.”
The Nova Scotia government has just released the final scope and technical comments for its technical and policy review of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking.
Fracking is a process of blasting fluid or gas underground to break up rock to force out natural gas. No fracking is presently underway in Nova Scotia.
But fears of fracking have been abundant in the Lake Ainslie area of Cape Breton, where PetroWorth Resources Inc. of Toronto has applied to the province to drill a 1,200-metre well on a 155,000-hectare property just west of the lake. The company indicated recently that unfounded fracking fears have muddled the permitting process on the project.
Nova Scotia’s fracking review is supposed to be completed by early next year. The province said Friday that the focus of its review has been expanded, based on input from Nova Scotians and the review committee.
Ernst said all Nova Scotians should pay close attention to the province’s review of fracking and make sure it carefully considers not just the immediate issues related to the technology and environment but also the entire range of socio-economic issues involved. “Nova Scotia does not want to be a little Alberta,” she said. “Consider the social and development problems occurring in a place like Fort McMurray as a result of the oil and gas industries.
“Hydraulic fracturing would destroy Nova Scotia.”
Energy Minister Charlie Parker said the review will focus on the science and management of the environmental impact of the fracking technique. “This work is being done when there is no hydraulic fracturing in this province and none anticipated,” he said in a news release.
Some hydraulic fracturing was undertaken in the Kennetcook area in 2008 and no environmental problems were reported.
The province’s review team, a group from the Environment and Energy departments, will look at practices in other jurisdictions and existing rules and regulations. Outside experts will also be consulted. Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau said the review has been widened to include a review of fracking in all oil and gas operations, public disclosure of additives used in the process, and possible submission of engineered fracturing designs.
Ernst, who has not proven her allegations in court, said she has watched closely as Nova Scotia has started to review hydraulic fracturing, and she advises vigilance.
“I’ve filed my lawsuit (in Alberta) and now wait for statements of defence,” she said. “It will be before the courts for many years, but of course the damage is already done.”
2006: My well water after Encana illegally frac’d the aquifers that supply drinking water to my community, enabled by regulators and con politicians. Photo by Colin Smith
2004: Encana illegally frac’s Rosebud’s drinking water aquifers (Kevin Pilger was the regulator investigator who repeatedly contaminated the Signer water well with gopher shit, then, blamed her for being dirty and contaminating her water with bacteria while refusing to look at Encana’s super shallow illegal frac and perf data)
