Global Frac News

Ky. landowners, gas drilling companies settle suit by Brett Barrouquere, March 4, 2010, The Associated Press LOUISVILLE, KY. A federal judge has approved a $28.75 million settlement between more than 8,000 eastern Kentucky landowners and a group of natural gas drilling companies in a dispute over royalty payments. The class-action settlement released Thursday ends more than ...

Fracking – Natural Gas Affects Water Quality by Joyce Nelson, originally published in Watershed Sentinel, March/April 2010

Schlumberger deal could put it into better domestic gas position by Monica Hatcher, Houston Chronicle, February 22, 2010 Gould said, though, that shale production still is characterized by “brute force and ignorance”

Cooking with gas raises risk of lung cancer, Electric hobs release fewer carcinogenic fumes when frying meat, study finds by Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, February 18, 2010, The Independent Now researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim have compared gas and electric cooking methods, and found that gas produces higher levels of ...

Leak shuts down drilling operation at Michigan well by The Associated Press, February 10, 2011, Bloomberg JOYFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A leak that forced the shutdown of operations at a more than 1,000-foot-deep natural gas well that was being drilled in Michigan’s northwestern Lower Peninsula with a technique called hydraulic fracturing likely will lead to ...

Failure Investigation Report: Failure of Piping at EnCana Swan Wellsite A5-7-77-14 L W6M by the BC Oil and Gas Commission, February 4, 2010. The 22 November 2009 failure…was caused by internal erosion of the wall resulting from flowing fracture sand suspended in the gas stream.  Leak detection and emergency isolation at the site did not achieve timely ...

Murky Waters? Corporate Reporting on Water Risk, A Benchmarking Study of 100 Companies by Brooke Barton, Ceres with scoring and analysis by Shirley Morgan-Knott, UBS Investment Research and data support by Bloomberg, LP, February 2010 Key Findings: Water Risk Disclosure in the Oil & Gas Sector (Page 86) The sector showed relatively weak water risk disclosure overall, with an ...

Hydro-fracturing has a lucrative dirty secret. The B.C. government isn’t asking many questions about a natural-gas-drilling technique involving toxic compounds by Chris Wood, Straight.com Vancouver’s Online Source, January 28, 2010

This is what the frac’ers really think of us, our loved ones, home, health and communities; Encana contractors give press the finger responding to the sabotage: Chapter 10 Loud Bangs and Quiet Canadians: An Analysis of Oil Patch Sabotage in British Columbia, Canada by Chris Arsenault, 2010, in Critical Environmental Security: Rethinking the Links Between Natural ...

Cenovus donates $3 Million to the University of Alberta by Cenovus Gwyn Morgan will receive an honorary doctorate of laws June 12, 2006 from the University of Alberta

EnCana to test all water wells within one mile of gas drilling by Elizabeth Skrapits, December 29, 2009, citizensvoice.com “I’m sure nobody wants to be using bottled water for the rest of their lives,” planning commission member Randy Howard said. To protect the aquifer, EnCana will place several casings around the well, said Tom Burns of Strategic Environmental, ...

Alberta Environment Standard for Baseline Water Well Testing for CBM Operations, Science Review Panel Final Report prepared for Alberta Environment by Dr. Cathy Ryan, University of Calgary. December 5, 2008.  Panel: Alex Blyth, Bernard Mayer, Carl Mendoza, Karlis Muehlenbachs. As of December 2007, the Baseline Water Well Testing (BWWT) Program database included 4349 entries from water wells ...

Dimock families sue Cabot, Gas drilling fallout by Fritz Mayer, Issue November 6 – December 2, 2009, The River Reporter DIMOCK, PA — Fifteen families who live on Carter Road in Dimock Township, located in Susquehanna County, held a news conference on November 20 to announce that they had filed a lawsuit in federal court in ...

Frack Attack. New, dirty gas drilling method threatens drinking water by Joyce Nelson, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, December 1, 2009. A technology used by the oil and gas industry to obtain natural gas is raising major concerns across the United States and is equally suspect for areas being drilled in Western Canada. Called hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking” ...

Poisoning Dimock, Lawsuit Challenges Cabot Oil’s Drilling Practices in the Marcellus Shale by Adam Federman, November 24, 2009, Counter Punch Of all the towns that have been subjected to drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania since the opening up of the Marcellus Shale, none have suffered more than Dimock. In just over a year several drinking ...

Dimock families sue natural gas driller by Laura Legere, November 20, 2009, Times-Tribune Fifteen families in Susquehanna County filed a federal lawsuit against Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. on Thursday, saying the Texas-based natural gas operator damaged their property and health while drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale. The families, who live in an area ...

Pennsylvania lawsuit says drilling polluted water by Jon Hurdle, Reuters, November 9, 2009 A Pennsylvania landowner is suing an energy company for polluting his soil and water in an attempt to link a natural gas drilling technique with environmental contamination. George Zimmermann, the owner of 480 acres in Washington County, southwest Pennsylvania, says Atlas Energy Inc. ...

A Primer for Understanding Canadian Shale Gas – Energy Briefing Note by National Energy Board, ISSN 1917-506X , November 2009. However, as a technology driven play, the rate of development of shale gas may become limited by the availability of required resources, such as fresh water…. …As mud turns into shale during shallow burial, generally just a few hundred ...

Teresa Watson becomes newest board member by ERCB, September 2009, Across the Board Theresa Watson—an energy industry veteran with more than two decades of experience—has become the ERCB’s newest Board Member. After graduating from high school in Melita, Manitoba, Watson studied at Montreal’s McGill University, where she graduated with Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) degree in 1987. She ...

Water Problems From Drilling Are More Frequent Than PA Officials Said by Abrahm Lustgarten, Propublica, July 31, 2009 In one case, methane was detected in water sampled over 15 square miles. In another, a methane leak led to an explosion that killed a couple and their 17-month-old grandson. …according to a department spokeswoman, there have been at least 52 separate ...

About Us: Board Member Bios, The ERCB answers directly to the Executive Council (Cabinet) of Alberta through the Minister of Energy, but makes its formal decisions independently in accordance with the six statutes it administers Theresa Watson, P.Eng. was appointed as a Board member of the ERCB in July 2009. Ms. Watson has extensive local and ...

A fundraiser, a Lawsuit and a Questionable Contribution by Emily Dee, June 13, 2009, Pushed to the Left and Loving it When the Alberta Government sprang for a lawsuit against Stockwell Day, then a member of the provincial legislature, the public was outraged. $800,000.00 for a case that could have been settled for about $70,000.00 if Mr. ...

Culture of Secrecy by Darcy Henton, Avenue Magazine Edmonton, May 26, 2009. Ed Stelmach promised transparency when he came to office, but somewhere along the way, the wheels fell off the accountability track. “I am exhausted trying to get what is supposed to be public data,”

The U.S./Canada Flathead Energy/Water Dispute by Allan Ingelson, Lincoln Mitchell and Sean Assie, May 20, 2009, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary The Flathead River flows from B.C. into Montana Proposed coal and coalbed methane development along the Flathead River in B.C. Downstream – wilderness areas and Glacier National Park, Montana “The last uninhabited major watershed in Canada ...

Colorado Study Links Methane in Water to Drilling by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica April 22, 2009 But the gas becomes dangerous when it evaporates out of the water and into peoples’ homes, where it can become flammable. It can also suffocate those who breathe it. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a part of the U.S. ...

Scientific Study shows coal bed methane development harms groundwater Press Release March 30, 2009 A peer-reviewed scientific study published in the March issue of the Journal of Hydrology details the devastating effects that coal bed methane development will have on groundwater aquifers in the Powder River Basin. Using data collected by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, hydrologist ...

Overview:  Groundwater management and coal bed methane development in the Powder River Basin of Montana by Tom Myers, Journal of Hydrology 368:178-193, March 2009 Issue. The study Coal bed methane (CBM) development will eventually pump more than 124 000 ha-m of groundwater, or more than 40% of the recharge, from the coal seam and sandstone aquifers of the Montana portion of ...

February 12, 2009: The Intimidation of Ernst A segment of Ernst presentation at Cochrane, Alberta, September 10, 2011 February 12, 2009: Following a CTV W5 National News segment of Ernst’s explosively contaminated well water and the ERCB’s (now AER, previously EUB) treatment of her, “undercover” Royal Canadian Mounted Police with Canada’s anti-terrorist squad arrive warrant-less at Jessica’s home ...

EnCana hit with $150,000 fine – Safety issues cited in death of brush-cutting company owner near Dawson Creek by Greg Amos, February 10, 2009, The Canadian Press, Article ID# 1428702 An accident that resulted in a man being crushed to death in 2005 led WorkSafeBC to levy its highest penalty last year against EnCana Corporation. The ...

News clips joined into one and uploaded to Youtube January 19, 2015 W-FIVE’s Fueling Fears aired nationally in Canada on February 7, 2009. Two days later, the Harper government’s anti-terrorist squad began harassing Jessica Ernst but not the others interviewed. WATCH: Alberta Gas: Battle over wells wages in pristine valley CTV W5, February 7, 2009. Removed from the internet some time ...

Put in a Word for Suffield! by NatureCanadablog, February 6, 2009 As we reported last week, the Joint Review Panel established to consider the proposal by EnCana to drill 1275 shallow gas wells in the National Wildlife Area has recommended denying approval of the project. The Panel found that EnCana’s project would likely result in significant adverse ...

Boom in gas drilling fuels contamination concerns in Colorado, Some scientists and citizens want firms that extract natural gas to reveal what chemicals they’re using by Josh McDaniel, The Christian Science Monitor, February 5, 2009 “This is an answer in search of a problem,” says Doug Hock, a spokesman for EnCana, the firm that is drilling near Bracken’s ...

Poisoned farmland cleanup may hit $10M by Darcy Henton, The Edmonton Journal, February 4, 2009 An Alberta couple could be waiting another decade before the damage an oil company caused to their property 40 years ago is cleaned up and the land they farm is fully reclaimed, an Alberta Surface Rights Board panel has been told. Allison Wolfe, ...

Alberta Environment/Energy Resources Conservation Board Response to the Report “Potential for Gas Migration Due to Coalbed Methane Development” The report concludes that gas migration due to natural pathways is unlikely to occur for the areas of active or anticipated CBM development…. It also highlights the potential higher risk for gas migration where there are very shallow ...

Canada’s top judge says justice often blocked by The Canadian Press, January 29, 2009, CTV News Canada’s highest ranking judge says there is a profound disconnect between the ideal of the right to justice and the reality that many people face. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada said the country’s justice system ...

Evaluation of Phase II Hydrogeologic Study for Garfield County by Geoffery Thyne, Prepared for Garfield County, December 20, 2008 There is a temporal trend of increasing methane in groundwater samples over the last seven years that is coincident with the increased number of gas wells installed in the Mamm Creek Field. Pre-drilling values of methane in groundwater ...

EnCana donation questioned as company awaits energy decision CBC News, December 17, 2008. But Joyce Hildebrand, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, questions the partnership, when a three-member federal panel — including a professor from the faculty — is set to decide on an application by EnCana. EnCana has applied to drill 1,200 new wells ...

EnCana $1 Million donation to University of Calgary questioned as company awaits energy decision by CBC News, December 17, 2008 Some environmentalists are concerned that a donation by EnCana Corp. to the University of Calgary may affect a major energy application in southern Alberta. The oil and gas giant gave the school $1 million last week ...

RCMP blows pipeline-bomb investigation by Paul Joosse, December 15, 2008, Calgary Herald Last week, the RCMP, represented by Tim Sheilds and flanked by a spokesperson from EnCana Corp., let the public have a glimpse into its investigations of the recent pipeline bombings near Dawson Creek. The Mounties even took, in their words, “the very unusual step” of ...

EnCana donates $1 Million to the University of Calgary, supports research to protect ecosystems by University of Calgary News, December 8, 2008 EnCana Corporation and the University of Calgary announced today the creation of the EnCana Chair in Canadian Plains Mitigation and Reclamation. This new position in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the U of ...

GarCo gas drilling contaminating water supply, geology expert says by Dennis Webb, GJSentinel, November 20, 2008 A geological consultant says increased methane in domestic wells near natural gas development in Garfield County is part of a much larger problem of drilling-related water contamination that’s just starting to come to light. “The tip of the iceberg is emerging,”

Drill for Natural Gas, Pollute Water. The natural gas industry refuses to reveal what is in the mixture of chemicals used to drill for the fossil fuel by Abrahm Lustgarten and ProPublica, published in Scientific American, November 17, 2008.

Bill sparks controversy by David S. Glasier, October 27, 2008, News Herald H.B. 278, in effect since September 2004, put the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in charge of issuing permits for natural gas and oil wells in the state. Previously, drillers had to obtain permits from the cities, villages and townships where the wells were ...

Controversial path to possible glut of natural gas, Water and chemicals injected at high pressure can extract more gas – and possibly pollute drinking water by Mark Clayton, Sept 17, 2008, The Christian Science Monitor After decades of declining US natural-gas production, an advanced drilling system so powerful it fractures rock with high-pressure fluid is opening ...

Drilling dispute in wildlife area may stretch into 2008 by Canadian Press, August 20, 2007 CALGARY A long-simmering Prairie standoff between one of Canada’s largest energy companies and the military over a tract of grassland is set to drag well into next year with both sides claiming to have the best interests of the delicate landscape ...

Fire on water by Katie Lister, August 6, 2008, BC Living British Columbia may have nothing to brag about when it comes to water, but Alberta, it seems, is taking it to a whole new level … Jessica lives near EnCana, one of the leading companies in the recovery of oilsands bitumen. Recently, Jessica had tests ...

Water woes, Wells contaminated at site of gas leak by David Bruce, July 26, 2008, Erie Times-News Steiner, 67, is one of the five homeowners on Head Drive who were forced to leave their homes for 40 days in late 2007. Potentially explosive levels of methane were detected in and around their southwestern Millcreek Township homes ...

Le citoyen Encana – Le double visage de la plus importante corporation de Calgary Translation by Amie du Richelieu, August 21, 2013 Citizen EnCana The double life of Calgary’s greatest corporation by Adrian Morrow, published in Fast Forward, July 10, 2008. Source: Cover Fast Forward Weekly, Encana Bow Building & CEO Gwyn Morgan Jessica Ernst has so much natural gas in her ...

EnCana denies doing any water well contamination by Rick Northrop, originally published in The Drumheller Valley Times, Vol. 9, No. 50, April 22, 2008. “We can’t do completion of shallow gas above 200 metres” the paper quoted EnCana saying.

A Toxic Spew? Officials worry about ‘fracking’ of oil and gas by Jim Moscou, originally published in Newsweek, April 20, 2008.

Recovering From Wyoming’s Energy Bender by Alexandra Fuller, April 20, 2008, New York Times (In February, a committee of the Wyoming Legislature rejected a spending increase for the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources after institute scientists dared to raise concerns about water produced in coal-bed methane wells.) …Well sites in many parts of ...

EnCana Methane wells in golf course anger County by Strathmore Standard, April 10, 2008 Two low pressure shallow gas wells were drilled in the Lakes of Muirfield’s golf course over the Easter long weekend, against the wishes of Wheatland County.…“ had no regard for our policies,” said Jennifer Deak, County CAO. A part of Wheatland County’s Land Use ...

8 Landowners Reject Closure of Groundwater Cases: Demand Proper Study of Industrial Contamination Media Alert, March 19, 2008 Alberta Environment closed the Rosebud cases based on reviews by ARC…. ARC’s 2007 annual report clearly lists EnCana as a funder of its water program including studies on the impacts of coalbed methane development. (p.14) In a January 28th letter ...

Acid gas system helps planet, bottom line by Edson Leader, March 14, 2008 Not only is the Suncor South Rosevear Sour Gas Plant ultra modern, it has a state-of-the-art acid gas injection system, which means the facility does not emit sulphur dioxide (S02) or carbon dioxide (C02). “We started it about a year ago,” Suncor area ...

Freedom of information: Little information and it isn’t free, either, Government accused of stonewalling legitimate requests by Darcy Henton, The Edmonton Journal, February 29, 2008.

Encana Randy Teeuwen to Casper Star Tribune re Louis Meeks’ contaminated water, Pavillion Wyoming by Randy Teeuwen, EnCana, February 14, 2008, Casper Star Tribune EnCana does not use diesel, sawdust or oil to drill gas wells. Rather, we use fresh water that creates natural clay mud to drill the surface hole and occasionally use cedar fibers or ...

Gas company fined record $374,000, Colorado Interstate Gas penalized for Fort Morgan leak by Gargi Chakrabarty, February 6, 2008, RockyMountainNews State regulators have slapped a record $374,000 penalty on Colorado Interstate Gas Co. for a natural gas leak near Fort Morgan that forced more than a dozen families out of their homes for a week and ...

Gas in area causing tainted water by Hanneke Brooymans, January 18, 2008, The Edmonton Journal Gas in area causing tainted water — report One of the landowners whose well water was cleared of industry-related contamination fears she will have to move because she can’t afford to have water trucked in to her farm. Alberta Environment has concluded that ...

Encana Passes the Buck on Contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming by John Fenton, January/February 2008, Powder River Basin Newsletter For decades, wells on the Meeks and Locker ranches near Pavillion had reliably delivered clean, clear water for their homes, stock tanks and gardens. But that ended in early 2005, shortly after EnCana Oil & Gas USA took over ...

STUPID TO THE LAST DROP How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Doesn’t Seem to Care) by William Marsden, winner of the 2007 National Business Book.

Factors Affecting or Indicating Potential Wellbore Leakage by Theresa Watson (T.L. Watson and Associates Inc) and Stephan Bachu (Alberta Energy and Utilities Board), 2007 Presentation; SPE Paper 106817, 200 About 15% of vertical and 60% of deviated wells reported leaking. [Refer also to: ERCB Board Member Bios: Teresa Watson Appointed to the Board July 2009 and Theresa Watson becomes newest Board ...

Development of a memorandum of understanding between Alberta Environment (AENV) and the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB, now ERCB) to enhance collaboration for the protection and management of groundwater by William A. Tilleman, Q.C., J.S.D., Chairman, Alberta EUB and C. Peter Watson, P. Eng. Deputy Minister Alberta Environment, December 20, 2007 The Alberta Energy and Utilities ...

EnCana Makes First Court Appearance after Being Charged with Violating Canada Wildlife Act Press Release by Federation of Alberta Naturalists and Nature Canada, December 5, 2007 EnCana will make their first court appearance at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 6 in Medicine Hat Provincial Court in response to the charge of violating the Canada Wildlife Act in ...

Confidentiality Agreements, The Problem: Confidentiality agreements in lawsuit settlements can be harmful, even deadly, to the public by Kia Franklin, November 21, 2007, Tort Deform The prevalence of confidentiality or secrecy agreements is perhaps one of the least discussed and most fundamental problems with our civil justice system. At various stages of a lawsuit, a plaintiff ...

EUB trying to circumvent the courts? News Release by Lavesta Group, October 12, 2007 (Rimbey, Alberta) On September 30, 2007 the EUB retro-actively cancelled, or voided, all three hearings dealing with a controversial 500 KV transmission line from Edmonton to Calgary. The unorthodox decision was issued with less than 36 hours remaining, before the EUB was ...

Big oil queried about Alaska bribery scandal, Former legislator convicted; executives face trial by Reuters, October 10, 2007, Edmonton Journal Alaska lawmakers are questioning major oil companies over their role in a bribery scheme that has netted the criminal convictions of a former legislator and two former executives from VECO Corp., once the state’s largest oil-service ...

If the EUB is truly repentant about its cloak-and-dagger spying efforts and really wants to regain the trust of Albertans, this focus on a single development project is a pretty weak effort by David J. Parker, October 10, 2007, The Edmonton Journal If it admits to an industry bias on the power line issue, is that enough? ...

Read between EnCana’s lines by Ricardo Acuna, October 8, 2012, The Calgary Herald In the weeks following the release of the recommendations of Alberta’s Royalty Review Panel, energy giant EnCana has been one of the loudest opponents of any moves that might increase the direct benefits Albertans receive from their natural resources — going as far ...

Don’t sacrifice the Sacred Headwaters by Wade Davis, October 8, 2007, National Geographic Society In a rugged knot of mountains, in the remote reaches of northern British Columbia, lies a stunningly beautiful valley known to the first nations as the Sacred Headwaters. There, on the southern edge of the Spatsizi Wilderness – the Serengeti of Canada ...

Judicial inquiry needed into EUB, other boards’ autonomy Patrick Cleary, October 7, 2007, The Edmonton Journal Re: “Ex-EUB chairmen just don’t get it,” by Janet Keeping, Letters, Sept. 28. In her response to the letter by the former Alberta Energy and Utilities Board chairmen (“EUB has served Albertans well over 70 years, ex-chairmen say,” by G.W. Govier, ...

Canadians living normal lives exposed to chemical killers by Glenda Luymes, CanWest News Service, October 7, 2007, Vancouver Province The UBC Trudeau scholar has laboured more than a year to determine just how many Canadians die each year from pollution. The disturbing results, published in an online journal last week, show that as many as 25,000 ...

Canada too weak on polluters by CanWest News Service, October 07, 2007, The Edmonton Journal Canada ranks fifth among the 21 wealthiest nations of the world when it comes to overall support for developing countries, but near the bottom of the list for its environmental policies, according to a new study released today.

Alberta water management gets boost, Partners with GE to explore innovations by David Finlayson, October 7, 2007, The Edmonton Journal The province and General Electric have formed a partnership to find solutions to issues such as water management and pipeline corrosion. It’s the first time the world’s largest corporation has collaborated with a Canadian province, and ...

It’s not just Alberta, it’s the whole country by Andrew Nikiforuk, published in the Globe and Mail, Saturday, October 6, 2007. Book Review of STUPID TO THE LAST DROP How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Doesn’t Seem to Care) by William Marsden.

Oil site cleanup to cost millions by Paul Cowley, October 5, 2007, Red Deer Advocate Cleanup work is almost complete at an oil battery site after a summer lightning strike destroyed a storage tank and caused an oil spill southwest of Spruce View. The cost of cleaning up the site and getting it back in running ...

EUB still flawed: opponents by Paul Cowley, October 2, 2007, Red Deer Advocate No one in a position of authority has been taken to task for the use of a private security firm to covertly monitor public hearings in Rimbey, he said And landowner rights, already trod upon in the last round of hearings, are further ...

Watchdog IDs $6B shortfall, Taxpayers shortchanged by up to $2B in energy revenues annually over past 3 years: auditor general by Jeremy Loome, Legislature Bureau, October 2, 2007 Albertans were shortchanged by as much as $2 billion annually over the last three years because the government failed to act on its own energy department’s royalty recommendations, ...

Failing grade, Auditor general slams Alberta Energy’s way of tracking royalties by Archie McLean, October 1, 2007, Edmonton Journal Alberta Energy’s accounting and accountability practices for oil and gas royalties get a failing grade from Auditor-General Fred Dunn in his annual report, released this morning. The report says the government knew as far back as three ...

The sky isn’t falling by Alan K. Spiller, September 29, 2007, The Edmonton Journal Of course, we have the narrow-minded Conservatives, who think the world will end if we push for our fair share of royalty income. The review panel proved to me that Ralph Klein’s massive budget cuts would not have been necessary, if the ...

What more input does Stelmach need? by John O’Connor, September 29, 2007, The Edmonton Journal Since the royalty review process was initiated many months ago, Albertans have been telling the government loud and clear that we are not getting our fair share from the oil companies and that royalties should be increased. This has been the ...

Pick up the tab by Bruce A. McFaul, September 29, 2007, Calgary Herald One aspect of the royalty review which has been overlooked is how the Tories have treated the oil industry versus us normal Albertans, especially the poor. In 1982, the Tories cut oil industry payments by $5.4 billion unconditionally, while suggesting those on welfare ...

EnCana to cut $1-billion if royalties rise by John Partridge, September 28, 2007, Globe and Mail In the latest salvo in a thundering barrage of industry criticism, Canadian natural gas and oil sands giant EnCana Corp. says it will slash its investment in Alberta by up to 40 per cent or $1-billion next year if the ...

ENVIRONMENTAL DISPUTE: FLATHEAD RIVER, U.S. senators seek endangered listing for Waterton by Mark Hume, September 28, 2007, The Globe and Mail VANCOUVER — A battle between Montana and British Columbia over the fate of a river that runs south across the Canada-U.S. border may soon be brought before the United Nations, escalating a simmering regional dispute ...

Stelmach government failing to live up to promises by Bill Mokoski, September 19, 2007, Red Deer Advocate Over the summer, I have followed the hearings into the proposed power line running from Edmonton to Calgary. As a student of democracy for over five decades, I see a gradual and relentless trend toward ‘management’ of the electorate. ...

Explosion destroys one home, damages several others by Dan Singleton, September 15, 2007, Calgary Herald A single-family home was destroyed and several adjacent homes severely damaged after an explosion in the town of Bentley, 28 kilometres northwest of Red Deer, on Friday. “The debris field covers approximately 150 to 200 metres from the residence itself,” said Sylvan Lake ...

Stupid Albertans, you say? by Richard Helm, September 14, 2007, The Edmonton Journal Try this title on for size, my fellow Albertans. Take a deep breath now. The book is called Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn’t Seem to Care). Provocative, isn’t it? Guaranteed to get some dander ...

Report says Alberta energy regulator illegally spied by Katherine Harding and Dawn Walton, Sept 14, 2007, The Globe and Mail Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has no plans to act on a report that found the province’s energy regulator illegally spied on private citizens until he hears from a retired judge, who is also probing the ...

Pipeline group told plans to reduce regulatory process on track by Bill Graveland, September 13, 2007, The Canadian Press Plans to reduce the regulatory process for major pipeline projects in the future are on track Federal Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said Wednesday evening but won’t be any help to the $16.2 billion Mackenzie Gas pipeline. The ...

Privacy commissioner rules against EUB by Charles Rusnell, September 13, 2007, Edmonton Journal Private investigators working for the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board breached the privacy of power-line protesters in Rimbey by collecting their personal information, says an investigation by the provincial privacy commissioner. Commissioner Frank Work also found the EUB’s response to an assumed security threat ...

SALMON WATERS AT ISSUE Protest against Shell takes campaign to British media by Cathryn Atkinson, Septemeber 11, 2007, The Globe and Mail Native protesters and environmental groups are taking the next round of their fight against a coal-bed methane exploration project in a remote part of central B.C. to the British media. A $20,000 advertisement decrying Royal ...

Sold down the river, Despite claims to the contrary, water is on the table in trade negotiations — we need to be clear with our neighbours that we intend to keep this precious resource by Andrew Nikiforuk, Adèle Hurley and Ralph Pentland, September 10, 2007, Ottawa Citizen Are Canadians ready for the next big trade issue ...

En Alberta, l’eau S’enflamme! by Nicolas Mesly, LaCooperator, September 2007, earned honourable mention at the National Magazine Awards and best feature article at the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards. English translation

EUB: World-Class Regulator, ‘Effective and Comprehensive’ by Tom Neufeld, September – October Issue Enviroline vol16, 2007 More than 400 years ago, the French Renaissance thinker Michel de Montaigne penned the words: “He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.” The merits of Montaigne’s wisdom became evident when I read ...

EUB: ‘Men Without Chests,’ ‘No Plan, No Policy, No Heart’ by Andrew Nikiforuk, September – October Issue Enviroline vol16, 2007 In one of his most famous essays, the Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis once described bureaucrats who banished all magnanimity and heart from their decisions as “men without chests.” The Alberta Energy and Utility Board’s recent decision to ...

Military guards environment from EnCana by Rick Zemanek August 27, 2007, Red Deer Advocate Suffield commander Lt.-Col. Malcolm Bruce said he plans to pull out all the stops to bar EnCana. … EnCana is still confident it will begin drilling by the fall of 2008. Bruce, took over the posting from former commander Dan Drew. Drew was one ...

Methane dispute reignites in B.C. by Wendy Stueck, August 22, 2007, Globe and Mail Report on Business Opponents says coal bed methane projects could pollute surface and ground water, threaten fish and wildlife habitat, and disrupt a remote wilderness landscape. Coal bed methane is natural gas found in coal seams. B.C. currently does not have any coal bed ...

McLean’s “Lawyers are Rats” Cover interview with Philip Slayton Exclusive Interview by McLean’s, August 6, 2007 ‘One prominent lawyer told me, “Every lawyer is going to go into the office today and commit fraud.” Then he laughed.’ EX-BAY STREET LAWYER PHILIP SLAYTON TALKS TO KATE FILLION ABOUT HOW LAWYERS ...

Fire at gas well near Gleichen injures worker by Jason van Rassel, July 30, 2007, Calgary Herald STARS air ambulance flew a man to hospital in Calgary with critical injuries suffered in a fire at a gas well. … “There were reports of a gas leak followed by a fire,” Energy and Utilities Board spokesman Davis Sheremata said.

Activist ‘banished’ by the EUB, A consultant’s run-in with the Alberta agency over an e-mail provides some lessons in why landowners’ suspicions are as deep as oil wells by the Edmonton Journal, July 29, 2007. Jessica Ernst isn’t sure why she was banished by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, but she’s still seething. The 50-year-old environmental consultant, named ...

Scientists granted research window for Flathead Coalbed Methane mining by Michael Jamison, July 5, 2007, The Missoulian Energy development is temporarily on hold north of Glacier National Park this summer, giving scientists at least a year to gather baseline data before Canadian coal and coalbed methane exploration begins. “We have several programs of study that are under way ...