No, frac’ing is not safe.

Vital points:

Academia was frac’d years ago; many experts lie – usually sneakily, sometimes super stupidly, even in published papers – and or intentionally ignore the most damning data and evidence to enable industry’s crimes and pollution in exchange for jobs, big money, gifts, ego-fodder, promotions, power etc.
Our regulators were frac’d years ago too. A few examples: illegal aquifer frac’er Encana (now Ovintiv) VP Gerard Protti was appointed Chair of AER (Alberta Energy Regulator); Ex Encana Manager who lied to the Rosebud community after Encana contaminated their drinking water became an AER VP; Alberta gov’t servants Bev Yee and Peter Watson both worked to cover-up Encana’s crimes, with Watson bullying harmed residents dreadfully and lying to us in writing – both were rewarded top regulator power positions. Watson was appointed by Steve Harper to head of CER, previously NEB (Canada’s federal energy regulator) and Bev Yee by Kenney UCP gov’t to Chair the already law-violating corrupt AER.
Lobby groups and NGOs lie, lie, lie big, and lie some more, and smear/discredit the harmed to get their grubby greedy corrupt fingers on industry and gov’t money. They also pimp “regulations” and ask for money for more study to knowingly enable the frac harms to continue.
Companies lie, lie, lie big, and lie some more, and worse, trick the harmed into signing gag orders in exchange for a few loads of water or partial clean up of spills, or a bit of money or both, trick landowners eager for lease riches into signing gag orders with their leases, with them not finding out they signed their rights away until it’s too late, with “regulators” and courts enabling the escalating frauds.

Plenty of evidence on this website to substantiate the above. It’s too time consuming to hyperlink them all.

No, fracking isn’t safe by Mike Kamandulis, Kersey, March 4, 2020, The Bradford Era

A recent commentary in this newspaper stated that, “fracking, is safe” and that it “poses no threat to groundwater supplies.”

It also claimed that the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey and “many academic institutions have all concluded that fracking poses no threat to groundwater supplies.” An article in the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times advocated for state legislators to “reverse the ban on fracking.”

But after seven years of study, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation found “significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated” and decided to extended that state’s ban on fracking.

Although the industry argues that fracking fluids are handled in a safe manner, e.g. recovered as much as possible, dispersed deeply enough, etc., the evidence says otherwise.

Treatment of chemicals and waste dumping by Encana (now Ovintiv) in Alberta:

Encana waste, likely radioactive and with added toxic chemicals, dumped on foodland in Alberta.

A report by the EPA states, “Local impacts on drinking water quantity have occurred in areas with increased hydraulic fracturing activity.” And the Yale Global Health Review states that fracking and flowback fluids can contaminate surface or groundwater in several ways, including pipe leakage, faulty well construction, chemical spills during construction, and improper waste water treatment.

It also states that these failures occur three to six times more often than those of conventional natural gas wells, and often lead to the contamination of nearby drinking wells.

Moreover, it argues that “the contamination of water during the fracking process may affect the health of nearby communities.”

Clearly, this evidence, and much more refutes the idea that “fracking is safe.”

Refer also to:

2020 To enable profit-raping & pollution by the oil & gas industry, Canada’s politicians pimp the rule of law, while they, industry, the rich, our courts and regulators piss on it, us, our rights, our families and communities.

2020: Another new study unravels oil & gas industry lies: Levels of fossil methane naturally released are about 10 times lower than previously reported while man-made are 25-40% higher! Benjamin Hmiel: “We’ve identified a gigantic discrepancy.”

All in the Protti Family? What are the connections between law-violating CSIS, law-violating Encana, propagadist big oil lobby group CAPP, law-violating EUB/ERCB/AER and the big banks?

2019: Alberta academia was frac’d years ago. UCP government’s university appointments draw cronyism accusations

2019: Compendium 6 Released: Review by doctors & scientists of more than 1,700 references conclude frac industry poses threat to air, water, climate and human health

“The orks are getting nervous.” Big Bad Powerful CAPP afraid of Greta? Oil industry’s cowardice the real reason for Jason Kenney’s anti-information, private corporation Canadian Energy Propaganda Centre? Steal from citizens to give polluters the loudest voice? CAPP is foolish to whine, but wise to be afraid. Greta has more power than Alberta’s unethical war room, no matter how much money it eats or how many media lie for it.

“What will they do with all the frac waste?” people asked Ernst on her speaking tours.”They will make us eat and drink it,” Ernst replied. (And later we find out: drive, walk, run, bike on it)

2019: Remember Emergency Nurse Cathy Behr? Ohio, New Report: Widespread use of frac’ing and drilling chemicals risk water supplies and health. Companies injected undisclosed chemicals “10,992 times into 1,432 wells” enabled by the “law” that allows trade secrets, even from first responders.

2019: Pollution could be damaging your brain, even leading to dementia but Health Canada still not making public their 2012 damning report admitting significant health hazards and risks to groundwater and air caused by frac’ing!

2019: Industry’s big lies are so ugly, our courts need to lie too, to help cover them up: Secrets & lies by AER & Alberta govt to cover-up Encana’s secrets, lies & frac crimes; Supreme Court of Canada in the cover-up business too? Top Court signs pact to keep records of deliberations secret for at least 50 years; Reserves right to keep some secret forever

2019: IT’S A BIG ONE! AER Order against Sprocket Energy sour gas well leak/spill (by frac hit?) six km SW of Town of Fox Creek. Why no media coverage on possibly life-threatening, brain damaging leak near busy Smoke Lake Provincial Park Campground?

2019: Canada’s Duvernay frac’d oil play attracting big attention, big money and a big damaging frac quake, knocking power out to thousands

2017: Fox Creek, Alberta Frac Quakes start up again; New Study by Standford Scientists: Small earthquakes at frac sites may be early indicators of bigger quakes to come; Surprising Finding: Arkansas earthquakes mostly caused by hydraulic fracturing, only some by wastewater injection, None caused by trucks

2016: Yet Another Study and the EPA’s Final Frac Report, Both Highlighting Fracking’s Harms to Groundwater. The Big Lie by industry, regulators, politicians unravels

Andrew Nikiforuk’s Slick Water Reviewed in Publishers Weekly For details on many more harms by frac’ing, read Nikiforuk’s Slick Water, available in libraries, stores and online.

2016: Big Oil’s Big Lie Continues to Unravel: Texas officials found 50 cases of groundwater contamination in 2015; 570 since 2006!

2014: There are proven cases of frac’ing contamination

2014: The Big Lie Continues – in Parliament, Even after release of frac report by Council of Canadian Academies: Intervention concernant les risques de l’exploitation de gaz de schiste [The Council was sent Ernst’s brief below, outlining numerous proven cases of frac’ing contaminating drinking water. The council ignored it.]

2014: The Big Lie Continues, former US Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar says: “We know that, from everything we’ve seen, there’s not a single case where hydraulic fracking has created an environmental problem for anyone”

2014: Who are these people? Why the big fracking lies?

2014: CAPP’S big lie to the Yukon: “Over 175,000 wells without any reported incidence of contaminating drinking water.”

2013: Brief review of threats to Canada’s groundwater from the oil and gas industry’s methane migration and hydraulic fracturing

2013: French Translation

2013: FrackingCanada: The Science is Deafening – Industry’s Gas Migration

Poster by Will Koop

Why was a 2012 Health Canada Report, admitting significant health hazards and risks to groundwater and air from hydraulic fracturing, kept from the public?

Just a tiny list of the $ industry gives to frac and control academics in Alberta alone:

Cenovus, Syncrude and Suncor and other oil and gas companies “helping draft” curriculum for students from kindergarten to Grade 12!

Cenovus donates $1.5 million to Lakeland College

Talisman pledges $1.25 M to Mount Royal University, Alberta

Encana donates $1.5 Million to Mount Royal University

EnCana donates $7.5 Million to the University of Alberta

Corporate polluters don’t just buy their way out of contaminating community drinking water supplies with settle ‘n gag orders given to them by their judicial friends in our courts, they buy their way out with donations too.

Cenovus donates $3 Million to the University of Alberta

University of Calgary Prostitutes Itself To Big Oil & Gas

EnCana to donate $1 Million to the University of Calgary

Encana donates $1 million to Red Deer College

EnCana $1 Million donation to University of Calgary questioned as company awaits energy decision

Million-dollar Nexen donation to Mount Royal University to benefit future journalists, educators

Imperial Oil donates $1 Million to Mount Royal University

Cenovus donates $3 Million to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Is the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology overflowing with oil money?

ConocoPhillips Canada supports University of Lethbridge and places students link previously went to: http://www.thisismyu.ca/stories/donor/2010/11/conocophillips-canada-sees-benefits-support

Trican Donates $5 million for cancer research at the University of Calgary

Trican donates $5 Million to Fight Chidhood Cancer and for research at the University of Calgary

Enbridge donates 1.2 million to the University of Calgary, research chair first of its kind dedicated to holistic cancer care

EnCana donates $50,000 to Northern Medical Program Trust

Enbridge Donates $500,000 to the Alberta School of Business

Cenovus 3 million endowment to University of Alberta

2011: The New York Times: Drilling Down, Deep Frac’ing by Kaiser Gas Co Contaminated West Virginia Water Well Rendering it Unusable and There May Be More Gagged by Nondisclosure Agreements

2005 12: Ernst’s frac’d and contaminated drinking water reported on the Front Page of the Edmonton Journal and page 2 of the Calgary Herald, photo by Chris Schwartz.