Nova Scotia extends PetroWorth agreement

Nova Scotia extends PetroWorth agreement by Bruce Erskine, August 9, 2012, The Chronicle Herald
PetroWorth Resources Inc. of Toronto, which plans to drill a controversial $1.6-million exploration oil well near Lake Ainslie, has been granted a one-year exploration agreement extension by the Energy Department. The extension approval followed a recent Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision that found Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau’s decision to approve the drilling was reasonable. The Margaree Environmental Association appealed Belliveau’s decision on the basis that the well was too close to watercourses and to local residents and posed a threat to the environment and to human health. Energy Minister Charlie Parker said Thursday that the court decision paved the way for the one-year extension, which is retroactive to July 15, when the previous agreement expired. “Now that the court has dismissed the appeal, we are granting PetroWorth its ninth and final year of its exploration agreement,” Parker said in a news release. … Parker said in an interview that he had every confidence in the province’s ability to effectively regulate oil exploration activity. “The last thing we want to see is any harm to our environment,”…. Neal Livingston, co-chair of the Margaree Environmental Association, said the group was very disappointed by the government’s decision to grant the extension. “Nova Scotia seems to be open to business even in places where it’s stupid to be open,” he said Thursday. … PetroWorth doesn’t plan to use the controversial method of hydraulic fracturing….