WATCH: Cochrane resident worries new fracking guidelines too weak, Alberta rancher says he’s felt many tremors on his property by CBC News, November 30, 2012
A Calgary-area rancher says Canada’s oil and gas producers’ new guidelines for hydraulic fracking don’t go far enough. The rules — which are voluntary — are supposed to address the risk of earthquakes. On his ranch near Cochrane, Howard Hawkwood said he’s experienced many tremors on his property. Hawkwood said they started after oil and gas companies started fracking not far from his property. “I was in my horse barn, all of a sudden the horse barn started to tremble, I had a horse in there and he spooked,” said Hawkwood. This week, the industry unveiled voluntary guidelines for fracking and earthquakes. They call for procedures to be in place to monitor and mitigate seismic activity.
Alberta’s Energy Minister Ken Hughes isn’t too concerned the guidelines were written by industry. “While they’ve developed guidelines, clearly the Energy Resources Conservation Board is the ultimate authority and the new energy regulator will be looking at this,” said Hughes. For his part, Hawkwood says he’s disappointed. “I’m really worried because they’re going to write their own rules and that’s it, they will just absolutely ignore the rest of us, they don’t care, they’re just after the almighty dollar,” he says. Hawkwood expects the tremors will continue. He’s been told the number of wells in the area is set to triple to 150. [Emphasis added]
Nouvelles normes de l’industrie pour la fracturation hydraulique Radio Canada, 30 novembre 2012
Howard Hawkwood, un résident de Cochrane à l’ouest de Calgary, s’est senti rassuré à l’annonce de ces nouvelles règles puisque son ranch a été abîmé par des secousses sismiques survenues durant la semaine. Ces secousses ont été provoquées par la fracturation hydraulique, selon lui. « Je ne crois pas que cette technique soit sécuritaire », a-t-il dit. M. Hawkwood a ajouté que l’industrie devrait toutefois ralentir ses projets de fracturation pour laisser le temps aux scientifiques d’analyser les conséquences de ces travaux souterrains. Le ministre albertain de l’Énergie, Ken Hughes, a affirmé que même si l’industrie avait adopté ces nouvelles règles, le dernier mot revenait à la Régie de contrôle des ressources énergétiques de l’Alberta (ERCB), puisque l’aval de celle-ci est nécessaire pour entamer un projet de fracturation.
[Refer also to: StopFrackingBC: Frack Poker (The Biggest Gambling Game in Canada) by B.C. Tap Water Alliance
New voluntary CAPP guidelines to monitor, respond to earthquakes caused by fracking ]