Speaker to address hydraulic fracturing, The co-ordinator of the British Columbia Tap Water Alliance will be in the territory next week to share his concerns about hydraulic fracturing with Yukoners by Ainslie Cruickshank, January 8, 2014, Whitehorse Star
The co-ordinator of the British Columbia Tap Water Alliance will be in the territory next week to share his concerns about hydraulic fracturing with Yukoners. Will Koop, 59, became particularly interested, and concerned, about fracking after reading an article about the controversial practice in the Georgia Straight, a Vancouver-based publication, in January 2010. He spent the next four weeks trying to find out everything he could about fracking. Much of the information available online at the time related to the United States, Koop explained during an interview Monday afternoon. So he started the Stop Fracking B.C. site where he’s published a compilation of his research.
Koop said he plans to share his concerns with Yukoners, about the impacts of fracking on land and people, about the impact on water and about the influences of industry over government.
“I think the most important thing that can be stated about fracking is that it cannot be safely regulated,” he told the Star.
In 1997, Koop helped found the B.C. Tap Water Alliance, concerned about the protection of the province’s tap water resources. Nine years later, he self-published From Wisdom To Tyranny: A History of British Columbia’s Drinking Watershed Reserves. Koop now focuses most of his attention on the use and impact on water by the oil and gas industry.
Koop will speak at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
He will also be speaking in Dawson City during his visit.
Yukoners Concerned About Oil and Gas Development has invited several speakers to share concerns about fracking. The Yukon legislature’s Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing is in Alberta this week on an information-gathering trip. Members will meet with industry and government representatives, as well as a concerned citizens group, and tour a frack site in Red Deer.
See Yukon energy consultant’s commentary on fracking.
