updates...
Nova Scotia says fracking waste can be cleaned, but critics cast doubts
The Canadian Press
January 31, 2014 07:27 AM
January 31, 2014 07:27 AM
Ken Summers stands next to a wellhead for an exploratory natural gas well near his home not far from Noel, N.S. on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. Summers, who lives near the fracked wells west of Windsor, said he was pleased to see the Nova Scotian environment minister talking to local residents about a waste water cleanup plan. However, he said it would be a mistake to assume this new process could be used on a larger scale. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
HALIFAX - Anti-fracking activists are raising red flags after the Nova Scotia government said a local waste management company has found a way to clean up millions of litres waste water left over from hydraulically fractured wells.
Environment Minister Randy Delorey released a statement Friday saying the process developed by Atlantic Industrial Services in Debert can clean the waste water to the point that it poses a "minimal risk" to the health of Nova Scotians and the environment.
Delorey also said independent lab results show the filtered water meets disposal guidelines set by Health Canada and the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.
About five million litres of fracking waste water — including some from New Brunswick — is being stored in holding ponds in Debert. Another 20 million litres is in two ponds near Kennetcook, N.S., where three test wells were drilled and fracked by Denver-based Triangle Petroleum in 2007-08.
The three wells were the first and remain the only wells to be fracked in Nova Scotia. The province imposed a two-year moratorium on fracking in April 2012. An independent panel on the process is expected to release recommendations later this year.
Delorey shared the test results at a public meeting Thursday in Truro, saying the government won't allow the company to dispose of the treated water until further toxicity testing is done.
Ken Summers, who lives near the fracked wells west of Windsor, said he was pleased to see the minister talking to local residents about a cleanup plan. However, he said it would be a mistake to assume this new process could be used on a larger scale.
"When you have production on a larger scale, there's dozens, if not hundreds of different chemicals used," said Summers, a member of the East Hants Fracking Opposition Group.
He said the lab results cited by Delorey listed only 12 chemicals typically used in hydraulic fracturing.
"What might be acceptable for the two ponds doesn't have a whole lot to do with the whole fracking issue," he said, adding that Delorey had made that point during the meeting.
Delorey said he understands that the new cleaning process has limited value beyond dealing with the long-standing problem near Kennetcook.
"I'm not looking at treatment from an industry perspective," he said in an interview Friday. "We are not regulating an industry. This is a problem that we have now, waste water left over from a pilot project from a number of years ago."
Jennifer West, a co-ordinator with the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition, said she was encouraged by Delorey's approach. But she, too, warned that the province is far from ready to deal with a rapidly expanding industry.
"If fracking occurs here, the scale of what we would be dealing with would be exponential," she said, adding that Triangle had tentative plans to drill 680 wells in Windsor area alone.
"We're not looking at one pond here if fracking goes ahead. We're looking at hundreds of ponds, thousands possibly."
Of the approximately 700 chemicals used in fracking, many are not covered by federal water safety guidelines, she said.
"This really highlights the need to slow down and not allow fracking to happen in Nova Scotia," West said. "I passionately hope (the panel) will see that it's not worth risking the potential contamination of our water and air."
Hydraulic fracturing involves blasting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into a well bore to split the surrounding rock and release trapped hydrocarbons, usually natural gas, coal bed methane or crude oil.
Critics say the process can contaminate groundwater, but the industry says the process is safe.
Follow @NovaMac on Twitter.
- See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/nova-scotia-says-fracking-waste-can-be-cleaned-but-critics-cast-doubts-1.809212#sthash.CI0v1wDi.dpuf
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Feb 05 2014
Is Big Salmon preventing progress in
aquaculture?
RALPH SURETTE
rsurette@herald.ca Ralph Surette is a
freelance journalist in Yarmouth County.
An inquiry on the future of aquaculture in
Nova Scotia will report this spring, not a minute too soon. Fish farming, an
industry of huge promise in a province with uniquely varied waters, has been
set back by public policy obsessed with Big Salmon .
Here’s a peek at the promising part.
Just down the salt-water lake from me here
at Ste-Annedu- Ruisseau, Yarmouth County, Nolan d’Eon’s “Ruisseau
oysters" have shown up in fancy dining magazines in Toronto along with
Malpeque and Bras d’Or. He’s creating a brand on a very small area of water.
Fifteen minutes down the road at
Charlesville, on the Yarmouth-Shelburne County line, there’s Acadian Seaplants,
a world player known mainly for supplying the Asian market with an array of
brightly coloured seaweeds, grown in tanks and used in salads.
Another short jaunt brings you to Clark’s
Harbour and Scotian Halibut, a company created by a partnership of established
players in the Nova Scotia fishery. It has breeders of monstrous size and,
having mastered the difficult art of reproducing halibut in captivity, sells
juveniles to Norway and Scotland, among others. General manager Brian Blanchard
says the company started early and has the b est halibut broodstock in the
world. But he feels unloved by public opinion , government policy and the
media. “The Norwegians would love us to move there," he says ominously.
Down the road, every little stretch of the
entire Nova Scotia coast will reveal surprising su ccess stories like this,
usually with an owner o f a growing and innovative operation feeling unloved.
True, Nova Scotians have been slow to
embrace fish farming, something at odds with the romance of the wild fishery.
However, the abrupt arrival of open-pen salmon farms in shallow, poorly flushed
bays, against scientific advice in many cas es, and preceded by an established
reputation elsewhere for pollution, toxic metals and chemicals, disease, lice
and negative effects on wild salmon, has tarnished the entire industry in the
public mind.
“Aquaculture" and open-pen salmon are
conflated in the headlines as one and the same, a confusion first sown by the
Dexter government when faced by the uproar against open-pen farms and furthered
by Cooke Aquaculture, the big salmon farm player. If you’re against open-pen
salmon farming, it is charged, you’re “against aquaculture," not to
mention against progress itself.
But is this progress? Since the mid-1990s,
the federal government has paid out some $110 million to compensate the
industry in Atlantic Canada for fish afflicted with infectious salmon anemia .
Add what the provinces have contributed (Nova Scotia has $25 million on the
table for expansion), and that wou ld likely reach $200 million and more.
Keeping in mind that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last year fell on a novel
way to stop paying Ottawa’s money: they just allowed the sick salmon to go to
market.
Wherever there’s a big open-pen industry,
there’s trouble. In Norway, the world’s salmon farm powerhouse, the health
depar tment last summer recommended that women of childbearing age limit their
consumption after research showed high levels o f contaminants in farmed salmon
. Four major grocery chains threatened to stop carrying salmon unless grown in
closed containment. A study in Scotland showed the same. And here — where there
are no studies?
The s olution is indeed to contain these
fish, either at sea or on land. It’s being done now, even in Nova Scotia, on a
small scale. Denmark is building a huge salmon industry with very little
pollution. But the big players’ story is that it’s too expensive. The truth is
that using the o cean as a sewer and the taxpayer as a bank is too profitable
to give up.
Meanwhile, for the others working in the
shadows of all this, it’s a conundrum. Some blame Co oke for tarnishing them
with the dirty brush, some defend Cooke and blame negative public attitu des.
Angela Bishop, executive director of the
Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia, of which Cooke is not a member, doesn’t
want to point fingers, but allows that “if Nova Scotians are less trustful of
our sector because of actions of one member, then that’s a problem."
The AANS, she says, is working on a
strategy to promote the “small/medium and innovative" companies that make
up her memb ership with the accent on high-tech and outreach to communities —
especially the involvement of communities. This is pretty well the opposite of
everything that open-pen salmon represents.
Before anything can truly move ahead,
however, there must be a proper regulatory regimen — federal and provincial.
Issues related to financing,plus other tangled matters, must be worked out to
resemble agricultural programs. The report by Meinhard Doelle and William Lahey
of Dalhousie University is due later this spring. Hopefully, it will point the
way out of the impasse, keeping in mind that Big Salmon has powerful lobbies
and has frustrated progress in other juris dictions.
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Cooke gains BAP certification
Aquaculture designation recognizes firm’s
salmon farming
BRUCE ERSKINE BUSINESS REPORTER
berskine@herald.ca @CH_Br uceErskine
Cooke Aquaculture’s True North Salmon
Company salmon from Atlantic Canada and Maine has received Best Aquaculture
Practices (BAP) three-star certification.
“The BAP certification is a natural
continuation of our company’s long-term commitment to quality seafood and
responsible production," said Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke in a news release
Tuesday.
“A healthy marine environment is vital to
our operations and certification through third parties ensures that we remain
sustainable in our practices and helps us set goals for improvement." BAP
certification is a division of the U.S.-based Global Aquaculture Alliance, an
industry association.
According to the alliance website,
certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with
achievable, science- based performance standards for the aquaculture supply
chain, including farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills.
Susanna Fuller, marine conservation
co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, said BAP standards
essentially certify that companies are in legal compliance with regulatory regimes.
“In Atlantic Canada, we should expect that
aquaculture companies are in legal compliance," she said in an email
Tuesday.
“The fact that Cooke’s True North
operations are in legal compliance is a good thing, but ultimately we’d expect
that higher environmental standards should be met," she said.
“The standards of the GAA align to
“red" on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program ranking system,
implying that we’ve got a way to in terms actually improving environmental
performance of open-net pen systems."
Cooke attained BAP certification for
salmon farm sites in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador,
and Maine.
Cooke processing operations in New
Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Maine were also certified, as was its feed
mill in Truro.
The company plans to seek certification for
other farm sites and will apply for four-star cer tification once the alliance
finalizes BAP hatchery and nursery standards later this year.
Cooke’s Chilean operations, Salmones
Cupquelan , achieved BAP certification in 2012. Its Spanish sea bass and sea
bream company, Culmarex , holds s everal third-party certifications, including
“Friend of the Sea" and “Ecologica," an organic standard.
Peter Redmond, BAP’s vicepresident of
business development, was pleased with Cooke’s commitment .
“We are proud to include Cooke Aquaculture
into the increasing fold o f companies electing to certify their responsibly
farmed seafood to the Best Aquaculture Practices standards."
Cooke Aquaculture processes and sells more
than 160 million pounds of Atlantic salmon, five million pounds of trout and 20
million pounds of sea bass and sea bream annually.
The BAP certification is a natural
continuation of our company’s long-term commitment to quality seafood and
responsible production.
Glenn Cooke CEO Cooke Aquaculture
A view of one of 10 Cooke Aquaculture
salmon farms in Nova Scotia. The company has received a Best Aquaculture
Practices three-star certification.
ADRIEN VECZAN • Staff
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FEB. 7
FRACKING UPDATE- NOVA SCOTIA
Fracking talks
met with caution
Extraction method, waste water issues both require extensive analysis, say groups
Extraction method, waste water issues both require extensive analysis, say groups
FRANCIS CAMPBELL TRURO BUREAU
fcampbell@herald.ca @CH_HubBub
There is no magic bullet to ease the minds of groups that oppose fracking in Nova Scotia.
As the new exp er t panel on hydraulic fracturing is scheduled to have its first meeting in Halifax next week, and in the wake of a recent community meeting in Truro in which Environment Minister Randy Delorey talked about the positive test results of fracking waste water in the province, fracking worries aren’t going to disappear any time soon, says a husband-and-wife team from Minasville.
“The part I’m satisfied with is we’re talking for the first time," said Ken Summers, a member of the Nova Scotia Fracking Res ource and Action Coalition steering committee.
“The previous government has always hid and tried to do things as quietly and in the background as possible. This minister has sort of taken the steps to engage communities. We hear in press releases that (the waste water) is clean now, so there is nothing more to talk about, but that is not the case at all. He’s announced a bunch of results and we have to see what that means. It’s not that cut and dried."
Delorey announced at the Truro meeting last week that a series of independent laboratory tests determined that treatment of fracking waste water, including a reverse osmosis process by Atlantic Industrial Services, brings the waste water in its Debert holding pond within government guidelines for release into freshwater.
Summers still needs a lot o f convincing .
“You don’t do (testing) independently of what you’re going to do with the waste water," he said.
“The only proposal that’s out there right now is the Lafarge cement plant."
Lafarge has proposed a pilot project that would use fracking waste water from the Atlantic Industrial S ervices holding p ond in its rotary cement kiln at Brookfield.
“There is still a lot to talk about," he said.
Some of that talk will begin in Halifax on Wednesday when the expert panel, chaired by Cape Breton University president David Wheeler, holds its first meeting. Wheeler says the nine-memberpanel should have a report ready in June.
Pat Dixon, Summers’ wife and a member of the East Hants Fracking Opposition Group that is affiliated with the Nova Scotia Fracking Res ource and Action Coalition, said there are two distinct but related fracking problems in this province. The first is the future of the controversial method of extracting oil and gas from shale rock deposits.
The second problem, Dixon said, is the millions of litres of fracking waste water that sits in two ponds near Kennetcook after a subsidiary of Triangle Petroleum drilled test wells in 2007- 08.
“It’s hard to think that we have millions and millions of litres of fracking waste all over North America now and that just magically (Atlantic Industrial Services) has come up with a s olution to deal with the fracking waste when no one else has been able to do that," Dixon said. “There is reason for optimism but there is als o reason for caution."
And even if it were a solution for the waste water that has been sitting in the Kennetcook-areaponds, Dixon cautioned that the 2007-08 fracking operation consisted o f three test wells with a limited number of chemicals. Any major fracking operation would include hundreds of wells using hundreds of chemical cocktails.
“I do have sympathy for the province," Dixon said. “You can’t magically make this go away. They inherited it and it’s a tough crowd. But that skepticism comes from years of really trying to find out what’s going on, and even after all these years of trying to find out, you still certainly get different stories."
We hear in press releases that (the waste water) is clean now, so there is nothing more to talk about, but that is not the case at all.
Ken Summers N.S. Fracking Resource and Coalition
Despite a recent public meeting on fracking waste water and the upcoming panel hearings on hydraulic fracturing, opponents of fracking are cautious. This anti-fracking protest took place in October at exit 10 of Highway 102. INGRID BULMER • Staff
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October 4, 1997 , in a landmark decision, a New Brunswick court ruled that aboriginals own the crown lands and forests of New Brunswick.
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NO F**KING FRACKING IN NOVA SCOTIA- CANADA- Pls. give poisoned frack water back 2 the frackers
http://www.novanewsnow.com/News/Regional/2014-01-31/article-3598034/Provincial-study-deems-Debert-fracking-water-safe-for-disposal/1
AND..
NO F**KING FRACKING IN NOVA SCOTIA- CANADA- Pls. give poisoned frack water back 2 the frackers......... and Nova Scotia voted out elected Tory Premier/ Nova Scotia voted out NDP Premier and NOW WARNING... LIBERAL PREMIER.... fix this.... cause u won't hear us coming, u won't hear a sound, if u don't treasure r evironment, we will vote u down......
Provincial study deems Debert fracking water safe for disposal
Monique ChiassonPublished on January 31, 2014
Published on October 19, 2012
This sign is posted near one of the Triangle Petroleum Corporation’s former fracking sites in Kennetcook. The roadway to the site is blocked by a lock gate.
Ashley Thompson
TRURO – A study of treated hydraulic fracturing wastewater in Debert states it is safe for disposal.
A provincial study into the wastewater at Atlantic Industrial Services was released at a public meeting in Truro Jan.30. Approximaely 80 people gathered to hear the results, which stated the wastewater meets Health Canada and the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment guidelines to be released into water.
“The tests … show that the wastewater poses a minimal risk to the health of Nova Scotians and our environment,” said Environment Minister Randy Delorey, adding the tested material was flowback wastewater from 2007 and 2008.
The minister said while the wastewater is safe for disposal, no action will be taken until the department gives final approval. No date was indicated.
Tests were carried out at Becquerel and Saskatchewan Research Council labs for naturally occurring radioactive materials. The waste was also tested for sodium chloride and general chemistry at Maxxam Analytics in Halifax and for proprietary chemicals at Precision Petroleum Labs Inc. in Houston. Precision is the only lab in North America that conducts such tests, said Delorey.
Despite what Delorey said, the response from the crowd was frustration, disbelief and distrust.
Alex McDonald of Shubenacadie said there should be no compromise.
“We do not want any fracking. We do not want your dirty water and we will do everything in our power to stop it,” McDonald said.
Shortts Lake resident Lydia Sorflaten said more extensive testing is required.
“Your testing is totally incomplete. We have a problem with cancer in the world, endocrine … and reproductive problems. We will not be happy until we know more,” said Sorflaten.
Other community members wanted to know if Lafarge cement plant in Brookfield will be allowed to accept the wastewater.
“Lafarge is not approved to accept wastewater,” said Kathleen Johnson, an environmental engineer from Pictou County.
“But if the wastewater meets standards for fresh water, Lafarge wouldn’t need industrial approval to receive wastewater,” confirmed Delorey.
Delorey was also asked if he was prepared to ask the government to place a ban on fracking.
“No. The commitment is to let (an) independent committee complete its work without interfering,” he said.
Delorey said he understood people’s frustration but encouraged them to look ahead.
“What is done is done. It’s not about experimenting but looking at the issue and step-by-step trying to find a solution.”
There are about five million litres of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing in Debert, and nearly 20 million litres of wastewater, mixed with rain and melted snow, in two ponds in Kennetcook.
Most of the wastewater in Debert has been treated to remove naturally occurring radioactive materials, salt and chemicals.
Test results, which were taken during a period of time and at different water levels, and summar documents are online.
http://www.novanewsnow.com/News/Regional/2014-01-31/article-3598034/Provincial-study-deems-Debert-fracking-water-safe-for-disposal/1
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DECEMBER 1- 2013- GOD IS ANGRY- water more precious than gold- Pope Francis
Water more precious than gold Pope Francis speaks out against fracking and environmental devastation http://shar.es/DYHRL via @sharethis
Even God is getting angry....“Water is more precious than gold.”..Pope Francis
POPE FRANCIS- The pope visited Solanas and posed for a picture holding an anti-fracking T-shirt, along with one that bore the slogan, “Water is more precious than gold.”
Pope Francis speaks out against fracking and environmental devastation
Friday, November 29th, 2013 By Ilaria Bertini
http://blueandgreentomorrow.com/2013/11/29/pope-francis-speaks-out-against-fracking-and-environmental-devastation/
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DECEMBER 1ST 2013-
Benefit raises thousands for anti-fracking protesters
December 1, 2013 - 6:57am By CLARE MELLOR Staff Reporter
Drummers take part in a fundraising benefit for members of Elsipogtog First Nation at the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre in Halifax on Saturday night. (CLARE MELLOR)
.
Debbie Cyr's eyes were filled with tears Saturday night at a fundraising benefit in Halifax for members of Elsipogtog First Nation, who are protesting shale gas exploration in New Brunswick.
Cyr has been on the front lines of the fracking protest in New Brunswick since June but made a special trip to Halifax for the event.
“It's been hard but when we see things like this, it is so heartwarming to know that we are not alone,” she said.
“We are living in little pop tents and sleeping out there, . . . you don't realize that there are people all across the world helping and caring so much.”
Hundreds of supporters, from the very young to the elderly, came out for the benefit held at the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre. There was an upbeat atmosphere with traditional singing, dancing, drumming and a silent auction.
That event was followed later in the evening by a benefit concert at the Marquee Ballroom. There were bands, a comedy show, and fashion show all highlighting Aboriginal talent.
Organizers of the events says they expect to raise as much as $10,000 for Elsipogtog First Nation and allies to help pay legal fees and other costs associated with the protest. Numerous arrests have occurred during the protest.
“People are fighting for what they believe in. . . . (We) came up with a plan to help them,” said event organizer Amber Giles.
A recent court injunction keeps people about 20 metres from the SWN Resources work site near Rexton.The company is currently carrying out seismic testing to see if underground shale beds contain natural gas.
Gas could eventually be removed by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a controversial method of extracting gas by forcing water and chemicals deep into rock.
While proponents insist the method is safe, others believe it is harmful to the environment, especially water.
Cyr said members of Elsipogtog First Nation wants to protect the water for future generations.
“It is like a marathon. . . . We don't think about the pain and the anguish that is happening now because that is just going to bring things down. We think about the goal, and the goal is that we are able to protect the water,” Cyr said.
Maude Barlow, chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, flew in from Ottawa to attend Saturday’s event. She and other members of the national citizen’s advocacy group are also visiting New Brunswick this weekend to show support for the protesters.
“I felt is was very important as things are heating up right now to come here and show solidarity,” said Barlow, who is also an author.
“My issue, personally, is water. . . . Fracking is a terrible, terrible threat to fresh water, and it is also a terrible threat to the safety of local water sources,” she said.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1171144-benefit-raises-thousands-for-anti-fracking-protesters
DECEMBER 1ST 2013-
Benefit raises thousands for anti-fracking protesters
December 1, 2013 - 6:57am By CLARE MELLOR Staff Reporter
Drummers take part in a fundraising benefit for members of Elsipogtog First Nation at the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre in Halifax on Saturday night. (CLARE MELLOR)
.
Debbie Cyr's eyes were filled with tears Saturday night at a fundraising benefit in Halifax for members of Elsipogtog First Nation, who are protesting shale gas exploration in New Brunswick.
Cyr has been on the front lines of the fracking protest in New Brunswick since June but made a special trip to Halifax for the event.
“It's been hard but when we see things like this, it is so heartwarming to know that we are not alone,” she said.
“We are living in little pop tents and sleeping out there, . . . you don't realize that there are people all across the world helping and caring so much.”
Hundreds of supporters, from the very young to the elderly, came out for the benefit held at the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre. There was an upbeat atmosphere with traditional singing, dancing, drumming and a silent auction.
That event was followed later in the evening by a benefit concert at the Marquee Ballroom. There were bands, a comedy show, and fashion show all highlighting Aboriginal talent.
Organizers of the events says they expect to raise as much as $10,000 for Elsipogtog First Nation and allies to help pay legal fees and other costs associated with the protest. Numerous arrests have occurred during the protest.
“People are fighting for what they believe in. . . . (We) came up with a plan to help them,” said event organizer Amber Giles.
A recent court injunction keeps people about 20 metres from the SWN Resources work site near Rexton.The company is currently carrying out seismic testing to see if underground shale beds contain natural gas.
Gas could eventually be removed by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a controversial method of extracting gas by forcing water and chemicals deep into rock.
While proponents insist the method is safe, others believe it is harmful to the environment, especially water.
Cyr said members of Elsipogtog First Nation wants to protect the water for future generations.
“It is like a marathon. . . . We don't think about the pain and the anguish that is happening now because that is just going to bring things down. We think about the goal, and the goal is that we are able to protect the water,” Cyr said.
Maude Barlow, chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, flew in from Ottawa to attend Saturday’s event. She and other members of the national citizen’s advocacy group are also visiting New Brunswick this weekend to show support for the protesters.
“I felt is was very important as things are heating up right now to come here and show solidarity,” said Barlow, who is also an author.
“My issue, personally, is water. . . . Fracking is a terrible, terrible threat to fresh water, and it is also a terrible threat to the safety of local water sources,” she said.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1171144-benefit-raises-thousands-for-anti-fracking-protesters
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JUST IN- LOOK AT ALL THE FRACKING IN TEXAS- RUINATION... RUINATION...OMG.. DECEMBER 1 2013
OMG... Amazing Bird’s Eye View Of Texas Fracking- POPE FRANCIS- WATER IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
OMG- view of Fracking across Texas- WATER IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD- POPE FRANCIS
Amazing Bird’s Eye View Of Texas Fracking
An aerial photo taken on August 3rd of fracking operations in Texas has caused a rumble online, drawing 20,000 views on the photo sharing site, Flckr.
The photo, posted by Amy Youngs, carries the inscription:
Saw these strange new human-made landscapes on my flight from Sacramento to Houston. Not farming, not subdivisions, but many miles of rectangular patches etched out of the earth, some with pools next to them, all with roads to them. I doubt that people see these when driving on major roads – I never have – but they were very visible from a plane. Welcome to your new landscape!
Modern-day hydraulic fracturing was first developed in Texas’ Barnett Shale. As of 2011, the state led the nation with over 100,00 gas wells – many of which have involved fracking in recent years. The water-intensive process is being questioned as Texas faces drought conditions.
See an interactive image of the above fracking operations in google maps.
Damien Gillis is a Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker with a focus on environmental and social justice issues – especially relating to water, energy, and saving Canada’s wild salmon – working with many environmental organizations in BC and around the world. He is the co-founder, along with Rafe Mair, of The Common Sense Canadian, and a board member of both the BC Environmental Network and the Haig-Brown Institute.
Related Posts:
Frackers Guzzle Water as Texas Goes Thirsty October 29, 2013
VIDEO: Last 48 Hours Delineate Lines Of Struggle In Canada October 20, 2013
Josh Fox’s Gasland II to Expose Power Politics of Fracking July 8, 2013
Radiation In Drinking Water Rising Due To Fracking October 4, 2013
This Is What Fracking Really Looks Like July 22, 2013
http://www.popularresistance.org/amazing-birds-eye-view-of-texas-fracking/
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JUST IN- LOOK AT ALL THE FRACKING IN TEXAS- RUINATION... RUINATION...OMG.. DECEMBER 1 2013
OMG... Amazing Bird’s Eye View Of Texas Fracking- POPE FRANCIS- WATER IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
Amazing Bird’s Eye View Of Texas Fracking
An aerial photo taken on August 3rd of fracking operations in Texas has caused a rumble online, drawing 20,000 views on the photo sharing site, Flckr.
The photo, posted by Amy Youngs, carries the inscription:
Saw these strange new human-made landscapes on my flight from Sacramento to Houston. Not farming, not subdivisions, but many miles of rectangular patches etched out of the earth, some with pools next to them, all with roads to them. I doubt that people see these when driving on major roads – I never have – but they were very visible from a plane. Welcome to your new landscape!
Modern-day hydraulic fracturing was first developed in Texas’ Barnett Shale. As of 2011, the state led the nation with over 100,00 gas wells – many of which have involved fracking in recent years. The water-intensive process is being questioned as Texas faces drought conditions.
See an interactive image of the above fracking operations in google maps.
Damien Gillis is a Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker with a focus on environmental and social justice issues – especially relating to water, energy, and saving Canada’s wild salmon – working with many environmental organizations in BC and around the world. He is the co-founder, along with Rafe Mair, of The Common Sense Canadian, and a board member of both the BC Environmental Network and the Haig-Brown Institute.
Related Posts:
Frackers Guzzle Water as Texas Goes Thirsty October 29, 2013
VIDEO: Last 48 Hours Delineate Lines Of Struggle In Canada October 20, 2013
Josh Fox’s Gasland II to Expose Power Politics of Fracking July 8, 2013
Radiation In Drinking Water Rising Due To Fracking October 4, 2013
This Is What Fracking Really Looks Like July 22, 2013
http://www.popularresistance.org/amazing-birds-eye-view-of-texas-fracking/
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No Fracking in Canada- come on now.... Canadians know this is a dirty, ugly and earth ruining business... just ask Australia and European countries who fell for this... then visit the Africas- Asias and Russia and China, India and Japan... and USA 2 see horrific results.... come on... Canada's economy can get back 2 basics and decent morality values..... caring 4 each other and raising our own crops, fishing, industry that is clean and safe... LIKE NOW... not in 50 years... we all know the nightmare that the GOLDEN 5 NATIONS HAVE DUMPED ON THE EVIL UNITED NATIONS.... who pretend that USA/Russia/India/Japan and China have not created 90% of the world's gases and emission s and climate evil.... but fracking.... it sucks up all the freshwater folks..... does Canada have that much fresh water that our rivers, lakes etc. can be scourged 4 fracking???
FRACKING- BOYS AND GIRLS... U STEAL OUR FRESH WATER- OUR DRINKING WATER???
Fracking, for and against
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November 8, 2013 - 7:07pm BY BRETT BUNDALE BUSINESS REPORTER
Controversial gas extraction method under review
Kansas, 1947: The war is over and demand for energy is booming.
A pioneering oilman named Floyd Farris comes up with the idea of injecting a high-pressure fluid deep underground to stimulate a well. Using thousands of litres of napalm-thickened gasoline mixed with sand from the Arkansas River, the first well is hydraulically fractured. And an oil and gas revolution is born.
Hydraulic fracturing is credited with spurring an oil and gas renaissance across North America, unlocking billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of gas. But fracking, as the technique is called, is not without controversy.
Opponents say it can contaminate groundwater, pollute the air and industrialize landscapes. They question the economic benefits trumpeted by industry and say the risks are too serious to ignore. Opposition in the region reached a flashpoint in New Brunswick last month when native-led anti-fracking protests ended in violence.
Industry leaders say opponent claims are hogwash and dismiss criticism as emotional fear-mongering void of facts and science. They say shale gas development provides a local, clean and cheap fuel source, creates jobs in rural areas and increases tax revenues for cash-strapped governments.
With Nova Scotia on the cusp of a potential gas boom, the province hit the pause button last year and recently commissioned an independent review the new Liberal government pledges to stand by.
Cape Breton University president David Wheeler, heading the review, acknowledged that opinions are strong both against and in favour of fracking.
“This is a topic that does raise significant concerns for many stakeholders,” he said in an interview from Sydney. “There are some very powerful advocates but the principles (of a participatory, transparent process) remain the same. Our job is to make sure that people’s views are taken into full account and to come forward with an evidence-based set of recommendations.”
The basic idea behind fracking has remained the same since the 1940s: Crack underground rock to release natural gas. But technology has progressed over the last 66 years, including the improvement of horizontal drilling into shale formations, said Phillip Knoll, president and chief executive of Halifax’s Corridor Resources Ltd.
“The technology has advanced remarkably over the last 10 years, both in horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation. The steps industry has taken over the past 10 years to improve the technology mitigates the risk to a degree where this can be considered, even by the critics, as a very safe operation relative to other industrial processes.”
Here’s how it works. A derrick is set up to drill a vertical well several thousand metres underground. When the drill hits shale rock, usually 900 to 2,400 metres deep, it turns horizontally.
One of the most critical steps for making a well is the cement casing, which seals it from groundwater. Critics say problems with this casing can cause underground contamination of aquifers and the possible migration of well fluids over time.
“Seven per cent of wells leak in the first year they are constructed,” said Jennifer West, geoscience co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, referring to a 2003 industry report published in the Oilfield Review. “After 30 years, 60 per cent of wells are leaking.”
Indeed, a 2011 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said there is “evidence of natural gas migration into freshwater zones in some areas, most likely as a result of substandard well completion practices by a few operators.”
But Stephan MacLellan, an engineer with Corridor Resources, said these studies are from the United States where oil and gas companies don’t have to cement the well casing from top to bottom, as companies do in Canada.
In fact, about 175,000 wells have been hydraulically fractured in Canada over the last 60 years without incident, said Sheri Somerville, a natural gas adviser with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in New Brunswick.
“You can’t compare what happens in the United States to Canada,” she said, pointing to differences in the regulatory environments and geology. New Brunswick’s new regulations, for example, require double-well casings, or multiple layers of steel and concrete. Also, shale formations in Canada tend to be denser and deeper underground, whereas in the United States they cover a larger area but are closer to the surface.
After a well is cemented, a perforating gun is lowered into the horizontal part of the well, which causes small holes in the pipe, concrete and shale. This provides a pathway for water to enter the rock and gas to escape.
A pumping truck then shoots millions of litres of pressurized fresh water mixed with sand and chemicals down the well to open up the fractures in the shale. This fracking fluid is a source of great controversy.
“The process uses a massive amount of fresh water,” West said.
“It’s in the range of up to 20 million litres of water per well and we’re looking at thousands of wells in the province. In the worst-case scenario, we would be draining our lakes to support this industry. It would have a major impact on water levels, water chemistry, aquatic habitat and shoreline habitat. When you change the water cycle, it has a ripple effect through other parts of the water cycle.”
Opponents of hydraulic fracturing also take issue with the “toxic soup of chemicals” that is mixed with water and sand and pumped underground. Mark Tipperman, a Gaspereau resident who is part of the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition, said although chemical additives only make up about half a per cent of fracking fluids, the total quantity is still troublingly large, given the millions of litres of water required to frack a well.
But it’s possible to produce fracking fluids that are safe, said David Browne, a vice-president at Trican Well Service Ltd. from Calgary. “We can produce frack fluids, most of the major companies have done this already, that are non-toxic. We’re talking about the toxicity of dishwasher detergent, laundry soap or the shampoo you used this morning.”
A carcinogen like benzene is not deliberately added to fracking fluid, Browne said, but is rather a contaminant in other ingredients. Also, fracking fluid can be reused multiple times, and in a place like Nova Scotia, industry could use seawater instead of fresh water, he said.
After fracking fluid is pumped into a well, the wastewater returns to the surface along with formation water, or produced water, a by-product of the process. This water can contain radioactive materials and what to do with it is a contentious issue.
“The most glaring issue has been the difficulty of disposing of millions of litres of fracking wastewater,” said Barb Harris, author of Out of Control: Nova Scotia’s Experience with Fracking for Shale Gas.
Nova Scotia’s only brush with hydraulic fracturing took place in 2007 and 2008 when Triangle Petroleum Corp.’s Canadian subsidiary, Elmworth Energy, drilled five exploration wells. Three of these wells were fracked and tested and about 14 million litres of fresh water was used. This resurfaced along with formation water, which was put into lined ponds. Four years later, the brines continue to sit in two Hants County holding ponds.
“The brines are benign,” said Peter Hill, president of Elmworth Energy and chairman of Triangle Petroleum. The water is about twice the salinity of sea water and the naturally occurring radioactive materials are low, he said. While Hill contends the waste water could be safely re-injected underground, the provincial Environment Department has vetoed this suggestion. The company is now waiting for approval to treat the water, discharge it into a local sewage system and remediate the well sites.
Once a well starts producing, the first gas that flows is usually flared — a controlled burning of natural gas — or vented into the atmosphere. This air pollution is what Barb Harris believes is one of the most insidious risks of the hydraulic fracturing industry.
The River John environmental health researcher said the greenhouse gases released from flaring and venting, generators, compressor stations and heavy diesel trucks are a serious concern. “Every stage of shale gas development is accompanied by air emissions. These can cause respiratory problems and even neurological problems.”
There is currently a ban or moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, several areas in the United States and much of Europe. Critics in Nova Scotia say short of an outright ban, the province should impose a 10-year moratorium.
“After 10 years, the province will be in a better position to evaluate, based on scientific evidence, whether shale gas can be extracted safely,” Harris said in a report.
“Nova Scotia does not need to jump onto the shale gas bandwagon. The gas is not going away, and current prices are very low.”
But industry proponents say shale gas development has a long and safe track record in Canada and could provide jobs, revenues and a domestic source of cleaner burning energy.
Barbara Pike said unconventional sources of oil and natural gas would complement Nova Scotia’s efforts to bring more renewable energy onto the grid. The Maritimes Energy Association chief executive said conservation, efficiency and renewable energy are all critical to the province’s energy landscape. But so are fossil fuels, she said.
Also, Pike said shale-gas development could spur much-needed economic stimulus in rural Nova Scotia. “We bemoan the fact that our young folk are moving out west for work in the oil and gas sector there. But we have the potential to keep them here.”
For now, Nova Scotia remains one of the last frontiers of shale oil and gas development. The potential size of Nova Scotia’s reserves could be a game changer. But whether those hydrocarbons ever see the light of day largely hinges on the results of the independent review. Until companies get a green light to come in and start exploring — or an outright ban is issued — the industry remains on hold.
The independent review is expected to proceed with choosing an expert panel this month, with technical papers commissioned in January. Public forums, online discussions and surveys will start in the new year and written evidence can be submitted any time prior to March 31. Final recommendations are expected to be issued by June.
Energy Minister Andrew Younger said the findings of the review “will play a pivotal role in the province’s conclusions on the future of hydraulic fracturing in Nova Scotia.”
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1166304-fracking-for-and-against
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Fracking: A Silent Death Sweeps Across the World
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World
Farmland is tainted. Drinking water is flammable. And humans along with animals are sick.
The cause? Fracking.
It’s terrorizing the environment, destroying the health of those who live close to the sites and contaminating the food supply. With more than 600,000 fracking wells and waste injection locations around the country, if this practice is not contained soon, clean water and food will become a distant memory.
Fracking 101
What exactly is fracking? It’s a technique used by the oil industry to facilitate the flow of natural gas or petroleum by injecting mass amounts of noxious liquid deep into the earth. The chemicals used in fracking (benzene, arsenic, ethylene glycol, lead, formaldehyde, toluene, Uranium-238, Radium-226, to name a few) devastate the land and water within proximity to the poisonous injection sites. Even more alarming, the toxins are also linked with birth defects, cancer, autism, kidney failure and autoimmune disorders.
Water on Fire
One of the more dramatic illustrations of fracking contamination is water catching fire straight our of the faucet. Seriously. The methane levels are so high, tap water becomes combustible. Not only does fracking ruin the land and water, but it also infuses livestock and plants with toxins that eventually enter into the food supply. Farmers who live close to fracking wells have become seriously ill, animals die.
One example is seen with Marilyn and Robert Hunt, farmers in West Virginia. Goats, chickens and cattle are raised on their 70-acre organic farm. The Hunts turned down an offer from the Chesapeake Energy Corporation to lease their minerals rights. This didn’t prevent Chesapeake from “stealing gas from both sides of our property,” according to Mrs. Hunt in the Organic Consumers Association article, “Fracking our Farms: A Tale of Five Farming Families.” Then, in 2010, the company received a permit to dispose fracking waste on her land. She recalls, “The water got little white flecks in it, and we started to get sick. We lost a whole lot of baby goats that got gastrointestinal disorders from drinking the water.” Curiously, the cattle were spared any adverse effects. Mrs. Hunt believes this is due to the fact that the cattle drink from an uncontaminated spring high on the property.
Susan Wallace-Babb, a Colorado rancher, has also suffered from fracking. In 2005, she breathed in fumes from an overflowing natural gas tank half a mile from her property. She collapsed, unconscious. The next morning, Susan was violently ill with severe diarrhea and uncontrollable vomiting. Within a few days, a burning rash broke out over her body, lesions soon followed. Her symptoms became worse whenever she went outdoors. A year later she moved to a small town in Texas. Susan’s health improved over the course of three years until Exxon began fracking wells 14 miles away. Her symptoms returned within a few short months.
End the Madness
Until farmers refuse to lease their land to fracking operators, the problem will continue to escalate. In an effort to educate fellow ranchers about the dangers of fracking, Jacki Schilke of North Dakota, warns, “They’re here to rape this land, make as much money as they can and get the hell out of here. They could give a crap less what they are doing here. They will come on your property look you straight in the eye and lie to you.”
For those who find fracking unacceptable, a petition to ban the practice in the United States can be found here.
To learn more, the Dangers of Fracking website offers unique animated information.
Sources for this article include:
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Canada
voice of the people- FRACKING
Contempt for our concerns
I couldn’t help but write after reading your Nov. 9 article, “Fracking, for and against,” in which the shale gas industry is described as dismissing citizens’ concerns as “hogwash,” “void of facts and science” and “emotional.” Then it tries to marginalize us as fearmongers.
When you hear drivel like this, you know the industry is in deep trouble gaining acceptance and facing public skepticism of its industry-driven “science” and rhetoric promising jobs and money.
It is a very insulting thing to have industry representatives openly show such contempt for our concerns when they know there is ample evidence of harm resulting from fracking on this side of the border and beyond.
With such an attitude, how can we expect the industry to be accountable for any future environmental or health problems that they will likely cause here?
It is puzzling that almost everywhere that has experienced this new kind of gas fracking, industry has certainly faced a lot of enraged citizens after they ended up with destroyed rural landscapes, leaky wells, contaminated water, air and soil — yet we are being smugly assured all those problems won’t happen here.
No one talks about what happens to the sludge remaining after fracking waste has been processed by waste water treatment facilities.
Unfortunately, in this province, residual sludge gets turned into biosolids that get incorporated into our farm fields. Our waste-water treatment plants are not designed to remove most of the contaminants that are in the human waste stream, let alone fracking waste, which can include radioactive materials and a plethora of other toxic chemicals.
One horrible “experiment” in Kennetcook was enough. There is no solution to what to do with all the fracked waste that sits up there still.
We do not need to unearth more fossil fuels and create more C02 emissions from its extraction and subsequent use.
Please join me in asking our newly elected leaders to get wind, solar and tidal power up and running here, so fracking companies need never knock again.
Marilyn Cameron, Biosolids Free Nova Scotia, Berwick
and.
voice of the people- FRACKING
Methane madness
Extracting coal bed methane near New Glasgow is just the wrong kind of development for rural Nova Scotia. Most coal bed methane projects routinely use hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
Large quantities of toxic wastewater are produced and must be disposed of somewhere. To get most of the methane out, many wells need to be drilled into the seams. There may be some sort of moratorium on fracking, but this development sets Nova Scotia up for conflict.
We should be reducing our use of hydrocarbons, and concentrating on building a greener “conserver” society.
Joel Rogers, River John
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RUSSIA
Fracking: radioactive and dangerous unless taken seriously - expert
Recent studies are indicating that the US may soon become the top
supplier of oil and natural gas in the world, with the turnaround largely based
on the exploitation of shale and natural gas resources. However, the process of
the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is still being scrutinized. For example,
some argue, that the environmental law has not kept pace with technology.
Doctor Avner Vengosh, an Earth Scientist from Duke University in an interview
to Voice of Russia talked about America’s prospects of becoming the natural
resources supplier.
Doctor Vengosh first dwelled on the standards for treatment of
waste water from fracking. He said that the management practice varies between
states, and unified national standards for the procedure have not yet been
specified. In Pennsylvania, the wastewater is injected into deep injection
well, but if too much volume is injected, it might induce seismicity and
earthquakes. Another way of treating wastewater is through a wastewater
treatment plant.
“The problem is that doing the extraction of the gas there is
extraction also of wastewater which is composed of the fracking fluid that we
inject during the fracking process, but also natural occurring fluids that
coming together from the shale formation. And those fluids are enriched in sole
and radioactivity, and some other toxic metal and as a result there is a need
to get rid of it,” – Mr Vengosh explained.
In his study Mr Vengosh looked more at surface water of streams
and rivers near the actual plants in Pennsylvania, “We systematically analyze
water at a disposal site, we sample water in the upstream, before it flows
through the disposal site, we sample at the disposal site and in different
distances downstream from the disposal site. And we also collected sediments
from the streams bottoms of the river to see what would be the effect of the
long-term accumulation of metals such as radium which is a very highly active
element. So, this was the essence of our study.”
Mr Vengosh said that the treatment helped remove 90% of radium and
barium in the effluents, but it didn’t remove other constituents in the water
like chloride and brome. He also said that at the disposal site the level of
the radioactivity was extremely high, that is beyond the level defined as low
in the United States. “So, in principle the site that we worked should be
defined as radioactive waste disposal,” – Mr Vengosh concluded.
Talking about the potential danger of the wastewater for the local
eco-system, Mr Vengosh said that it is very important to ensure there is no
disposal of wastewater from shale gas. Besides, the industry argues that was
not shale gas, but conventional oil and gas waste, and there is evidence of
that. Leaking or disposal of wastewater from conventional oil and gas have a
high level of salinity and high level of radioactivity, so “this practice
should be stopped regardless of the source of the waste either conventional or
unconventional,” according to Mr Vengosh.
“So, the first thing is to stop this practice and make sure that
all the effluents are being treated in a way that it will be clean enough to be
released into the environment,” – Mr Vengosh said.
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_10_09/Fracking-radioactive-and-dangerous-unless-taken-seriously-expert-6649/
---------------------Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_10_09/Fracking-radioactive-and-dangerous-unless-taken-seriously-expert-6649/
comment:
There are over 3 million fracked wells in the US, trillions of gallons of fracked water, and 66 years of fracking. Where are all the cases of sickness, deaths, and destroyed waterways? Numbers please? Coal: 100,000 miners dead in the past 100 years, 4,000 new cases of black lung reported yearly in the US, over 3,200 miles of dead waterways in PA alone, and 45 of 67 counties in PA with damaged watersheds from coal mining. Yes it does matter which one we use. Your mad for saying coal is better.
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Australia's NWO governmount - Fracking destroying our country
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UNITED KINGDOM....
UNITED
KINGDOM
Dangerous
levels of radioactivity found at fracking waste site in Pennsylvania
Co-author of study says UK must impose better environmental regulation
than US if it pursues shale gas extraction
gas production site at the Marcellus shale formation in Pennsylvania.
Photograph: Julia Schmalz/Getty Images
Scientists have for the first time found dangerous levels of radioactivity
and salinity at a shale gas waste disposal site that could contaminate drinking water. If
the UK follows in the steps of the US "shale gas revolution", it
should impose regulations to stop such radioactive buildup, they said.
The Duke University study, published on Wednesday, examined the water
discharged from Josephine Brine Treatment Facility into Blacklick Creek, which
feeds into a water source for western Pennsylvania cities, including Pittsburgh. Scientists took samples upstream and
downstream from the treatment facility over a two-year period, with the last
sample taken in June this year.
Elevated levels of chloride and bromide, combined with strontium,
radium, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopic compositions, are present in the
Marcellus shale wastewaters, the study found.
Radioactive brine is naturally occurring in shale rock and contaminates
wastewater during hydraulic fracturing – known as fracking. Sometimes that
"flowback" water is re-injected into rock deep underground, a
practice that can cause seismic disturbances, but often it is treated before
being discharged into watercourses.
Radium levels in samples collected at the facility were 200 times
greater than samples taken upstream. Such elevated levels of radioactivity are
above regulated levels and would normally be seen at licensed radioactive
disposal facilities, according to the scientists at Duke University's Nicholas
school of the environment in North Carolina.
Hundreds of disposal sites for wastewater could be similarly affected,
said Professor Avner Vengosh, one of the authors of the study published in Environmental Science & Technology, a
peer-reviewed journal.
"If people don't live in those places, it's not an immediate threat
in terms of radioactivity," said Vengosh. "However, there's the
danger of slow bio-accumulation of the radium. It will eventually end up in
fish and that is a biological danger."
Shale gas production is exempt from the Clean Water Act and the industry
has pledged to self-monitor its waste production to avoid regulatory oversight.
However, the study clearly showed the need for independent monitoring
and regulation, said Vengosh.
"What is happening is the direct result of a lack of any
regulation. If the Clean Water Act was applied in 2005 when the shale gas boom
started this would have been prevented.
"In the UK, if shale gas is going to develop, it should not follow
the American example and should impose environmental regulation to prevent this
kind of radioactive buildup."
The study also found elevated levels of salinity from the shale brine,
which is five to 10 times more saline than sea water, that were 200-fold the
regulated limit. Shale brine is also associated with high levels of bromide,
which is not toxic by itself but turns into carcinogenic trihalomethanes during
purification treatment.
The US Geological Service has previously reported elevated levels of
radioactivity in "flowback" water that naturally occurs in the rock.
But the Duke study, called Impacts of Shale Gas Wastewater Disposal on Water Quality in Western
Pennsylvania, is the first to use isotope hydrology to connect the
dots between shale gas waste, treatment sites and discharge into drinking water
supplies.
From January to June 2013, the 4,197 unconventional gas wells in
Pennsylvania reported 3.5m barrels of fluid waste and 10.7m barrels of
"produced" fluid. Most of that waste is disposed of within
Pennsylvania, but some of it is also went to other states, such as Ohio and New
York despite its moratorium on shale gas exploration. In July, a treatment
company in New York state pleaded guilty to falsifying more than 3,000 water
tests.
Earlier this year, Vengosh published another report that found higher methane, ethane and propane concentrations in drinking
water within a kilometre of shale gas drilling at 141 sites where drinking
water samples were taken.
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CHINA
China and fracking: A recipe for disaster?
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China and fracking: A recipe for disaster?
o
About nine months ago I posted about China’s ill-advised move into
hydraulic fracturing, a controversial process of removing shale gas by pumping
vast amounts of chemicals and water into shale rock in order to extract gas
deposits beneath. The process has been shown to contaminate groundwater and use
10 times the amount of water as conventional oil and gas extraction.
These concerns about “fracking”, as hydraulic
fracturing is commonly known, in the United States and Europe are only
compounded in China, a country with considerable problemsconcerning
potable water in general, and vast regions where water is in short supply.
But as China
continues to industrialize at breakneck pace and its appetite for fossil fuels
grows accordingly. Despite the obvious risks, fracking is probably even more
appealing for China than it is for other countries – except the US, which is
fracking-mad.
But there is another concern with fracking
connected to seismic activity, yet again something that China should be extra
careful about. Dr. Joe Allen, geology professor at Concord University in the
United States, is quoted in an article by West Virginia Public Broadcasting:
There’s
been a series of earthquakes in the mid-continent of the US in Youngstown,
Ohio. There’s some in Oklahoma and there’s been some recent studies that show a
correlation between some of those there in the order magnitude of four to five
earthquakes but they are directly related to hydraulic fracturing. So they were
basically man induced earthquakes.
The problem
is also that fault lines that have been weakened by fracking can be more
susceptible earthquakes, or perhaps make any naturally occurring seismic
activity more extreme.
Hydraulic
fracturing in the Sichuan Basin, the largest continental collision in the
world, sounds like tempting fate. Studies by academics in China, including
Sichuan’s own Earthquake Administration Bureaux, found large amounts of
earthquakes in test wells, which increased significantly when water was
injected into them. Unfortunately, Sichuan contains some 40% of China’s shale
gas reserves.
Regarding
risks in Sechuan, Shell’s Beijing spokesman Shi Jiangtao had this to say in an
email to Bloomberg news.
We do
detailed structural analysis as routine part of our pre-drill evaluation. This
means that we evaluate the geology by using seismic, surface geology, nearby
well data, etc.
But
according to Briana Mordick, a staff scientist at the Natural Resource Defense
Council, calculating seismic risk is complicated and Sichuan is an area of
particular concern.
Read more about that in Bloomberg.
Others see nuclear as a better option for
China than fracking, but nuclear power has a much more controversial history
than shale gas, which only began grabbing headlines a couple of years ago.
Either way, with China’s recent trend towards grass roots environmental
protests, the residents who live near Sichuan shale gas fields may have
something to say about the future of fracking in their backyard.
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OH EZRA....seriously.... my father's family came to Placentia Bay, Newfoundland in 1632 as fishers... and our Canada is just awesome... however, without the First Peoples of Canada fighting by our side- CANADA WOULD NOW BE THE USA.... Ezra!!!!- CHECK THE FACTS- history- HEY EZRA- 10,000 years the First Peoples of Americas have been here.... Canada... is...a...land... of... immigrants... come on now...
Ideas have consequences: You can’t tell someone they live in a “nation” without them one day believing you
Again, this is understandable. For more than a century, Natives have had to live under the racialist Indian Act, that actually served as the model for South Africa’s apartheid. Apartheid is gone, but Canada’s Indian Act endures.
If an Indian Act that treats Indians as legal inferiors — no property rights, fewer democratic rights — is legitimate, why can’t the opposite be acceptable? If liberal politicians can rationalize the Indian Act, why can’t Indian reactionaries rationalize a Settler Act, by which non-aboriginals are denied rights to land?
Ezra Levant_op
By Ezra Levant ,QMI Agency
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/04/ideas-have-consequences-you-cant-tell-someone-they-live-in-a-nation-without-them-one-day-believing-you
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THE GOOD STUFF- Canada's new Military- Our Youth...
Aboriginal Youth- Camp Aldershot, Nova Scotia
Canadian Armed Forces Aboriginal Entry Program celebrates first graduates-
Twenty-six candidates recently graduated from the Canadian Armed Forces Aboriginal Entry Program at Camp Aldershot.
The special three-week program for Aboriginal Peoples who are considering a career in the Canadian Armed Forces, offered candidates get hands-on experience with military training, careers and lifestyle, with no obligation to join the CAF.
http://www.novanewsnow.com/Community/2013-11-12/article-3477366/Canadian-Armed-Forces-Aboriginal-Entry-Program-celebrates-first-graduates/1
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-Aboriginal Youth Entry Program held at Camp Aldershot for the first time
Published on October 21, 2013
http://www.kingscountynews.ca/News/Local/2013-10-21/article-3434362/Aboriginal-Entry-Program-held-at-Camp-Aldershot-for-the-first-time/1
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