The Municipality of Cumberland has fired what it believes is a pre-emptive strike it hopes will encourage government to put the brakes on future attempts to use hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to get at shale gas reserves believed to be sitting under the area.
However, as much as the county wants to make its feelings known on the subject it is sort of putting the cart before the horse, considering the province’s review of the practice won’t be completed before mid-2014. By that time there’s a strong possibility the province, and everyone else for that matter, may have forgotten that the county has taken its stance.
We also cannot forget that a county resolution is unlikely to have any influence over how the government decides to proceed, other than to remind it this is how the municipality and its residents feel.
The jury is still out on the use of fracking to access gas trapped in rock deep under the surface. There have been plenty of examples of fracked wells causing all sorts of problems in the United States and anyone who has seen the Gasland documentary is certain to become an immediate opponent of anything to do with pumping large volumes of water and chemicals underground at high pressure to fracture the rock and free trapped gas.
It’s also something the gas industry prefers not to talk about in this country, other than to say fracking is a proven practice that has been safely used for generations in other areas of the country.
However, when you’re talking about the safety of the water supply, the environment and wildlife it’s pretty hard to convince skeptics that fracking is not without risk.
When the government placed a hold on fracking a couple of years ago it said it wanted to take the time to listen to the industry, see what’s taking place in other jurisdictions and hear public concerns. When it extended that review last year, the province said it wants to take the time to collect as much information on the subject as it can to make the most informed decision possible.
There are legitimate concerns in Cumberland County regarding fracking and those questions need to be answered before any wells are drilled in the area. However, it’s incumbent upon the county and other stakeholders to provide input and allow the government’s review take its course in hopes that it’s based on facts and science as opposed to rumour and speculation.
Yes Don, but now you are comparing apples to oranges. Coal bed methane is shallow, and close to the water table. Quite honestly it should have never been fracked. What we have here is deep shale gas, at least a 100 meters or more below the water table. If methane is leaking up around the casing, then it is either a bad cement job, a failure in the casing, or something else causing it. Have they had dry conditions in this area of Quebec? Lowering of the water table can cause microboes to die, decaying and creating methane gas. As for penobquis, i'd have to research that before i could provide any type of answer to you. If humans are involved there is always a risk that something can go wrong, but let's not abandon something that has huge potential for our region if done correctly. JMO