Stop Hydraulic Fracturing (“Fracking”) in New Brunswick

Environment, Petitions — By Paul Preibisius on January 16, 2012 3:22 pm

Target: New Brunswick Commissioner of Natural Resources Bruce Northrup

Goal: To ban companies from utilizing the process of hydraulic fracturing in New Brunswick.

The act of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) itself is controversial on any scale, yet its presence continues to haunt additional locales.  The New Brunswick area is one of those areas that should not be under any consideration for the act of hydraulic fracturing.

The idea that fracking results in natural gas creates the faulty assumption that this is affording ‘clean’ energy.  The reality is that often naturally occurring radioactive materials far in excess of safe levels can result from this activity.

Beyond this, there is a considerable threat to contamination of groundwater.  Areas near New Brunswick represent some of the largest unfiltered surface water supplies in the world.  These are especially vulnerable to the contamination produced by fracking.

The possible contamination from fracking reaches beyond simply water however, as it can stretch into the very air we breathe.  Natural gas may inherently create far fewer carbon emissions then coal or oil, but that is countered by the significant amount of pollutants such as hydrocarbons and other volatile compounds generated by the shale gas extraction process itself, this renders the ecological viability of using it as an alternative energy source moot.

After having been banned in Nova Scotia and Quebec, companies seeking new grounds with which to put this controversial means of tapping natural resources into play are turning their eyes to the New Brunswick area due to reports that this area may be the one of the largest shale beds in all of North America.

Unfortunately an unstable framework mapped by the government with regards to managing gas exploration leaves the region vulnerable to natural gas developers looking to exploit the area before any hard and fast protective legislation can be reached.

This type of legislation needs to come sooner rather than later to protect the people of New Brunswick and surrounding areas from the dangers of hydraulic fracturing.  Ban fracking before the damage is done.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Commissioner Northrup,

Hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) is a practice of ever-growing controversy.  Already outright banned in some areas such as Nova Scotia and Quebec, corporations are now turning an eye to New Brunswick.

The lack of hard legislation (only a basic framework outline) with regards to managing natural gas exploration in the region leaves the locale vulnerable to those natural gas developers who have already been expelled from other locations.

New Brunswick has a rich shale bed (considered possibly the largest in North America) that has companies which utilize the hydraulic fracturing method of extracting natural gas from shale salivating at the money they will make at the expense of the local ecology.  This makes them especially dangerous with regards to their willingness to circumvent environmental protection in favor of a maximum extraction effort while they still can.

This could lead to considerable harm in a short period of time given the dangers inherent within the hydraulic fracturing process.  Naturally occurring radioactive metals found deep in the earth, along with other toxic chemicals and waste can be released by this process into the environment.

This often spreads to both groundwater and surrounding lakes and rivers.  Once within the water-table, the capacity for this contamination to spread becomes massive.  The harm caused by toxic runoff does not fall to the immediate region alone, surrounding ecosystems as well  are impacted especially by flowing groundwater supplies that become contaminated.

This cannot be allowed.  Legislation must be adopted in New Brunswick in line with other locations that have recognized the need to regulate and ban hydraulic fracturing because of the harm it can do to the environment, and even nearby urban locales thanks to the aforementioned contamination.

Please remove the ability for corporations to begin extracting natural gas via hydraulic fracturing in New Brunswick before it is too late.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Will Go Here]