Fracking poses political challenge to new NDP government by James Wood, June 19, 2015, Calgary Herald
In opposition, the NDP described fracking in Alberta as “out of control” and demanded an independent review of its impact — especially on the province’s water supply.
Now that the NDP is in power, it’s depicting an independent review as only one option to deal with the controversial energy extraction process, even as new concerns are raised about earthquakes potentially being caused by fracking.
NDP Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said this week she’s asked the Alberta Energy Regulator to compile and present the government all of its information on hydraulic fracturing [What’s the AER’s deadline?], a technology that uses pressurized water and chemicals to fracture rock below the Earth’s surface and allow oil and gas to flow to the top.
“I’ll take that and if we maybe need to do a meta-review or a meta-analysis of what’s available, or a scientific review, we’ll go there,” she told reporters at the legislature.
“But I want to find out what we know first.”
McCuaig-Boyd said she could not say whether there is too much hydraulic fracturing in the province.
The primary concerns raised by environmentalists about fracking have surrounded the amount of water used in the process and concerns about potential contamination of groundwater.
Just over a year ago, then-NDP leader Brian Mason pointed to a freedom of information request that showed over 1,500 fracking licences approved by the Alberta Energy Regulator in 2013, describing the situation as “out of control.”
The NDP demanded an independent scientific panel review fracking, along with groundwater monitoring and a scientific assessment of river inflow needs, before more licences were granted.
In February, about three months before the provincial election that put the NDP in power under new leader Rachel Notley, Mason called for a science-based investigation to determine whether a January earthquake in the Fox Creek area had been caused by process.
There has been further seismic activity in the area this month, leading to a shutdown of fracking activity in the northwest Alberta region in accordance with new AER regulations.
McCuaig-Boyd said the government is “always concerned when there are issues like that,” but she is leaving the AER to deal with the situation. [Ex-Encana VP Gerard Protti’s AER?]
But the government is facing calls for action from some quarters.
Liberal Leader David Swann wants the government to implement standardized baseline groundwater testing before fracking occurs to help determine whether contamination from the process is occurring, as well as investigate the seismic activity. “I do support stronger regulations around fracking,” he said.
Bill Andrew, chairman and chief executive of Long Run Exploration Ltd., recently said he was concerned over the NDP’s signals around fracking.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers issued a statement Friday noting companies already follow strict [de-]regulations and have developed monitoring, mitigation and response procedures to ensure safety. [Oh ya? Like propaganda? Like lying, over and over and over? Like refusing to disclose all chemicals used for acidizing, drilling, perf’ing, frac’ing, servicing, facilities and what innocent families are breathing in frac fields? Like gagging all drinking water contamination and health harm cases and settlements? Like synergizing concerned citizens? Like corrupting NGOs and community groups with Synergy Alberta? Like making regulators deregulate and sneakily replace regulations with voluntary unenforceable “best practices?” Never mind, “developing” doesn’t mean implementing anyways. CAPP talks a lot, while companies profit a lot (by not implementing what CAPP talks about)]
Notley said Friday that fracking is an issue that needs to be looked at, but reiterated her government won’t do anything to take the energy industry by surprise.
[Why not? Mothers are taken by surprise by the frac’n energy industry:
Statistics provided by the AER on Friday show there has been no upsurge in fracking wells over the last few years. There were 3,395 wells fractured in 2014, an increase from 2013 but the second-lowest number in the last seven years. In 2008, more than 8,000 wells were fractured.
Dustin Kenyon of the Pembina Institute environmental organization said the current slowdown in industry activity due to low commodity prices gives the government an opportunity to “get ahead” on a number of energy policy areas, including fracking. An independent review isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but the government’s initial focus should be directing the energy regulator to do more inspections and greater enforcement of existing rules, Kenyon said. [What planet does Pembina live on?]
Mike Hudema of Greenpeace Canada said an independent review and a moratorium on fracking are both warranted. “I would encourage the government to look not just at what the AER is giving them, but to also look at the impacts this type of technology is currently having — the warning signs we are seeing,” he said.
[Emphasis added]
[Refer also to:
AER (then ERCB) lawyer Gary Perkins’ angry bullying letter in response to Stew Shields FOIPing for all records about frac’s gone bad in Alberta:
Email to MLAs by Edmonton mum Julie Ali, June 19, 2015
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Friday, June 19, 2015
Mr. Shields, it is still unclear to us exactly what information you are requesting. I have provided the description that is in bolded type above to ERCB personnel who would be responding to your request and they are left with the impression that every completion event for which the ERCB has records could potentially be responsive to your request and would have to be reviewed. I have asked them to estimate the magnitude of the task that would be required to compile all the documents in the ERCB’s custody or control that may contain responsive information. They have advised me that responding to such a request would require a massive undertaking on the part of the ERCB: potentially in the millions of pages of records. —————-So I’m curious–if they aren’t going to give Stewart the information —will they give this information to the Energy Minister? Will she have to pay for it? Will they tell her to FRACK OFF?
So Stewart sent a request to the AER place when it was the ERCB place– asking for all information about fracking problems as noted [above]
Now I understand that the folks at the AER place seem to be confused when ordinary citizens ask for information as we haven’t been asking anything for 44 years, but surely the request that Stewart made is clear? He wants to know of all the boo boos that have been documented by the AER and its earlier metamorphic forms. He wants a list of mistakes made by fracking companies that resulted in say -the well water on fire in Rosebud, the poisoning of families as in Diana Daunheimer’s case, the non-disclosure agreements for fracked property. That kind of thing. It seems clear enough to me what Stewart is asking. But maybe the AER needs to have a few visuals? Let me go look for some.
…
3) Here is another mummy trying to save her family from fracking hell.
…
Sometimes images are worth more than any piece of information. You see what is happening to these poor families and it is not right.
So these were a few of the cases I reviewed to decide for myself that there are problems being experienced by rural Albertans that are going to be coming to urban areas. The good stuff is gone. So the oil and gas companies will go wherever they can to get the hard stuff. Lethbridge has already been through the whirlwind of troubles experienced by the rural citizens of Alberta that have been largely ignored or marginalized by the PCs because –money has to be made and who cares about future cancers?
My feeling is that this emission junk is going to cause future cancers and I don’t believe that the industry if 100% accident free. That would be impossible. So I believe fracking accidents have happened and that was the information that Stewart was asking for.
What did the AER do in response to his request?
They got their big shot lawyer to blow him off.
The AER is like the AHS place. At the AHS place, they have a super duper lawyer following our e-mails now and we are to understand that AHS and Alberta Health are concerned that this mummy might write the truth about them and so they want the Legal Counsel to manage the business.
In the case of poor Stewart, he doesn’t blog so the AER folks send him a nasty get lost letter and that is that.
But the energy minister is now asking for all the information. So will the AER folks tell her to get lost?
At the AHS we are told to FOIP off.
At the AER, Stewart is told to FRACK off.
But at the ENERGY department, will the minister get the information citizens can’t get?
I am especially interested in finding out what the basewater testing results are for the Rosebud area.
Surely the AER has these results?
And if so how can they then explain the well water on fire business?
Will the new energy minister be gutsy like Jessica Ernst or will she wimp out?
I’m betting the NDP will wimp out.
It’s too bad that this is the case. We absolutely need to have groundwater testing done–not only baseline water testing, but during fracking and after fracking. Why? We want data to prove that there has been changes in the water so that folks like Jessica Ernst are not bankrupted by the stalling tactics of big oil companies when they are taken to court for fracking contamination. We also want tracers in the fracking cocktails to prove that contamination is due to company A versus company B. Why would we not want to protect the ordinary citizens of Alberta? We absolutely must have such safeguards in place and luckily enough for the fracking companies these changes will not cost them a major chuck of cash and might actually prove their record of 100% safety through out the history of fracking. Why would they not want baseline water testing and use of the fracking tracers? It would be proof of their good record would it not be?
As for the data that the AER is going to provide the Energy minister? I do hope they don’t tell the minister to FRACK OFF as they told poor Stewart. [Emphasis added]