An Afternoon in Penobsquis
Sunday, 8 September 2013, saw a gathering of approximately 50 people from throughout the province sharing with Penobsquis residents their experiences of the development of the 31 natural gas wells in their community. Their stories are of particular relevance to the future of shale gas development proposed by our government on 1/7 of the most populated and fertile provincial lands.
The current Corridor Resources gas wells in Penobsquis are extracting natural gas from sandstone formations that are shallower in depth and required much less fresh water and industrialized impact than the shale gas wells being currently pursued by the Government of New Brunswick. The toxic waste water from drilling these wells was transported to Nova Scotia who have refused to accept any future waste waters from New Brunswick. The water currently being pumped out of the mines by Potash Corporation is currently being piped into the Bay of Fundy.
The natural gas development done by Corridor Resources in Penobsquis was done in cooperation with the Potash Corporation. Half of the 31 Corridor Resources wells are jointly owned by the Potash Corporation with a significant amount of the gas produced utilized by Potash Corporation in its mining operations. It is often difficult to say what negative impacts were caused by which industry. In fact, the close relationship between the industries are in reality and should be considered as one industry, i.e. the Potash-Corridor Corporation.
The industrialization of this portion of the Sussex Valley has changed the rural way of life of the community for decades to come. Properties have subsided and moved laterally, existing water wells have gone dry, and the air has a distinctive odor. These are the obvious current and continuing physical impacts. What the future holds is still not fully known.
The affected residents who lost their water have fought the Potash-Corridor Corporation for six years to acknowledge responsibility for the damages they caused to little or no avail. The government even denied the residents access to civil courts to seek redress. Eventually, a district water system was constructed to provide potable water to the residents of Penobsquis as well as to the Potash-Corridor Corporation at taxpayer expense. It would seem that access to water for the potash/natural gas industry as well as restitution to the community should have been the sole responsibility of the Potash-Corridor Corporation as part of doing business. The costs should have been borne by the shareholders, not the residents of New Brunswick.
Several producing natural gas well pads as well as a compressor station were visited by the gathered participants. What was seen was the “nice” side of the natural gas industry - fenced industrial pads with forest green painted well heads, piping and small equipment sheds. What we smelled near the potash mines took our breath away. The sight and sounds of the birds and insects that used to inhabit the same lands were absent. What wasn’t experienced were the months of noise and light pollution and heavy traffic experienced by the residents when the wells were developed.
The social impact upon the community was told with every story. The Potash-Corridor Corporation has become the town. People who work for the corporation, or have family members and neighbors who work for the corporation, are fearful to speak about what is happening to their community. Those who question what is happening have fewer friends and have even received anonymous death threats. Some family elders are fearful to leave their homes. People will drive by their mailbox depending on who is there. A new face in town is looked upon with suspicion. Property value depreciation and the inability to sell property have become a fact of life. People no longer look at Penobsquis as a desirable place to live, to move to or to begin new businesses.
The provincial government acts as if it has the right to allow corporations to move into traditionally residential or agricultural communities without any obligation of the corporation to receive the consent of or to establish a social contract with the residents. When historically unknown impacts result from their industrial activities, residents must prove harm by the industry. The corporation has no obligation to prove they did no harm. This amounts to the seizure (expropriation) by the government of a community’s way of life and personal property without compensation for the benefit of the shareholders of a corporation.
The residents of Penobsquis have much to tell us about what can happen to all our communities. Our responsibility is to listen. If we love the places in which we live, we need to speak up and protect them for the generations yet to come.
Richard Lachance
Kent South NO SHALE GAS Kent Sud
9 September 2013
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