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Friday 21 March 2014

Industry Numbers Exaggerate the Local Economic Benefits of Shale Gas

Sackville Tribune-Post    
18 December 2013 

According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), "no large scale commercial production of shale gas has been achieved in Canada" (2013).  Exploratory drilling has been on-going since 2008;  in Alberta, British Colombia, Southern Ontario, where there is a campaign against it, Quebec and Nova Scotia, where there is a moratorium in effect and New Brunswick where there has been intense opposition, protest and direct action against the initial testing for potential gas reserves.

The U.S., on the other hand, has been fracking for over a dozen years and has only recently released reports detailing the damage it has done.
Credible government and municipal statistics indicate;

-  There is increased air and water pollution near shale gas wells.
-  Danger to human health is attributable to the extraction process.
-  Environmental degradation results from the exploration of natural gas.
-  Traffic that facilitates the process of fracking damages local infrastructure.
-  Increased emissions from drilling accelerate Climate Change.

The constant refrain that the industry (and some members of the public) repeat over and over is that the development of shale gas exploration will provide jobs and sustainable revenues for the municipalities in which they operate.  At the present time shale gas extraction falls into the category of "boom and bust".  Drilling jobs most often employ industry people and out-of-town workers for short term jobs.  The number of shale gas jobs that employ local residents is far below what industry originally claimed they would be.

"Mineral exploration, development and extraction have not been sources of economic stability or growth for over a quarter of a century.  Instead they have contributed to a downward cycle of boom and bust." *

Many communities are persuaded by industry claims of short term gains, in reality the number of shale gas jobs created remains a small share of overall employment. Between 2005 and 2012, in the Marcellus Shale , fewer than 4 new jobs were created for each well drilled, much less than the 31 jobs estimated by industry supporters.  

A recent report by Deloitte on the New Brunswick
industry predicts 21 jobs per well.

"It is not clear that jobs associated with shale gas drilling will go to residents of N.B.  Seventy percent of Pennsylvania gas rig jobs in the Marcellus Shale are going to people out-of -state." **

A recent six state study in the U.S. examined the shale gas industry's effect on job growth and concluded that it was negligible.  Add to that the fact that natural gas development in the six states, N.Y., Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia, had been fueled by high commodity prices from 2000-2008. With recent declines in the price of natural gas, shale gas drilling has slowed and oil development has accelerated.  

"Shale drilling has made little difference in job growth in any of the six states we studied," said Stephen Herzenberg, Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center in Pennsylvania. "We know this because we now have the data on what happened, not what industry supporters hoped would happen." ***

The provincial governments of Canada still have time to consider the fracking nightmare that has evolved over the last decade in the U.S.  Do we really want to go down the road that enriches big oil and gas and leaves a legacy of environmental degradation and poverty in its wake?  State, provincial and municipal governments need to work together to enact policies that contribute to sustainable economic growth and are first and foremost in the public interest.

Donna Mclellan for the 
Tantramar Aliance Against Hydro-Fracking



*  Thomas Power (U of Montana),  The Local Impacts of Natural Gas Development in Valle Vidal, N.M., Jan 2005.

**     Jannette Barth, is President of J.M.Barth & Associates Inc. and has worked for Chase Econometrics/Interactive Data Corp.


***  ECONews,  Six State Study Confirms Job Numbers Exaggerated By Fracking Industry, Policy Matters Ohio, Nov. 21, 2013.

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