WHY WE NEED TO PLACE A MORATORIUM ON SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT IN NEW BRUNSWICK
Sackville Tribune-Post :: 4 June 2014
With the provincial election less than four months away, the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA), representing 33 community groups across the province, has released its position on the issue of a shale gas moratorium.
We call for a ten year, legislated and unconditional moratorium on all unconventional oil and gas exploration and production in New Brunswick.
New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance
A moratorium incorporating binding legislation is necessary to guarantee that the industry comes to a halt, with existing leases suspended and no new leases granted. We cannot rely on campaign promises, executive actions or party platforms.
The issue is complex and the research is just now developing. There are no conditions or reports that can in any way make a definitive statement that this factor or that will make it okay to proceed.
The latest statements from the Minister of Energy suggest that we can derive satisfactory information from two reports due in 2014, one from the EPA and the other from Environment Canada. These reports, however, will have many shortcomings.
The EPA, in particular:
✱ will focus solely on water contamination.
✱ will not include considerations about air pollution, ecological effects, seismic risks, negative health impacts, public safety and occupational hazards, to name a few.
✱ will be using out-dated research and will not include information contained in scientific studies that have come out in the last year.
✱ has been tainted by undue political influence. The U.S EPA has, in the past, withdrawn its findings on contamination from public scrutiny because of pressure from petroleum-state Senators.
The findings and publication of reports on the risks of contamination and other health issues, however, have been coming fast and furious in the last year. In Pennsylvania it was information from leaked documents, in Texas reports from independent scientists and in Wyoming the EPA simply confessed that they had found irrefutable evidence of contamination.
But the most damning information coming from the jurisdictions that have been major shale gas developers are the government statistics from individual states indicating serious problems like the cost to the state due to infrastructure damage, increases in the number of emergency room visits and state-wide health care costs, disease clusters and birth defects in areas closest to gas wells, and the list goes on.
In Canada the industry is still in its early years, but political manipulation, with an unfairly biased disposition to support oil and gas production at all costs, has gutted environmental regulations that have been in place for decades, fired thousands of scientists and closed agencies and libraries specializing in environmental protection.
What faith can we have in a report controlled by a government and party that seem to be doing everything they can to silence the voice of science, especially when it applies to the fossil fuel industry?
The University of Colorado published one of the first studies on the impacts of shale gas, they concluded that the risk of developing cancer, neurological and respiratory diseases, increased with regard to people living near gas wells, but as these diseases take time to surface more research was needed.
In April of 2014 research results both old and new were assessed and they reported that; "despite broad public concern, no comprehensive population-based studies of the public health effects of unconventional natural gas operations exist. Overall the current literature suggests that research needs to address these uncertainties before we can reasonably quantify the likelihood of occurrence or magnitude of adverse health effects". To date there are no studies concluding shale gas is safe.
We call for a ten year unconditional moratorium, because cities and jurisdictions that host the shale gas industry, even those in traditional oil and gas areas, such as Colorado, Pennsylvania and Texas, are now calling for moratoria and bans on shale gas activities.
Why would these states call for a moratorium now, if there wasn't a good reason to do so?
Why would our provincial government not acknowledge the need for caution and halt industry plans, with so many questions unanswered?
We call for a ten year unconditional moratorium, because within 2 years world leaders plan to commit to binding reductions on fossil fuel usage and lower carbon emissions.
If the Conservative Government(s) survives the next election (or not) we can only hope that the next government in power will give credence to what scientists and educators around the world now believe; that climate change is real and is caused by decades of burning fossil fuels, and that we must look to sustainable sources of energy in the future.
Some investment counselors, a growing social movement and the President of the World Bank are saying that divestment of fossil fuels is not only a move towards self preservation, but also a smart fiscal idea.
Fifteen municipalities, six medical associations, nine unions and associated organizations and 33 community groups in N.B. have called for a ban or a ten year moratorium on shale gas development.
It's time to let the candidates know that a ten year moratorium is the minimum standard to which we will hold every political party. NBASGA intends to track and publish each candidate's position on a shale gas moratorium during the run up to ElectionDay. No speeches with promises, just a simple yes or no.
Human Health Studies
*"Human Health Risk Assessment of Air Emissions from Development of Unconventional Natural Gas Resources.", Lisa McKenzie, University of Colorado School of Public Health, Science of the Total Environment.
*Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas Development. Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado.
*"Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Activities of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals and Surface and Ground Water in a Drilling-Dense Region", Susan Nagel, Missouri University School of Medicine.
Donna Mclellan for the
Tantramar Alliance Against Hydrofracking
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