Protecting the right to clean drinking water means banning fracking Fights against fracking are happening across the country. Alberta farmers who live near fracking drill sites can light their tap water on fire because it’s so contaminated with methane. The Fort Nelson First Nation in northeastern B.C. is experiencing earthquakes linked to the injection of fracking wastewater, and people living there are fighting to stop companies from withdrawing billions of litres of water from the local watershed. Any fracking in southern Ontario would pose serious risk to the Great Lakes. Communities all across Atlantic Canada are demanding a ban on fracking to protect their drinking water. Fracking – also known as hydraulic fracturing – is one of the biggest threats to clean water. It is a process used to extract natural gas or oil trapped in shale rock and coal beds. Energy companies are using millions of litres of water, thousands of litres of chemicals, and thousands of kilograms of sand to blast apart rock formations. Fracking companies are not legally required to disclose the chemicals they use, despite the fact that some of the chemicals are toxic and have been known to cause cancer and damage people’s internal organs. The disposal of fracking wastewater poses a long-term risk to clean water and public health. On July 28, 2010, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the human right to water and sanitation. After years of denying that the right to water even existed, the Canadian government finally confirmed the right to water in 2012. It’s time for the Canadian government to uphold this right by banning fracking. Sign the petition and tell the federal government to ban fracking and protect the human right to water in Canada canadians.org/ban-fracking
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 06:58:58 +0000
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