So Jim, are you implying the organization for which you really work has influenced a federally funded scientific report? Thats how I read your comments. ANTI-SHALE GROUP WELCOMES REPORT CHRIS MORRIS LEGISLATURE BUREAU FREDERICTON • A new scientific report on shale gas will change the debate on how fast, how slow or even whether the industry proceeds in New Brunswick, says a leading environmentalist. Jim Emberger, spokesman for the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance, welcomed the scientific panel report for Environment Canada released this week that urges a go-slow approach to shale gas development in Canada. Emberger said the findings of the report, including a serious warning about potential contamination of groundwater resources, could have been taken from the presentation he is currently making during the alliance’s Voice of the Province tour. “I think this report will take the debate in a new direction,” he said in an interview Friday. “We keep saying that we are getting our information from science, but the Energy Minister (Craig Leonard) says the people who are against shale gas development are all misinformed. So it is really nice to have this august, scientific body come out and say exactly what we have been saying.” Environmental groups across Canada said Friday they feel vindicated following the scientific report that says concerns about hydraulic natural gas fracturing are valid and its health and environmental impacts are not clearly understood. However, industry officials are saying those issues aren’t enough to justify a suggested go-slow approach to the booming industry. “We would not agree with that,’’ said David Pryce of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.“The fact that we’ve been in this business for decades in the natural gas business and 10 years in the business of hydraulic fracturing, we’ve got a great deal of experience in this place.’’ Leonard said after seeing the 292-page report by the Council of Canadian Academies, New Brunswick already is taking a cautious and careful approach to shale gas. “We are confident that when we move forward, we are doing so with the best practices in place and when we look at what industry is also indicating, we feel we have struck a really good balance to protect the environment and groundwater,”Leonard said. John Molson, a member of the panel and also a member of New Brunswick’s independent Energy Institute, said it is incumbent upon provincial governments dealing with shale gas development to be transparent and forthcoming with people. Molson said acceptance of shale gas in provinces where there is no existing petroleum industry has been hampered by lack of communication, which makes people suspicious. “Transparency of data is critical,” said Molson, a research chair at Laval University in Quebec. “We point that out in the report. For the data available, it needs to be public, it needs to be debated. The missing data that we point out in the report, for instance, include background studies that have to be done to understand current water quality. New Brunswick already is doing that. You have some excellent hydro-geologists there at the University of New Brunswick who are involved in a background study. That is a very good start.” – with files from The Canadian Press
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 13:00:22 +0000
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