Catherine Abreu’s optimism is turning to concern.
More than a year ago, Abreu, the energy coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre, and other environmentalists heralded the decision by the provincial government to place a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing as it attempted to draft regulations to go along with new legislation for the practice.
The decision followed the release in August 2014 of the Wheeler Report, a detailed look at the future of fracking in the province authored by a group of experts and led by Cape Breton University president David Wheeler.
Since that time, however, Abreu said it feels like things have stalled, something Wheeler himself said last summer.
“We’ve been waiting for over a year and a half now,” she said. “That’s quite an inordinate amount of time to write a set of regulations.”
Among other things, people on both sides of the issue are waiting for the province to come up with a definition of what constitutes high-volume hydraulic fracturing, to determine how geological formations other than shale will be treated, clarity on how the prohibition might be reassessed if the minister wanted to do so, and information about the possibility of fracking being permitted for research purposes.
Paul Barnes, Atlantic manager for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the industry is likewise waiting to see what the government will do next.
Barnes said he and his colleagues knew that in regions such as Nova Scotia, where fracking is a newer concept, it could take time to develop regulations that are appropriate for the region and to allay public concerns.
“We get regular updates from the government staff so we know they’ve not stopped work on it,” he said.
“If it takes a bit of time then, as an industry, we’re OK with that,” especially given the downturn in the sector, said Barnes.
“No one is really knocking on the door to want to undertake activity that the moment, but we’ve been saying to (the government) that they need to ensure they have the right regulations and policies in place for when the industry does rebound, because when industry does rebound there are investment opportunities to be had.”
Abreau, who has struggled to get information and updates from the government, said she is beginning worry about what might be causing the delays. As our province, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador all face financial challenges, there is fear among some people that it could make fracking an attractive option, said Abreau.
“Now I’m starting to feel nervous that we, once again, have fallen into this trap of believing hydraulic fracturing provides us with some kind of economic boom and we’re missing out on it,” she said.
“I can sympathize with the fact that some people are looking south to the jurisdictions that have made bundles of cash from hydraulic fracturing and thinking, ‘Well, wouldn’t it be great if we could bring that here.’”
But to that point, Abreau contends there is no evidence the resource in Nova Scotia is anywhere near the level required to create an economic boom.
While New Brunswick is a more attractive location for development because of the resource that’s known to exist, said Barnes, decisions that province’s government makes about fracking could influence what happens in Nova Scotia.
Still, he thinks Nova Scotia could be poised for success with on-shore resources based on how bullish the government has been about liquid natural gas, primarily with the idea of importing gas from the United States to liquify here and then send to markets overseas.
If at least one of the proposed LNG terminals in the province comes to reality, it bodes well for on-shore development here, said Barnes.
“While we think there’s reserves (in Nova Scotia), it’s likely too small for market or too expensive for the kind of domestic market, but if you could liquify it and send it overseas, then that creates opportunities as well.”
Energy Minister Michel Samson recently told reporters his department continues to work on a definition for high-volume hydraulic fracturing and, as part of the process, staff have visited other jurisdictions where fracking is already permitted.
“I don’t accept the premise that this is an easy subject or an easy definition to come to; it’s quite technical and there’s different definitions based on which definition you choose to go with,” he said.
The minister rejected the suggestion his department is dragging its feet on the file.
“Staff have visited various provinces and states that have legislation and regulations to see how it works there, but, at the same time, we need to make sure that Nova Scotians are comfortable with the concept and whether they are supportive of seeing this industry move forward in our province.”
The definition will be seen as a key component of how the industry may or may not develop in the province, said Samson, and he’s been presented with examples of how it’s defined elsewhere. The Wheeler Report also called for the government to consider social licence and how that might factor into a project being approved in a given community, something the government also continues to examine.
But Abreu thinks all of this talk takes away from a bigger point, which, in her view, is that too many people remain fixated on an industry that doesn’t even exist here and, even if it did, is not sustainable over the long term.
“I worry that we are really locked into an outdated model of prosperity.”
Instead, as the province’s attempts to create a green economy begin to take off, that is where the emphasis should be placed when looking at energy development for the next 20 years, said Abreu.
“We’ve generated at least 1,300 jobs directly in the energy efficiency industry (and) we’ve generated at least 1,700 jobs in the renewable energy industry and, in both of those industries, we’ve created dozens of Nova Scotia-based, local businesses.”
michaeltgorman@gmail.com @MichaelTGorman
LNG ships may not yet have gone aground.
However the Exxon Valdez and SS Arrow come to mind.
The SS Arrow is still leaking after 40 years.
If an oil tanker can run around so can a LNG carrier with devastating results.
Regulations are one thing; but the disposal of toxic residuals from the fracking process are a hurdle that has not been resolved. The wastewater residuals that were left over from the test wells back around 2007 were diluted over may years of inaction and we can all remember how difficult it was to finally process them (not to everyone’s satisfaction)… if fracking shale gas wells in NS were to occur to a “production” level, the quantities of toxic wastewater and other residuals would be produced in significant quantities with no, publicly accepted, local fracking wastewater processing solution defined at this time… that cannot be allowed to occur.
I spoke with an MLA about this issue a month ago and he said the location of the gas reserves is mostly around the wine growing areas of Nova Scotia. He also said that the methane that the wells emit would be damaging to the grape crops and therefore we would have to choose between the wine industry or fracking. Also worth reading is Michael Harris’s column in IPolitics today on the LNG terminal the federal government have rubber stamped to go forward in BC. One of these ships blowing up would create similar damage to the Halifax Explosion.
Under normal circumstances, one would assume that choosing between a clean, sustainable industry like wine and a dangerous, dirty and unsustainable industry like natural gas would be a no brainer, but this is the Stephen McNeil, Liberal government and consequently, in my opinion, all bets are off.
If you have any evidence of an LNG ship blowing up I would like to see it – I won’t hold my breath.
The fear is all rubbish, and stoked by ignorance
Algerian gas was shipped to Canvey Island in England starting in 1964 and for many years after.
” It was 50 years ago today…
…that the world’s first commercial cargo of LNG was delivered to the Canvey Island import terminal on the Thames estuary – marking a significant step in the evolution of the global natural gas trade. ”
http://www.bg-group.com/~/tiles/?tiletype=blog&id=31 October 10 2014
“We get regular updates from the government staff so we know they’ve not stopped work on it,” said the representative of the Petroleum Producers association. And Ecology Action’s Catherine Abreu is having trouble getting any information from the provincial government in regard to fracking. Add the provincial government’s support of the Alton gas storage facility and I think we all know where this is going.
Successive provincial governments – including the Dexter NDP – have shown an amazing focus on turning this province into a backwater that will ultimately make U.S. States like Mississippi and West Virginia look positively progressive.
Thanks to Michael Gorman and The Halifax Examiner for shining a light, but I’m not feeling optimistic. They’ll just pull out an inflated number of jobs to be created and push on with their single minded project to destroy what’s good about this province and leave nothing of value behind for future generations.