Canadian Fracking review flawed, relies on industry information

Canadian Fracking review flawed, relies on industry information Press Release by Council of Canadians, January 25, 2013
The Council of Canadians recently obtained a copy of Environment Canada’s work plan on shale gas development under an access to information request. The heavily redacted documents, “Activities Related to Shale Gas Development” and “Shale Gas Action Plan,” outline the department’s work on shale gas including researching emissions, gathering information on chemicals and provincial regulatory requirements, and reviewing existing literature on fracking. The Council of Canadian Academies, which is conducting a second independent review, will examine the potential environmental impacts and technical mitigation options. … The reviews rely on the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers for information on fracking chemicals and commit to engaging other “industry stakeholders on ongoing Environment Canada initiatives.” … “But the fact that they sent us an unsigned and heavily redacted document raises questions of how committed the federal government is to these actions.”

“The documents also reveal that Environment Canada hopes that ’emissions from the shale gas sector are managed/minimized, consistent with Canada’s climate change objectives,’ but can this really be genuine when the biggest fracking operations in Canada go to fuel the tar sands?” … Neither the Activities nor the Action Plan are signed by Environment Canada’s Deputy Minister Paul Boothe or other Environment Canada officials. … A large number of sections of the Shale Gas Action Plan have been redacted including the purpose and summary. [Emphasis added]

[Refer also to:  Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources A California Perspective 

Expert Panel (selected in 2012) to Understand the Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction by Council of Canadian Academies
John Cherry Chair, Associate Director G360 Centre Applied GW Research, Adjunct Prof School of Eng, U of Guelph
Michael Ben-Eli, Founder & Director of the Sustainability Laboratory, New York
Lalita Bharadwaj, Associate Prof, Toxicologist, School of Public Health, U of Saskatchewan
Rick Chalaturnyk, Prof of Geotechnical Engineering, Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, U of Alberta
Maurice B. Dusseault, PT Prof of Engineering Geology, Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences, U of Waterloo
Bernard Goldstein, Prof Environmental and Public Health, Graduate School of Public Health, U of Pittsburgh
Jean-Paul Lacoursière, Associate Prof, Chemical Engineering Dept, U of Sherbrooke
Ralph Matthews, Prof Dept Sociology U BC; Prof Emeritus of Sociology, McMaster U
Bernhard Mayer, Prof of Isotope Geochemistry, Dept of Geoscience, U of Calgary
Jennifer Miskimins, Associate Prof, Petroleum Eng Dept, Colorado School of Mines
John Molson, Canada Research Chair in Quantitative Hydrogeology of Fractured Porous Media, Dept of Geology and Geological Engineering, Laval U
Kelly Munkittrick, Sc Director, Canadian Water Network, Prof, Dept of Bio, U of NB
Naomi Oreskes, Prof History and Science Studies, Dept of History, U of California
Beth Parker, Director, G360 Centre Applied Groundwater Research, U of Guelph
Paul Young, FRSC, VP (Research) & Prof Geophysics, U of Toronto
Mark D. Zoback, Prof Geophysics, Stanford U

Stanford geoscientist Mark Zoback cites critical need for basic research to unleash promising energy sources December 4, 2012:  “The recovery of oil is only around 5 percent, so we need to do more fundamental research on how to get more hydrocarbons out of the ground…. That will benefit all of the companies….” ]

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