Last month, Hampton councillors voted against seismic testing within town boundaries.
Hours before, more than 70 citizens had peacefully protested in front of the town hall, showing they were ready to stand their ground.
The message wasn’t lost, not on councillors who passed the unanimous vote, nor on the two companies in question – Seismotion Inc. and Windsor Energy Inc.
A lot of people are jumping on the anti-shale bandwagon and many have legitimate grievances, as did a grassroots movement that protested and eventually defeated the Graham government’s attempts to sell NB Power two years ago.
But before there are any public celebrations of democracy, perhaps New Brunswickers should ask themselves: At a time of economic stagnation and huge deficits, has it become impossible for governments to make tough choices?
The threat comes from hydro-fracking, a process which involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals into the ground to break up deposits of shale and extract the resources trapped within.
But it’s not just what is pumped down that is a concern, said James Whitehead, a geologist at St. Thomas University who teaches in the science and technology studies department.
“The problem is you can’t guarantee how the shale breaks along the planes of weakness in the rock, so water can migrate to unintended areas. Aside from chemicals being pumped down, you run the risk of releasing other carcinogenic chemicals that can contaminate water resources,” he said.
Tom Bateman, political science professor at STU, says he sees the benefits of shale gas, but is concerned protesters are “overstretching themselves.”
“The environmental concern is a serious one,” Bateman said. “If it is true that shale gas cannot be extracted without completely wrecking the province, then it shouldn’t be done.
“But the argument for jobs, and the arguments for a cleaner source of power than coal or oil, those are good arguments.
“We are a province that is $10 billion in debt, and I actually think there is some real support for going ahead as long as the environmental issue is taken care of.”
In many cases throughout the province, the environmental uproar has blocked progress before it could begin. Seismic testing, itself, poses no threat, Whitehead said. Sound waves are simply beamed into the ground and reflected back up, giving the testing a clear map of our subterranean world.
But seeing big businesses search for shale gas near their homes is putting many New Brunswick residents on edge.
“People have kind of a knee jerk reaction to any exploration within a municipal boundary,” Whitehead said.
“Ultimately it could end up in extraction and that’s when drinking water becomes seriously threatened.”
One argument that has been continually brought up by opponents of hydrofracking is the interconnectedness of the province’s waters. Many New Brunswickers get their water from the St. John River and contamination would be disastrous.
Julia Lenke has been fighting the gas companies for months. She said shale gas is not only dangerous, but a poor solution to our province’s debt woes.
“In my home country of Germany, the government has supported green energy,” she said. “We have many of the world’s largest wind farms. Not only is this safe, we know that jobs will always be needed to maintain them. These companies [in New Brunswick] will leave us once the gas is gone and we will be left in ruin.”
There is a similarity between today’s protests and those that surrounded the proposed sale of NB Power two years ago. Then, as now, Bateman wondered whether New Brunswickers were turning away a potential cure for its financial problems.
But Tom Mann is the executive director of the New Brunswick Union and was at the centre of the NB Power-is not-for-sale movement. He says the Alward government is making the same mistakes as the former Liberals.
“What was at the root of the NB Power issue and what is being repeated today – are our democratic institutions being ignored?” he said.
“People want to be involved in decisions that affect their lives. The Conservatives have been very quiet on this issue and the idea that politics and democracy are going to [be] held behind closed doors is not acceptable to New Brunswickers.
“A lot of citizens don’t understand the technical or financial issues, but what they do know is that this smells bad.”
