Ecology Action Centre ‘encouraged’ by fracking report
Posted Aug 29, 2014 07:15:44 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – An environmental group is praising a new report that says hydraulic fracturing should be put on hold in Nova Scotia while the practice is studied.
Jennifer West of the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax says the report released yesterday is encouraging, but she wants to see a 10-year legislated moratorium put in place to allow for more research.
“If we can take the time to examine what’s happened in other areas — for example, New Brunswick, Pennsylvania, the Dakotas, Texas, and Alberta — we can learn from their success as well as from their mistakes, and we can develop this resource in a very responsible, very sustainable way,” said West.
The report by David Wheeler of Cape Breton University says more independent research should be done on any health, environmental and economic impacts.
“We’re really encouraged that they’re suggesting to (Energy Minister) Andrew Younger and government, that this is not the right time to proceed with fracking in Nova Scotia,” said West.
Younger says he hopes to have a decision on fracking’s future before the legislature resumes Sept. 25.
A two-year moratorium on fracking was put in place by the previous NDP government in 2012.
The report estimates that with 4,000 wells, the industry could be worth up to one billion dollars annually.
