tagged:

Some relief for shale gas opponents

Posted by Montreal Environment in Energy, Oil&Gas, Resource Development

The final report on shale gas released by the main environmental assessment body in Quebec, BAPE (Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement), was made public this month. Its main recommendation is that the government undertake a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of the industry so that it can be better framed within the energy and economic needs of the province. After months of citizen mobilization against the industry the government seems to finally bow to the public pressure but there is no intention to initiate a moratorium just yet – something that citizens were hoping to happen.

Gas exploration in the St Lawrence valley

While the industry claims the recommendations are a de facto moratorium on exploitation, environmental groups are arguing the recommendations and the SEA are not going far enough. The main issue is the difference between exploration and exploitation. Currently the shale gas industry is only in its exploration phase – drilling and fracking to assess the reserves and decide whether it is economically viable to undertake exploitation. The issue taken up by environmental and citizen groups is that even if the SEA is undertaken the industry is still authorised to continue exploration which means that drilling and fracking will continue. Initially, the law made a distinction between a permit for oil and gas exploration and a permit for ‘subsurface exploitable reserves’, the latter needed additional authorizations and subsequent costs increases to be able to actually undertake any physical activities such as drilling. According to the article 154 of the newly amended (2009) Mining law in Quebec this distinction has been eliminated and both permits now allow actual physical activities at no extra cost. Permits are granted for 5 year after which they can be renewed on an annual basis for an additional 5 years.

The exploration phase involves the setting up of the site (cementing the adjacent area and the transporting of equipment), the drilling of boreholes which are subsequently cemented to allow the injection of fluid under high pressures, and finally the injection of the fluid into the shale which fractures it and allows the gas to escape. The boreholes are drilled either horizontally or vertically and they can attain 2000m in depth, followed by a 200m bend and an addition tunnel of 1000m. The industry has been booming in the United States with thousands of wells drilled in 34 states; 10% of the US energy production comes from shale gas an 8 fold increase in the past 10 years. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers states that “large-scale commercial production of shale gas has not yet been achieved” in the country with only 4 provinces now actively engaged in the industry. In Quebec there are currently 31 drilling sites in Quebec of which hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is being done on 18 of them. They are spread out in three administrative regions Chaudière-Appalaches, Centre-du-Québec and Montérégie or some 333 municipalities and 4 territories.

As an ‘unconventional’ gas source similar to what the tar sands are to the oil industry, shale gas has been deemed by the Obama administration as a more sustainable, i.e. lower GHG emissions, source of energy than conventional fossil fuels. However, recent studies have shown that it “emits more greenhouse gases than does conventional natural gas, and may emit as much or more than oil or coal” (Council of Scientific Society Presidents). At issue is not the possible GHG emission rather the significant impacts on public health derived from the contamination of groundwater by the toxic cocktail used in the injection fluid. Among the chemicals commonly used are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and diesel-based fluids. They are all carcinogens and if used in high concentrations they can have significant health impacts. Since companies are not required by law (with the exception of Wyoming) to disclose the chemical content of the fracking fluid some argue that the concentration and make-up of such fluid can be much more toxic. Such arguments have led to a drilling moratorium in New York State. Fracking operations have been also suspended in Arkansas last week following studies that have recorded 800 earthquakes in the past 6 months. The latest earthquake – magnitude 4.7 – was the largest in the state in the past 35 years.

Pressure groups from both sides of the debate will continue to lobby the Minister of natural resources to their advantage. Some argue that even though the industry will take hold in the province, the SEA process should, at the very least, change the existing mining and hydrocarbon legislation that currently does little to protect the public health and property rights of Quebecers.