Moose Jaw Forum

I am not saying that they do not use some very nasty chemicals in fracturing. The big thing is they DO NOT use them here in Canada for coalbed methane (CBMs).
Coalbed mathane is just narrow coal seams where they pull up to a zone apply pressure with nitrogen and then it shatters the fragile coal into small particles allow the gas to freely migrate to the well bore. Many of these wells are underpressure meaning that they even need to pump the gas out of them - psi maybe 5 in the well bore.
CBMs have now been abandoned though as it is too expensive given the cost and what you get back.
Encana in Alberta lost money on all of its hundreds of CBM wells and as such they do not do them anymore. It is all simple economics.
Now I will not say they do not use a lot of nasty stuff on deeper formations but if you take a look at where these chemicals are injected that it is well below any fresh water table. Just so you know there are some ugly gases and other chemicals deep down that are naturally there - hydrogen sulfide being one.
Is there sometimes gas migration as the result of drilling - yes there is - is it a major problem? That one is debateable.

As far as the Syncrude and Suncor main plants go I personally do not see them as part of the conventional oil and gas industry and I call them open-pit mining. They have the tailings ponds - that kill ducks - and in many ways deserve the shot they deserve from environmental groups.

SAGD (Steam Assist Gravity Drain) on the other hand has been around for a long time and has been proven to be a major godsend for lots of oil extraction. We have had it here in Saskatchewan - Lloydminster area - for decades.

Fracturing goes on extensively in the Saskatchewan Bakken areas and I have yet to hear of any problems and concerns being raised there.

Jen Slotterback was hiking in her favorite park when she found signs of surveying for industrial gas drilling, or fracking. She went home and told her husband Jim, and although the two had never been actively involved in the issue of gas drilling, they immediately began a campaign to save the park. The board that controlled the park was set to vote on whether to drill in the park in 11 days. The story of the Slotterback's journey of those 11 days is the subject of this film.

Learn more about how you can Find Your Way to fight against fracking at http://earthjustice.org/our_work/campai ... better-way



Two People Made a Difference

When Jen Slotterback found a well pad stake in her local park in Pennsylvania, she realized the forest would soon be taken over by a natural gas drilling -- that is the toxic and destructive process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

"What can we do? We can't just go about our life as usual and let this happen."

The board that governs the park was about to vote in only 11 days on whether to permit fracking.

She and her husband acted quickly to get their message out to the community - gathering over 4,000 signatures in that short amount of time.

Result? The board unanimously voted against the drilling.

Now the Slotterbacks and Responsible Drilling Alliance (RDA) are campaigning to save more than 700,000 acres of forest throughout Pennsylvania from fracking.

Inspiring example of how it can be done! You can sign their petition at Earthjustice.com and keep spreading the word by sharing this video!

--Bibi Farber

This video was produced b Earthjustice.com

Next World TV - How To Fight Fracking And Win

truth defender wrote:

suki wrote:Decent documentary, although, really short on answers, and more emphasis on complaining. Energy production of any kind has its victims. Having said that, central Sask is home to significant coalbeds which will eventually see the same sort of production and techniques used, especially in the Lake Diefenbaker area.

The United States is really facing a loaded gun on this one because of dysfunctional energy policy over the past 30-40 years. Telling the gas producers to stop drilling really isn't a viable option. Now, if the US were energy independant or even a net exporter, then the American people could pick and choose which sources they would exploit, but that's obviously not the case because they need everything they can get, and twice that even.

With the price of natural gas in the toilet I doubt if we will be seeing any coal bed methane work here for a long time to come.
CBM (coalbed methane) wells DO NOT make use of chemicals - other than liquid nitrogen - but they can stir up methane into the water aquifer when the holes are punched.

In the US a landowner cannot stop a resource company like they can here in Canada. It is all federal law and the law down there is quite different than the law here.

Try stopping a well from being drilled on your property, good luck, guess who owns the mineral rights to your land, I know people in Alberta who have wells they did not want on their land and they get $400 a year per well, but they usually get their roads plowed in the winter, welcome to Canada, Alberta also has the LOWEST oil royalty rates in the world and I'm sure Sask. isn't asking much more, and guess where all your oil and gas is going? ?