New Brunswick Government

Hydro-fracking discontent remains

Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup announced several regulatory reforms to the natural gas industry last week that will force disclosure of chemicals used in the contentious hydro-fracking process, mandatory water testing and a security bond to compensate landowners if there are any accidents.

The provincial government is also planning to set up a system that allows communities to tap into some of the natural gas companies’ profits.

The proposals were aimed at tempering the growing protests surrounding the controversial mining practice.

However, Vicky Oland, a Taymouth resident, said she doesn't believe people will sell their land to make money.

“I think it's kind of surprising. Personally, I think it's a bribe, sorry,” Oland said.

“I also don't think it's going to get them very far.”

Hydro-fracking is a process where companies pump a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the ground, creating cracks in shale rock formations.

That allows companies to extract natural gas from areas that would otherwise go untapped.

The Quebec government issued a moratorium on hydro-fracking after receiving a lengthy report on the mining practice.

The New Brunswick government has opted to move in a different direction. Northrup and several cabinet colleagues and bureaucrats flew across the United States and Canada studying the different regulatory regimes put in place to govern the industry.

Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud told a business group in Moncton last week that Arkansas was able to improve the state's education system greatly because of the cash infusion from the natural gas industry.

There are several companies in New Brunswick that are considering mining for shale gas.

Corridor Resources has already started test wells in southern New Brunswick.

The New Brunswick government released its new hydro-fracking rules on June 24 in Fredericton. Several cabinet ministers were confronted by protestors, who were upset at the government's position on the mining technique.

Fredericton Police had to usher several protestors out of a closed-door meeting between government officials and groups invited by the government to the meeting.

ROCK SOLID POLITICS: Is Nalcor the new New Brunswick Power?

Is Nalcor the new New Brunswick power? That question has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. Take for instance my recent post Muskrat Math. That math results in a $930 million operating loss a year on the Lower Churchill project. However, that sum is really too generous as it doesn't take into account the cost overruns of the subsea cable, and it doesn't take into account the guaranteed 8.3% return promised to Nalcor, Emera, and Fortis. More importantly, it doesn't take into account the fact that Nalcor can only transmit roughly 30% of the Lower Churchill's production to Nova Scotia for sale to the US or the maritime provinces. Given that stark reality, that $930 million a year loss has to be increased by more than double as it was based on selling all the power. That is a staggering $2 billion loss per year. It defies imagination in one way, but the numbers speak for themselves. Consider that Ed Martin, CEO of Nalcor apparently told Randy Simms of VOCM radio that the province's energy consumption has been increasing each year. Unfortunately for Mr. Martin, Nalcor's own consumption graphs show a radical decline in consumption since 2003. Power consumption in the province is on the decline. One example of this: In 2000 the Holyrood facility went through roughly 2.5 million barrels of fuel per year; and in 2010 that number decreased to 1.3 million barrels. The point is that what Nalcor and the provincial government are saying on one hand does not match the evidence that in many cases is readily available from their own documents. Then consider that the government revealed it would allow the Public Utilities Board to investigate the financial worthiness of the Lower Churchill project, but it won't have to report its findings until the 30th of December, 2011. That is two months after the provincial election and one month after the deadline to ink a final agreement with Emera. Draw your own conclusions on that one. Based on the staggering financial lunacy of this agreement there are essentially three realistic reasons why this project has been put forward. The first could be rooted in some sort of misguided nationalism. A beating of the chest by then Premier Danny Williams at Quebec, and the rest of the country. A "damn the torpedoes we're going in" type of approach. Mr. Williams took down the flag to protest federal actions.

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