Documents Reveal Industry and Gov't Collude on Shale Gas

By Andrew Nikiforuk
8/19/2011
TheTyee.ca
Alberta New Dems release secret agreements about handling public opinion.

Alberta's New Democrats have called for a special provincial investigation of controversial shale gas drilling following the release of two leaked government documents showing strong collusion between industry and government on resource development in three western provinces.

A government of Alberta cabinet briefing note dated Aug. 3, 2011 says, "Shale gas environmental concerns in the media and in the public in other jurisdictions are potentially problematic for energy development and environmental management in Alberta."

The note also reveals that one of Canada's most powerful lobby group, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, has approached the Alberta government about shale gas issues in order "to enhance public communication."



"It's another example of Alberta's Conservatives working behind closed doors with industry and keeping it as secret as possible," charged New Democrat MLA and environment critic Rachel Notley. She wants an independent investigation on the technology.


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Nicholas School “Fracking” Study Among Top Five Most-Read Papers on PNAS Website

Jul 11, 2011
Contact: Tim Lucas at (919) 613-8084 or tdlucas@duke.edu

DURHAM, N.C. – A recent study by Duke University researchers that found high levels of leaked methane in well water collected near shale-gas drilling and hydrofracking sites is one of the top five most-read papers on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences website.

The study was published in the PNAS Early Online edition in May and has generated widespread interest in scientific, industry and environmental circles, and more than 1,700 media stories worldwide.

It is the first peer-reviewed study to measure well-water contamination from shale-gas drilling and hydrofracking.

Authors Stephen Osborn, Robert B. Jackson, Avner Vengosh and Nathaniel Warner, all of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, collected and analyzed water samples from 68 private groundwater wells across five counties in northeastern Pennsylvania and New York.

It found find measurable amounts of methane in 85 percent of the samples,. Those levels were 17 times higher on average in wells located within a kilometer of active hydrofracking sites. The contamination was observed primarily in Bradford and Susquehanna counties in Pennsylvania. Water wells farther from the gas wells contained lower levels of methane and had a different isotopic fingerprint.

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