When there are two conflicting sides to a story, more often than not, the truth can be found somewhere in the middle.
Energy exploration – hydraulic fracturing (fracking), pipelines – is, and always has been, a hot topic in Canada, in particular in Alberta.
Horizontal fracking has been an issue covered by the Eagle for several years. In an effort to be balanced, the Eagle has published stories that address the concerns of residents who are against the practice, and has also articles from the perspective of those doing the drilling.
It would be naive for anyone to look at the debate over the effects of hydraulic fracturing and come to the conclusion that one side is telling the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help them God, and the other is lying about absolutely everything.
Take a look at the ongoing debate over the Keystone XL Pipeline, for example.
Someone just looking at the story out of interest might believe, based on how heated this matter has been over the past few years, that the Keystone Pipeline (or the Northern Gateway) was the first ever proposed pipeline.
This is far from the case. There are, actually, over 2.5 million miles (over four million kilometres) of pipelines in the U.S. alone.
Pipelines have stretched across Canadian since the 1850s, and there is an estimated 825,000 km of pipeline currently used in Canada, and yes, many of which travel through B.C., where the Northern Gateway Pipeline has been proposed.
The use of pipelines for oil and gas distribution is considered to be the safest method of transportation, compared to other means, like rail, trucks and tanker ships. The drawback, however, is that when something does go wrong, it can be much more significant than a truck tipping over on the highway.
If you were to look at a list of oil spills, you would find approximately 150 since 1907, 12 of which were from a pipeline. Of the Top 10 oil spills in history, seven were from tankers, three from wells and none from a pipeline.
When it comes to hydraulic fracturing, there has been several issues brought to the surface by anti-fracking groups – excessive use of fresh water, what additives are being used in the frack fluid, possible contamination of ground water, earthquakes, illness hitting those who live in areas where fracking is conducted, illegal dumping of flowback frack fluid…the list goes on. All are valid concerns that should be addressed.
According to Alberta’s Environmental and Sustainable Resource Development website, there are around 174,000 wells in the province that have been drilling using hydraulic fracturing technology (over one million in the U.S.), and it states that there will be more fracking in the years to come.
On one side of the argument, you have those who feel there are a lot of ‘myths’ being spread about fracking in an effort to create fear and resistance to the practice. On the other, there are those who believe fracking is an under-regulated approach to oil and gas extraction, and is causing irreversible damage to people and the environment.
A study done in the U.S. by Physicians Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy found that in Pennsylvania (where fracking is prevalent), between 2010 and February 2012, 6.5 per cent of drilled wells experienced failures. In Alberta, industry reports say about five per cent fail, while another study said that there were leakage rates as high as 60 per cent.
Again, the truth likely rests somewhere in the middle.
In a perfect world, both sides of the fracking debate would work together and stop trying to push their agendas by using embellished and/or bully-like tactics.
When someone claims that everything wrong in their lives is because of fracking – much like what you see in the documentary Gasland (a ‘documentary’ directed by a man who was reportedly caught openly lying about the negative health effects of fracking) – it becomes difficult to accept all the claims as fact…it becomes counterproductive.
Likewise, it’s hard to believe everything oil and gas companies argue when there is clear evidence to the contrary (look at the blowout near Innisfail as an example). The fact that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) – which is made up of several former energy sector employees, like its chair, Gerry Protti, who worked for Encana, was the founding president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and was a lobbyist for the Energy Policy Institute of Canada – conducts its own investigations into incidents like the one in Innisfail, does not shine a confident light on the process or the AER in general.
The days when people jumped with glee when oil or gas was found in their backyard is long gone…most hope that black gold is far away from their land, but in Alberta, the chances you are standing over oil, gas or a pipeline are quite high.
