At the request of the Hamilton chapter of the Council of Canadians, city council is calling on the provincial and federal governments to impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracking – the unconventional method of extracting oil and gas that uses high pressure mixtures of chemicals, sand and large volumes of water to blast apart underground rock formations. The growing challenge to the practice gained national attention after a violent confrontation last October on lands of the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick – a conflict that will be explained to Hamiltonians in a public presentation on Friday evening.
Suzanne Patles of the Mi’kmaq Warriors Society will be speaking at Volunteer Hamilton (267 King St East) starting at 6 pm on Friday Feb 21 as part of a national tour on the struggle at Elsipogtog where the RCMP’s violent dismantling of a months-long blockade generated harsh criticism and nation-wide demonstrations supporting the First Nation’s efforts to prevent fracking on their lands.
Fracking moratoriums were put in place in 2012 by both the Nova Scotia government and Quebec governments, and the Newfoundland natural resources minister has more recently declared his province won’t accept applications for onshore or offshore use of fracking in oil exploration. Other opponents include the Union of Municipalities of Nova Scotia and Unifor, Canada’s largest union. An American company is using the NAFTA agreement to sue Quebec for its decision to block fracking under the St Lawrence River.
The city resolution reads: “That the City of Hamilton supports a province-wide and national moratorium on hydraulic fracturing until provincial and federal reviews have been completed that include extensive public consultation and full consideration of the potential human and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing.”
It came in response to correspondence from Ed Reece of the Council of Canadians and was approved unanimously at the urging of West mountain councillor Terry Whitehead who called it a “motherhood” position.
“Fracking companies are not legally required to disclose the chemicals they use, despite the fact that some of the chemicals are toxic and have been known to cause cancer and damage people's internal organs,” Reece wrote in his submission. “The disposal of fracking wastewater poses a long-term risk to clean water and public health. Therefore, any fracking in southern Ontario would pose a serious risk to water quality in the Great Lakes.”
He noted that while fracking has not started in Ontario, at least two companies are preparing to do so including on the lands of some First Nations. The main formation attracting fracking activity in New York State is the Marcellus Shale which extends under much of Lake Erie. Other major Ontario sites of interest include the Collingwood Blue Mountain area and a large block lying south of Lake Huron near Sarnia.
The national office of the Council of Canadians applauded the city resolution as “an important first step in defending municipalities from fracking, laying the groundwork for bylaws/zoning protection and to send a clear message to other levels of government.”
The recent boom in US oil production is primarily coming from fracking in the Bakken formation in North Dakota, but the results are raising major safety concerns. Bakken oil was involved in recent train explosions including the one that devastated the Lac Megantic community last year killing 47 people.
“The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration is investigating whether chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are corroding rail tank cars and increasing risks,” noted Bloomberg News last month. One of the main fracking chemicals used in the Bakken extraction is the “highly corrosive” hydrochloric acid.