Shale Gas Issues From Various Jurisdictions ...... 10 Foreword ...... 10 Links from web search and facebook ...... 10 Links from the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance ...... 11 Links in French from Quebec ...... 12 Calls for Moratoriums and Bans ...... 16 France's highest legal body approves fracking ban ...... 16 List of Bans Worldwide ...... 16 Romanian farmers choose subsistence over shale gas ...... 16 Final Vote to Ban Fracking on Hawaii Island ...... 17 Contamination and Science ...... 18 Gas Production In Pennsylvania May Be Polluting Creek With Radioactive Waste ...... 18 Radiation in Pennsylvania Creek Seen as Legacy of Fracking ...... 18 Fracking Water: It’s Just So Hard to Clean ...... 18 The Deadly Chemicals That Fracking Companies Use - Embedded video – Robert Kennedy ...... 19 Fossil fuel emissions must be eliminated, OECD chief says ...... 19 Professor Wants Air Emissions Regulated Extreme Levels of Benzene Floating Around ...... 19 Study Reveals Dangerous Levels of Radioactivity Near Fracking Waste Sites ...... 20 More Bad News For Fracking: IPCC Warns Methane Traps More Heat ...... 20 Potential contaminant pathways from hydraulically fractured shale to aquifers...... 20 David Suzuki: Earthquakes and toxic wastewater are only part of the problem with fracking ...... 20 Gas fracking will cause 'irreversible' damage, says Conservation Council of WA ...... 21 Dangers of hydraulic fracturing in shale ...... 21 We Deserve Facts on Marcellus Shale Air Quality Impacts ...... 22 Questionable Science ...... 23 Matt Ridley ...... 23 American University of London sells study-free MBA ...... 23 Hundreds of oil spills kept secret by North Dakota ...... 24 Leaked Documents Reveal the Secret Finances of a Pro-Industry Science Group ...... 24 Renewable Energy ...... 26 IKEA: Residential Solar Panels To Go On Sale At Stores In Britain ...... 26 Big bank places bets on renewable energy ...... 26 Nova Scotia bets on economic lift from rising tidal technology ...... 26 Google Invests $103 Million in Southern California Solar Project ...... 27 Canada, U.S. poised to catch the offshore wind ...... 27 Big Corporations Embracing Microgrids: A Threat for Utilities? ...... 27 Canadian geothermal firm finds hot opportunities abroad ...... 28 Science and Health ...... 29 Update on Hydraulic Fracturing - Medical Society of the State of New York ...... 29 Potential Public Health Implications of Unconventional Shale Gas Drilling ...... 29 Another Alberta Family Flees Oil Sands Pollution ...... 30 Health Effects of Chemicals Used in Fracking ...... 30 Fracking Can Lead to Lung Cancer, US Scientists Claim ...... 30 Moncton emergency physician says shale gas is a public health issue ...... 31 Dr. Eilish Cleary and the Sackville Memorial Hospital medical staff speak out about the dangers of fracking ...... 31 Heavy Air Pollution in Canada Linked to Cancer Spikes in Rural Region ...... 31 Study finds carcinogens downwind of Edmonton petrochemical plants ...... 32 Economics, Legal, and Investigations ...... 33 Gaz de schiste : premiers déclins aux Etats-Unis ...... 33 Externalities par Sustainable Man David Suzuki - Embedded Video ...... 33
1 San Carlos: Judge orders PG&E to shut down natural gas pipeline ...... 33 CEO of Royal Dutch Shell admits it might take longer than expected to see shale benefits ...... 34 Shell CEO talks about disappointment in shale three months before stepping down ...... 34 Southwestern Energy faces fracking lawsuit ...... 34 Alberta woman loses round in anti-fracking lawsuit, can't sue Alberta regulator ...... 35 Shale: High depletion rates in Bakken ...... 35 ABOUT THAT SHALE OIL & GAS MIRACLE ...... 36 Calgary firm sues Corridor over data use ...... 36 Norse Energy shutting down U.S. operations as New York hydrofracking moratorium continues .. 36 Scientists live in a ‘climate of fear’; poll suggests federal researchers can’t speak freely ...... 37 U.S. has ‘overfracked and overdrilled,’ Shell director says ...... 37 Rexton from a constitutional point of view ...... 37 The Heresy of Capitalism Threatens Well Being in Indian Country ...... 38 U.S. Shale-Oil Boom May Not Last as Fracking Wells Lack Staying Power ...... 38 Fracking linked to rape, meth addiction, and STDs ...... 39 Legal proceedinks filed against citizens by SWN ...... 39 Scientists wary of shale oil and gas as US energy salvation ...... 39 Regulations ...... 41 European Union Votes for Mandatory Fracking Impact Studies ...... 41 One Man's Clever Idea to Fight Frackers and Save His Organic Farm ...... 41 UK fracking ambitions threatened by EU warning over methane emissions ...... 42 Gary Tresidder’s story is the third in a series of short films on hydraulic fracturing in Alberta ...... 42 Environment and Enjoyment of Property ...... 43 More Bang For Our Buck ...... 43 Some Places on Earth Should Remain Untouched - Embedded video ...... 43 Colorado among top three frack-wracked states in nation ...... 43 Groundbreaking Report Calculates Damage Done by Fracking ...... 44 Nobel laureates press EU leaders on tar sands law ...... 44 More Bad News For Fracking: IPCC Warns Methane Traps Much More Heat Than We Thought . 44 Methane Is Popping Up All Over Boston ...... 45 Wendell Berry on His Hopes for Humanity - Moyers & Company, Embedded video ...... 45 Fracking hurts US climate change credibility, say scientists ...... 45 Canada won't come close to meeting emissions target: Environment Canada ...... 46 Arctic Temperatures Reach Highest Levels In 44,000 Years, Study Finds ...... 46 More than 15 Million Americans Now Live Within One Mile of a Fracking Well ...... 46 Changements climatiques : des leaders environnementaux tendent la main à l'industrie pétrolière et gazière ...... 47 Climate change: environmental leaders reaching out to the oil and gas industry ...... 47 Three First Nations formed Political Coalition to protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence ...... 47 Time for Revolt? Some Scientists Say ‘Yes’ ...... 48 Ecology: Lady of the lakes ...... 48 Government, Meetings, News, and Letters ...... 49 Louis LaPierre's research record in question ...... 49 Le prix de la désinformation - The price of misinformation ...... 49 New Brunswick Energy Institute names interim replacement for Louis LaPierre ...... 50 Council of Canadians applauds Elsipogtog’s sovereignty declaration ...... 50 UN special rapporteur, James Anaya, to gauge aboriginal peoples' progress ...... 51 Royal Proclamation, Canada's 'Indian Magna Carta,' turns 250 ...... 51 N.B. Premier firm on shale-gas pledge as anti-fracking protesters cheer injunction’s end ...... 52 ABORIGINAL PEOPLE AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM ...... 52 Stephen Harper is Dismantling Canadian Sovereignty for Globalism! ...... 52
2 New Brunswick News ...... 54 News Release - Elsipogtog First Nations-Signigtog Mi'kmaq Reclaim Stewardship of Native Lands ...... 54 Elsipogtog Chief issues eviction notice to Texas-based frackers. Band Council Resolution to reclaim all unoccupied Crown Land...... 54 First Nations chief issues eviction notice to SWN Resources ...... 54 How Fracking Could Ruin New Brunswick ...... 55 N.B. energy minister says some shale gas opponents ignoring facts ...... 55 Les Micmacs veulent reprendre le contrôle de leurs terres ancestrales ...... 55 Information Morning - Terry talks with a lawyer who represents First Nations communities...... 56 Information Morning Mi'kmaq Land - Chief Sock and Willi Nolan Mi'kmaq land ...... 56 Paper Tigers at Midnight - Elsipogtog Band notice to Texas-frackers goes unheeded...... 56 Shale gas development spurs treaty debate in N.B...... 57 APTN, At the fracking protest front-line - Tempers are flaring again in central New Brunswick. .... 57 '8 Women of the 8th Fire' lay Treaty Law smack down on RCMP negotiators ...... 57 Qui sont les gardiens de la paix de la Société des guerriers Micmacs? ...... 58 First Nation Moves to Evict Fracking Co. From Lands Held in Trust ...... 58 Rexton - Injunction against anti-shale gas activists issued ...... 59 Court orders end to shale gas barricades on Route 134 ...... 59 RCMP on highest alert, say social media calls went out to bring arms to encampment ...... 59 Illicit Acts of Government ...... 60 Letter to Judge Rideout regarding injunction ...... 60 Tit For Tat - As SWN issues injunction against anti-shalers, Treaty Scholar Patles brings out eviction notice from 1778 ...... 60 David Alward est prêt à rencontrer les dirigeants d’Elsipogtog ...... 61 Shale gas protesters defy order to remove Rexton barriers ...... 61 Angry New Brunswickers Petition Province’s Ombudsman for Investigation ...... 62 Gaz de schiste: le calme revient, mais les opposants tiennent bon ...... 62 New Brunswick energy minister says he's monitoring shale gas protest in province ...... 63 Shale gas blockade near Rexton enters sixth day ...... 63 Shale gas protesters defy order to remove Rexton barriers ...... 63 Meeting set in effort to end protest blocking highway in New Brunswick ...... 64 Buffy St. Marie on Fracking ...... 64 Communication Breakdown or Double Cross? ...... 64 Fracking protesters meet with N.B. premier - Embedded Video ...... 65 Shale standoff ...... 65 Talks with N.B. premier buy Elsipogtog three days of ‘peace’ ...... 65 Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock in 2nd Day of Talks with Premier ...... 65 Anti-frack Letter of Opposition hand delivered to SWN's Houston office...... 65 Fracking protest in Moncton - Embedded video ...... 66 "It's hell. If you're looking to kill yourself that's one way to do it." ...... 66 NB premier, Mi’kmaq chief discussed ending blockade, allowing shale gas exploration to continue ...... 66 Information Morning - Future of Mactaquac ...... 67 Selling the farm without the deed ...... 67 Shale gas complaints to ombudsman unprecedented ...... 67 Seeking answers to questions unasked NB Ombudsman Visits Rexton ...... 68 Shale gas protesters partially reopen Route 134 ...... 68 RCMP deny ambulance to burn victim, New Brunswick anti-shale activists remove blockade trees ...... 69 RCMP explain lack of intervention in Rexton protest - Embedded video ...... 69
3 Shale gas blockade gets extended - Embedded video ...... 69 CTV Atlantic: Fracking stalemate costs company big bucks - Embedded video ...... 70 Protest at Rexton and Support from people in Fredericton, CBC News: Oct 11, 2013 ...... 70 Natural Resources Canada “A Preliminary Tsunami Hazard Assessment of the Canadian Coastline” ...... 70 Shale gas testing company says protest is costing them big bucks - Embedded video ...... 70 Warrior Society Call to Support Elsipogtog Seizure of Fracking Equipment ...... 70 Idle No More Day of Solidarity Houston, Texas October 7, 2013 ...... 71 We need a change of heart – Marilyn Lerch ...... 71 Canadians Unite to Stop Fracking in New Brunswick ...... 71 CBC Information Morning Moncton - Gallant touts moratorium ...... 71 Advisers to Chief Sock in Anti-shale gas negotiations are provincial government employees ...... 72 Gaz de schiste: Kent-Sud veut se faire entendre ...... 72 Elsipogtog First Nation Sees Violence As RCMP Moves To End Protest (PHOTOS) ...... 73 RCMP officers and sniper apparently pointing rifle at someone's mother ...... 73 Concerning the Possible Arrest of Reporter Miles Howe in Elsipogtog ...... 73 Shale gas protesters clash with police in Rexton, N.B - Embedded video ...... 73 40 arrested as shale gas protesters clash with RCMP in eastern New Brunswick - Embedded video ...... 74 The Council of Canadians stands in solidarity with anti-shale gas protesters in Kent County, NB . 74 Demonstrations across continent decry violence at New Brunswick anti-fracking protest ...... 74 Most RCMP withdraw after shale gas clash in Rexton ...... 75 Mi'kmaq lawyer on N.B. protests ...... 75 Solidarity With Mi'kmaq Nation ...... 75 Les manifestations contre le gaz de schiste gagnent Montréal ...... 75 UPDATE: Mi’kmaq Resist! 6 RCMP Cars Torched, Fracking Equipment Confiscated ...... 76 RCMP bring 60 drawn guns, dogs, assault rifles, to serve injunction on the wrong road ...... 76 Conservation Council responds to the events in Rexton ...... 77 Several N.B. shale gas protesters now charged after clash ...... 77 Statement by the Grand Council of the Crees on the Events Involving Elsipogtog ...... 78 Hundreds of fracking protesters take to Halifax streets ...... 78 Chief Atleo slams RCMP for ‘extreme use of state force’ in N.B. shale gas protest ...... 78 Statement by RCMP Commissioner Roger Brown and St. Charles LSD Chairperson ...... 78 Op-Ed: Heavy-handed response to the Elsipogtog blockade in New Brunswick ...... 79 As It Happens on shale gas demonstration - Oct 18, 2013 ...... 79 Manitoba chief in New Brunswick to back fracking protests ...... 79 Shale-gas exploration debate exposes intersecting issues of race and colonialism...... 79 Canadian Police Use Military Tactics to Disperse Indigenous Anti-Fracking Blockade ...... 80 Frackas in Elsipogtog ...... 80 Mohawk Nation at Kahnawà:ke Stand in Support of Mi'maq Protest Against Hydro-Fracking ...... 81 N.B. fracking protests and the fight for aboriginal rights ...... 81 Tensions persist at scene of anti-fracking protests in New Brunswick ...... 82 Decision to shut down Rexton camp by force adding new resolve, support to protest movement . 82 Letter to the Premier of NB from Maritime Conference, United Church of Canada ...... 82 Serving a Corporate Agenda: Canada’s RCMP Brutalize Indigenous People for Opposing Fracking on Their Land ...... 83 A New Brunswick Development Charter ...... 83 Showdown at highway 134 - Embedded video ...... 84 Gaz de schiste: Elsipogtog déterminé à poursuivre sa lutte ...... 84 Gaz de schiste: les municipalités francophones exigent à nouveau un moratoire ...... 84 Shale gas company loses bid for injunction to halt N.B. protests ...... 85
4 Premier Alward's beliefs cannot be reconciled with reality ...... 86 New Brunswick fracking protests are the frontline of a democratic fight ...... 86 'An act of war': Armed RCMP officers carry out militant action against Mi'kmaq and Elsipogtog Nations ...... 87 Elsipogtog Solidarity March in Corner Brook: what it means for our community - NFLD ...... 87 Shale gas company loses bid for injunction to halt N.B. protests ...... 87 Elsipogtog chief says RCMP 'manhandled' shale gas protesters - Embedded videos ...... 88 '8 Women of the 8th Fire' lay Treaty Law smack down on RCMP negotiators ...... 88 subMedia.tv and Miles Howe visit SWN HQ in Moncton - Embedded video ...... 89 Indian Brook residents rally in support of N.B. anti-frackers - Embedded video ...... 89 We are all treaty people - Written by David Coon on October 21, 2013 ...... 89 Fracking Indigenous Country - Elsipogtog ...... 89 Overview of RCMP deployment against Mi’kmaq blockade, Oct 17, 2013 ...... 90 Gaz de schiste au N.-B.: remise en cause l'intervention de la GRC ...... 90 Craig Leonard defends record on shale consultation ...... 91 Interview with Jim Emberger at Route 134 Camp - Premier refuses to to talk to CBC ...... 91 ‘Crude contempt’ ...... 91 Mi’kmaq warriors in court after RCMP crackdown - Embedded video ...... 91 New Brunswick’s shale gas protests ...... 92 Council of Canadians stunned by Premier’s comments on consultation with Indigenous Peoples . 92 Was the fix in for Mi'kmaq Warriors at Elsipogtog? ...... 92 Elsipogtog protest adds fuel to Global Frackdown fire ...... 92 Aboriginal Laws just as valid as European Settler Laws ...... 93 Do We Need the “Rule of Law” in New Brunswick to Deal with Native Protestors? ...... 93 Sussex Protests Still Popping Up - Embedded video ...... 93 N.B. First Nation says it will take land claims to court ...... 94 Former ombudsman says Alward and protesters at an impasse ...... 94 Iqaluit protestors shut down Four Corners in Oct. 18 anti-fracking demo ...... 95 Interactive map of New Brunswick's shale gas industry ...... 95 Maliseet anti-shale gas letter delivered to premier’s office ...... 95 New Brunswick fracking protests are the frontline of a democratic fight ...... 95 Information Morning - Fredericton | Oct 28, 2013 | 14:57 ...... 96 Maliseet chief calls for hydro-fracking ban - June 2011 ...... 96 N.B. premier refuses to meet shale gas protesters in Fredericton ...... 96 For B.C.'s First Nations, the true cost of gas fracking is too high ...... 97 Fracking company sues protesters ...... 97 Damage Control: Oil Train Derailment in Alberta and Gas Fracking Protest in New Brunswick ..... 97 Mi'kmaq urged to reclaim Crown land ...... 98 RCMP investigating officer who uttered slur during raid on Mi’kmaq-led anti-fracking camp ...... 98 Maritime News ...... 100 Controversy Over Shale Gas Fracking Galvanizes Communities In The Maritimes ...... 100 Disposal plan still unclear for waste water ...... 100 CBU students join fracking protest ...... 100 Fracking fluid leak near Kennetcook school - NS ...... 101 Windsor commits to not processing fracking wastewater ...... 101 Mitchell taking anti-fracking message back to Qalipu council ...... 101 Canadian News ...... 103 BC LNG: Shale gas expert David Hughes debunks minister’s math ...... 103 Activist group Idle No More gets busy again in Canada ...... 103 First Nations leader in London to fight Canada’s lobbying onslaught ...... 103 Nearly 300 contractors replaced with temporary foreign workers ...... 104
5 Malaysian LNG promise is actually a massive BC giveaway ...... 104 Gaz de schiste: la communauté universitaire veut en savoir plus ...... 104 Canada not doing enough to tackle problems of aboriginal people: U.N...... 105 Most Canadians oppose natural-gas 'fracking' ...... 105 Oil, gas obsession mean 'game over for the planet,' says filmmaker ...... 105 Fracking Immunity: Holding regulators accountable - CBC The Currrent ...... 106 Sondage Léger: 84 % des Québécois ont une perception positive du travail des groupes environnementalistes ...... 106 Stop Mainstream Canada's Apathy Toward First Nations Abuse ...... 107 BC RCMP investigating explosion aimed at First Nation anti-pipeline blockade - Embedded video ...... 107 Other News ...... 109 Siena Poll: More New Yorkers Opposing Fracking ...... 109 Idle No More gets US boost from top climate activist for day of action ...... 109 Age of Unreason ...... 109 64% of EU citizens against development of Shale Gas ...... 110 TODAY'S INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUE, LNG facilities ...... 110 MEPs recognise dangers of fracking - European Union ...... 110 Chevron scheitert an der Basis ...... 110 Wind farms paid £30 million a year to stand idle - UK ...... 111 Exposed: U.K. Frackers Replicate U.S. FRacking Industry's Lies and Misinformation ...... 111 About 60 People Affected By Evacuation On West 15th Street ...... 112 Water ...... 113 Water prices a fracking big deal ...... 113 Oil and Pipelines ...... 114 Thousands Draw the Line Protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline ...... 114 TransCanada Whistleblower Evan Vokes Details Lack of Confidence in Keystone XL ...... 114 Oil Shock, Pipelines and Mayflower - dateline Embedded video ...... 114 Judge quashes Alberta's decision to bar environmentalists from oilsands hearing ...... 114 Rail car propane leak safely resolved in Saint John ...... 115 Judge hears claims BP lied to US about oil spill in Gulf ...... 115 Oklahoma Pipeline Explosion Sparks Large Fire, Prompting Evacuations (VIDEO) ...... 115 ND pipeline breaks, spews 20,600 barrels of oil ...... 116 TransCanada Ratchets Up Lobbying for Energy East Pipeline ...... 116 David Suzuki tells U.S. not to trust Harper's Keystone XL promises – Embedded video ...... 116 Group blasts oilsands in U.S. - Lawmakers warned of 'catastrophic' climate change ...... 117 Oil pipeline leak cleanup to take years and about $4M ...... 117 PHOTOS: The Oil Spill North Dakota Tried to Keep Secret ...... 117 First-Ever Footage of Aging Tar Sands Pipelines Beneath Great Lakes - Embedded Video ...... 117 Chevron Sues Rainforest Communities It Contaminated ...... 118 Update: Oilsands project faces months of delay ...... 118 Edmonton train derailment latest safety setback for CN Rail ...... 119 In pictures: Tanker cars explode after train derailment in Gainford, Alta...... 119 Alberta won't review decision to bar aboriginal groups from oilsands hearings ...... 119 Three million pounds of oil found on Louisiana shore three years after BP spill ...... 119 Residents unsettled by excavation around Kinder Morgan pipeline ...... 120 CNRL bitumen leak has likely contaminated groundwater, report says ...... 120 New Study: Kochs Could Make $100 Billion on Keystone XL Pipeline Deal ...... 120 Burnaby mayor predicts more action against pipeline ...... 120 Internal Documents Reveal Coverup in North Dakota Oil Spill ...... 121 Justin Trudeau pitches Keystone to U.S. anti-oilsands crowd ...... 121
6 Recent Tragedies Highlight Need to Reform Regulations for 500,000 Miles of Oil and Gas Pipelines ...... 121 Gulf Of Mexico Ecosystem In Crisis 3 Years After BP Oil Spill ...... 121 Silence on spills shows oil’s power in ND - Embedded video ...... 122 Canada's slow oil, gas infrastructure development worry Chinese, minister says ...... 122 Pipeline safety incident rate doubled in past decade ...... 122 Pipeline project: From grainy documents to interactive map ...... 123 Pipeline map: Have there been any incidents near you? ...... 123 The other Keystone fight: US landowners vs. Canada oil giant ...... 123 Robert Redford launches attack on Alberta’s oilsands (with video) ...... 124 Damage Control: Oil Train Derailment in Alberta and Gas Fracking Protest in New Brunswick ... 124 Koch-owned pipeline spills 17,000 gallons of oil in Texas ...... 124 Energy East Pipeline ...... 126 Energy East Pipeline application delayed until 2014: TransCanada ...... 126 N.B. mayor adds to chorus of dissent against Energy East pipeline plan ...... 126 “Energy East pipeline poses ‘enormous threat’ to environment:” ...... 126 Fiery protests halts last day of proposed Ontario pipeline hearings - Embedded video ...... 127 Kahsatstenhsera: Indigenous Resistance to Tar Sands Pipelines ...... 127 Minister rules out Ontario environmental assessment of Line 9 reversal ...... 127 TransCanada sued by former land agent for pipeline feedback ...... 127 Mining ...... 129 Parent company HDI refuse Sisson Brook Mine meetings for Fredericton and Saint Mary's First Nations!!!! ...... 129 Northcliff Secures Todd Corporation as Financing Partner for Sisson Tungsten-Molybdenum Project ...... 129 Calgary-based mining company suing Costa Rica for more than $1 billion - Embedded Video ... 129 Protests, cyanide concerns may halt Canadian-Romania gold mine project ...... 129 Craig Leonard on Environmental Impact Assessment Sisson Brook mine -17 Sep 2013 ...... 130 Restart public review period for Sisson mine project: CCNB Action ...... 130 CBC Info Morning Fredericton: Sisson Brook mine ...... 130 Video Links ...... 131 Chief Arren Sock at the Protest - statement, Treaty Day October 1st 2013 NO TO SHALE GAS 131 Elsipogtog: Chief Aaron Sock arrives to blockade site ...... 131 Elsipogtog Chief and Council Resolution - Eviction Notice ...... 131 Information Morning - Terry talks with a lawyer who represents First Nations communities...... 131 Information Morning Mi'kmaq Land - Chief Sock and Willi Nolan Mi'kmaq land ...... 131 Charles LeBlanc interviews Chief Arren Sock of Eslipogtog ...... 131 Parent company HDI refuse Sisson Brook Mine meetings for Fredericton and Saint Mary's First Nations!!!! ...... 131 APTN, At the fracking protest front-line - Tempers are flaring again in central New Brunswick. .. 131 Some Places on Earth Should Remain Untouched ...... 131 Graeme Decarie - 2014 Countdown: What the NDP needs to do ...... 132 Chief Sock Elsipogtog ...... 132 Externalities par Sustainable Man David Suzuki ...... 132 Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock in 2nd Day of Talks with Premier ...... 132 Elsipogtog: Unity ...... 132 Fracking protest in Moncton ...... 132 Papantonio & Kennedy on Corporate Corruption and Fraud — Pt. 1/4 ...... 132 Wendell Berry on His Hopes for Humanity - Moyers & Company ...... 132 Buffy Sainte-Marie On George Stroumboulopoulos show ...... 132 Oklahoma Pipeline Explosion Sparks Large Fire, Prompting Evacuations ...... 132
7 Jessica Ernst speaks at The People's Forum on Fracking ...... 133 Mark Jacobson interview on David Letterman - October 9, 2013 ...... 133 Climate Change and History of Mass Extinctions ...... 133 Chief Roger Augustine is confronted by Blogger Charles LeBlanc and Miles Howe ...... 133 CTV Atlantic: Fracking stalemate costs company big bucks - Embedded video ...... 133 Protest at Rexton and Support from people in Fredericton, CBC News: Oct 11, 2013 ...... 133 Charles Leblanc at Rexton ...... 133 Charles Leblanc - Breakdown in Communication last week at the Blockade in Rexton ...... 133 Charles Leblanc - Arriving at the Blockade at Rexton Kent County!!! ...... 133 Warrior Society Call to Support Elsipogtog Seizure of Fracking Equipment ...... 133 Protesters in Balcombe halt shale gas operation ...... 134 Anti Shale Protesters are confronted by the Blogger in front of Ombudsman Charles Murray office!!! ...... 134 Idle No More Day of Solidarity Houston, Texas October 7, 2013 ...... 134 New style of blockade at the Anti Shale Protest in Rexton Kent County ...... 134 Anti Shale Gas Blockade in Rexton Kent County is visited by the Blogger ...... 134 Ann Pohl face the media after meeting Ombudsman Charles Murray ...... 134 Des Acadiens debat la maniere que les Indiens etaient traiter des annee ...... 134 Warrior sets record straight on native who got burnt in Tee Pee ...... 134 Willi Nolan views on the Anti Shale Protest in Rexton Kent County ...... 134 First-Ever Footage of Aging Tar Sands Pipelines Beneath Great Lakes ...... 134 R.C.M.P. wouldn't let 81 years old Female Elder drive to Anti Shale Protest in Rexton ...... 135 Solidarity With Mi'kmaq Nation ...... 135 Elsipogtog: Tensions, anger, and courage 17 October ...... 135 Elsipogtog Frack Off ...... 135 Solidarity with Rexton - Spontaneous Anti-Frack Rally Fredericton Oct 18 '13 ...... 135 An interview with the MLA from Irvingland ...... 135 Canadian State Waging War Against Mi'kmaw First Nation - PRESS ...... 135 St.Mary's Indian Chief Candice Paul views on the raid in Rexton by the RCMP ...... 135 Caleb Behn - Elsipogtog Solidarity Vancouver Oct 18 ...... 135 Vancouver Solidarity march #1 - Mi'kmaq we got your back ! ...... 136 Elsipogtog - Video filmed by Christian Peacemaker Teams- the Aboriginal Justice Team...... 136 Canadian Police Use Military Tactics to Disperse Indigenous Anti-Fracking Blockade ...... 136 The last 48 hours tell us a lot about the next 2 years in Canada...... 136 Showdown at highway 134 - Embedded video ...... 136 Frackdown Day: Worldwide protest to end shale gas extraction ...... 136 subMedia.tv and Miles Howe visit SWN HQ in Moncton - Embedded video ...... 136 Listuguj Mi'gmaq Chief Dean Vicaire views on the Anti Shale conflict ...... 136 Elsi Strong! Forgive?....maybe. Forget....Never...... 136 OpFrackOff in Elsipogtog - by Anonymous ...... 136 Interview with Jim Emberger at Route 134 Camp - Premier refuses to to talk to CBC ...... 137 Mi’kmaq warriors in court after RCMP crackdown - Embedded video ...... 137 Frack Off: Politics Behind #Elsipogtog ...... 137 New Brunswick Natives to built a Longhouse across from the New Brunswick Legislature!!! ..... 137 David Suzuki's Carbon Manifesto ...... 137 Silence on spills shows oil’s power in ND - Embedded video ...... 137 Local Penobsquis resident talks about fracking nightmare in Penobsquis New Brunswick...... 137 Penobsquis - N.B. residents upset over sinkholes ...... 137 Bronson Acquin-Mandisodza from St.Mery's First Nation is interviewed by CBC ...... 137 Final Vote to Ban Fracking on Hawaii Island ...... 138 PÉTROLE ET SCHISTE : ALERTE AUX VIVANTS ! Pictures and music ...... 138
8 Elsipogtog Resistance to Shale Gas Development Report by Sam Koplinka Loehr ...... 138 The Intersection Between Hydraulic Fracturing and Climate Change ...... 138 Fundamental Chemical Toxicology with Exposure Related to Shale ...... 138 How Economic Hitmen Enslave Nations For Generations ...... 138 Dominic Cardy on Fracking Moratorium ...... 138
9 Shale Gas Issues From Various Jurisdictions
Foreword
Links from web search and facebook
The following documents have been collected by searching the web for information related to shale gas and from the Following web sites and
New Brunswick is NOT For Sale http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_132079906855023
New Brunswickers Concerned About Shale Gas http://www.facebook.com/ccnbshalegas
Ban Hydraulic Fracturing (hydro-fracking) In New Brunswick, Canada http://www.facebook.com/BanFrackingNB
Know Shale Gas NB – Support the legal action to stop Shale Gas in NB http://noshalegasnb.ca/news
NoShaleGasNB http://www.facebook.com/NoShaleGasNB
Shale Gas Info http://www.facebook.com/shalegas
Upriver Environment Watch http://www.facebook.com/groups/UpRiver/
Fracidental Drillers http://www.facebook.com/groups/133930663364584/
Fracking Research and New Brunswick, Canada http://nbfrackingresearch.com/
Facebook Groups: USA - A FACEBOOK FULL OF FRACTIVISTS: State-by-State Listings http://keeptapwatersafe.org/facebook-groups-usa/
Propublica – Links to many articles on Fracking http://www.propublica.org/series/fracking
Another good site: Fracking, Shale Gas and Health http://frackingandhealth.ca/
Is Our Forest Really Ours? http://isourforestreallyours.com/Isourforestreallyours/Start_here.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/132079906855023/#!/groups/258525050949366/
10 More facebook information https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=617426124942641
United Opponents of Fracking International http://portjervisny.com/uaf.htm
SHALE GAS ALERTS NEW BRUNSWICK https://www.facebook.com/groups/112468105590081/? hc_location=stream#!/groups/112468105590081/
Links from the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance Click on any of the links below will automatically download a pdf file on that topic to your computer. If you have a problem, or want more information, send an email to: mailto:[email protected]
Introduction https://www.dropbox.com/s/v1zhgsn1pqepa2v/Final%20-%20Municipality%20-%20intro.pdf
Costs and Threats to Health Care System https://www.dropbox.com/s/4pphs96h6z7fmbz/Final%20-%20Municipalities%C2%A0-%20Costs %20and%20threats%20to%20health%20care%20system.pdf
Jobs (clean energy) https://www.dropbox.com/s/h5fj6ba231x0gvr/Final%20-%20Municipalities%20-%20jobs.pdf
Moratoria (what can municipalities do) https://www.dropbox.com/s/o60lqoak8n74a5h/Final%20-%20Municipalities%20-%20Moratoria.pdf
Municipal burdens of hosting shale gas https://www.dropbox.com/s/zqph1iqm2jbshzn/Final%20-%20Municipalities%20-%20Municipal %20Burdens%20of%20Hosting%20Shale%20Gas.pdf
Roads (damage – cost) https://www.dropbox.com/s/cji4ywbbfw76zx8/Final%20-%20Municipalities%20-%20Road %20repairs.pdf
Short life span of shale gas (costs up, royalties down) https://www.dropbox.com/s/dwog8xqybaiyxa8/Final%20-%20Municipalities%20-%20shale%20life %20span.pdf
Tourism – (threats to) https://www.dropbox.com/s/2udv0y8ywuxgimn/Final%20-%20Municipalities%20-%20Tourism.pdf
Boom-bust economics https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5ikm0ekjj522yk/Final%20-%20Municipalities%20Boom-Bust %20Experience.pdf
Health costs of air pollution https://www.dropbox.com/s/u9fw3woonv9b9xx/Final%20-%20Municipality%20-%20Health%20costs %20-%20air%20pollution.pdf
11 Land use (impacts on lives and lifestyles) https://www.dropbox.com/s/21jmy4j7m1xm2zm/Final%20-%20Municipality%20-%20land%20use.pdf
Links in French from Quebec
-Sept-Îles, déversement de mazout, l’opération nettoyage coûtera plus de 18 millions $ - costly oil spill: http://lenord-cotier.com/index.php/2013/10/29/deversement-de-mazout-loperation-nettoyage-coutera- plus-de-18-millions/
-Une coalition autochtone contre l’exploration pétrolière et gazière dans le Saint-Laurent - First Nations coalition against oil and gas exploration in the Gulf: http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/est- quebec/2013/10/29/009-coalition-innu-malecite-micmac-petrole-saint-laurent.shtml et ici: http://www.ledevoir.com/environnement/actualites-sur-l-environnement/391226/trois-nations- autochtones-s-unissent-pour-proteger-le-golfe-du-saint-laurent-de-l-exploration-petroliere et ici (communiqué): http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1250873/oil-and-gas-exploration-three-first- nations-formed-political-coalition-to-protect-the-gulf-of-st-lawrence
-Québec, l'ouverture de Québec encourage l'industrie du pétrole et gaz - province attitude gives oil and gas industry hope for the future: http://affaires.lapresse.ca/economie/energie-et- ressources/201310/29/01-4704796-petrole-et-gaz-louverture-de-quebec-encourage-lindustrie.php les investisseurs sont plus à l'aise d'investir dans l'Iraq que le Québec quand il s'agit de projets gaziers (photo!) - Investors ‘more comfortable’ putting money into gas projects in Iraq than Quebec says banker (good photo!): http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/28/investors-more-comfortable-putting-money- into-gas-projects-in-iraq-than-quebec-banker/?__lsa=ee16-54ba
-Nouvelle-Écosse, les fractivistes sont tranquilles, mais vigilants: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/fracking- opposition-quiet-but-vigilant-in-n-s-town-1.1517388
-Nouveau-Brunswick, une compagnie de frackeurs poursuit les protestataires - Fracking company sues protesters: http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2013/10/20131029-171336.html
-Ontario, Enbridge en fait pas assez pour assurer la sécurité autour de son projet pour le pipeline 9B (éditorial): http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2013/10/28/enbridge_should_do_more_to_assure_safety_of_l ine_9b_pipeline_editorial.html#
-L'Alberta promet d'avoir son groupe de monitorage de l'environnement des sales sables bitumineux l'an prochain: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Oilsands+monitoring+panel+running+early+2014/9097777/stor y.html pas de manifs ou d'opposition prévues pour Mountain View selon certains: http://www.mountainviewgazette.ca/article/20131029/MVG0801/310299998/-1/mvg0801/fracking- protests-not-expected-to-hit-county de la pub trompeuse de l'industrie - false advertising at its worse: http://pages.cdn.pagesuite.com/9/2/92d25715-3a10-45d8-aec0-1f8bac06b188/page.pdf
12 -Canada, manque de transparence à l'Office national de l'énergie - Canadians don't know enough about the state of pipelines in their country: http://www.radio- canada.ca/nouvelles/Economie/2013/10/29/009-pipeline-office-national-energie-transparence.shtml
-Grande-Bretagne, Josh Fox, le réalisateur de Gasland, Gasland II et The Sky is Pink, est convaincu que l'opposition citoyenne peut bloquer le fracking en G.-B. - Josh Fox says anti-fracking protests could stop drilling in the UK: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/29/josh-fox-anti-fracking- protest-gasland
Sites et blogues
-Alberta, les sales sables bitumineux sur la sellette: http://www.opednews.com/articles/America-s-Tar- Baby-by-Les-Adler-A-bomb_American-Clean-Energy-And-Security-Act_Antarctic-Ice-Melt_Canada- Ontario-131029-161.html
-Les frackeurs canadiens préfèrent utiliser du sable américain pour fracturer hydrauliquement - few producers in the Horn River get their sand there. Many source their sand instead from mines in Wisconsin: http://www.albertaoilmagazine.com/2013/10/grains-of-frack-sand/
-Les investisseurs à long terme se demande si investir dans les combustibles fossiles est sage:http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020656/are-oil-companies-wasting-billions-on-energy-theyll-never- use
-Aujourd'hui, une nouvelle étude sur les impacts de la fracturation hydraulique sur les sources d'eau potable: http://www.texassharon.com/2013/10/29/media-advisory-new-report-on-the-impact-of- marcellus-shale-gas-development-on-water-resources/
États-Unis
-Le vocabulaire utilisé par les promoteurs de l'industrie porte à confusion par exprès:http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20131029/OPINION03/310290023/Letter-Terminology-used- by-fracking-advocates-purposely-misleading
-New-York, Norse Energy entame un procès en cour suprême contre le droit des municipalités qui ont voté pour un moratoire ou une interdiction de fracturer dans leur territoire:http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2013/10/8535151/fracking-company-files-states- highest-court-against-town-level-bans
-Pennsylvanie, un Sénateur contre les forages et fracturations hydrauliques dans les parcs et aires naturelles et tiendra une réunion publique mercredi soir - Because of his concerns about fracking in Allegheny County's parks, Ferlo will hold a town hall meeting on Wednesday night in Harrison:http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/4944015-74/ferlo- fracking-county#axzz2j6mzNDyd un groupe environnemental poursuit une compagnie qui déverse des saumures de fracturations hydrauliques dans une rivière - Environmental group sues company over waste dumped into Allegheny River: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/4962022-74/treatment-river-waste#axzz2j5F65Sya
Cabot obtient une injonction préliminaire pour empêcher Vera Scroggins d'aller sur ses propriétés et ses terres louées: http://www.ohio.com/blogs/drilling/ohio-utica-shale-1.291290/cabot-gets-injunction- against-trespassing-pennsylvania-activist-1.440744
13 d'où proviennent les statistiques d'emplois dans le domaine pétrolier et gazier?:http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/10/29/where-do-pennsylvanias-gas-industry-jobs- numbers-come-from/
-Ohio, la Docteur Steingraber sera conférencière le 2 novembre: http://www.ohio.com/blogs/drilling/ohio-utica-shale-1.291290/fracking-critic-steingraber-tp-speak-on- nov-2-at-bowling-green-1.440738
-Virginie, une fondation d'aires naturelles veut un moratoire sur les permis de fracturations hydrauliques dans les aires protégées: http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2013/10/28/virginia-outdoors- foundation-places-moratorium-on-conservation-easements-that-allow-fracking/
-Virginie Occidentale, on enquête sur l'incendie qui a blessé 2 employés sur un site de puits gazier dimanche: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/579655/Officials-looking-into-drilling- site-fire.html?nav=5061
-Minnesota, Enbridge prévoit faire passer un pipeline, les opposants se préparent à se battre (audio) - Enbridge files application to run pipeline across northern Minnesota; opponents gird for fight:http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/10/28/environment/enbridge
-Michigan, les compagnies qui veulent fracturer devraient devoir tenir des consultations publiques et dévoiler les ingrédients qu'ils utilisent avant de recevoir leur permis disent des groupes environnementaux et des Démocrates - Gas and oil companies should be required to conduct public hearings and disclose all chemicals they plan to use before hydraulic fracturing permits are approved, environmental groups and state House Democrats maintain: http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20131029/NEWS01/310290003/Critics-take-aim-fracking-plan
-Ohio, découverte d'une fuite de pétrole mardi après-midi: http://www.wfmj.com/story/23822116/hazmat-crews-evaluating-oil-spill-in-southingtown-township
-Dakota du Nord, Rachel Maddow commente le déversement pétrolier dans le champs de blé (photo & vidéo) - Rachel Maddow Discusses North Dakota Oil Spill: http://boldnebraska.org/maddow- northdakota
-Arkansas, le ministère de l'environnement veut qu'Exxon fasse d'autres tests dans le lac Conway, la source d'eau potable de la région: http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/10/29/arkansas-department-of-environmental- quality-game-and-fish-request-more-testing-of-lake-conway-from-exxon
-Colorado, plusieurs électeurs déciderons du sort de la fracturation hydraulique dans leur municipalité en déposant leur vote cette année - Four Front Range communities are voting on whether to stop prohibit hydraulic fracturing within their cities, a sign that Colorado is on the front lines of a national battle: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/earth_to_power/2013/10/elex-frack-main.html
-Wyoming, les forages devraient être restreints dans des régions où habitent un oiseau protégé dit un groupe environnemental: http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Group-to-BLM-Restrict-drilling- in-grouse-habitat-4933534.php
-Texas, on suggère une piste cyclable le long du trajet de l'oléoduc Keystone XL:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-28/sunflowers-to-schwinns-proposed-for-keystone- pathway.html
14 -Louisiane, l'affaissement de terrain continue de s'agrandir (vidéo): http://www.wafb.com/story/23807287/crack-develops-on-berm-at-giant-sinkhole-site
-Californie, l'étude sur la fracturation hydraulique pourrait prendre 18 mois dit le gouverneur:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-29/california-fracking-study-may-take-18- months-brown-says.html
15 Calls for Moratoriums and Bans
France's highest legal body approves fracking ban
France's highest legal body, the Constitutional Council, has approved a 2011 ban on fracking passed by the country's parliament. http://www.france24.com/en/breaking/20131011-france-constitutional-council-approves-ban-fracking- parliament
List of Bans Worldwide
[U.S. UPDATE: September 18, 2013] http://keeptapwatersafe.org/global-bans-on-fracking/
Romanian farmers choose subsistence over shale gas
PUNGESTI, Romania, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The small hilly town of Pungesti in eastern Romania could be sitting on vast reserves of shale gas and U.S. energy major Chevron wants to find it.
But the people of Pungesti want nothing to do with it.
Though most of them live off subsistence farming, social aid and cash from relatives working abroad, they would rather stay poor than run what they say is the risk of ruining their environment.
Villagers have set up camp outside the empty lot where Chevron aims to install its first exploratory well, blocking access and forcing the company to announce last week it was suspending work.
"Our kitchens are filled with homemade jams and preserves, sacks of nuts, crates of honey and cheese, all produced by us," said Doina Dediu, 47, a local and one of the protesters.
"We are not even that poor," she said. "Maybe we don't have money, but we have clean water and we are healthy and we just want to be left alone."
The decision to stop work at Pungesti - which was to have been Romania's first shale gas exploration well - matters because of the message it may send about how welcome shale gas is in eastern Europe. http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/10/27/romania-chevron-idINL5N0IC26Q20131027
Dominic Cardy on Fracking Moratorium
In segment one of the video, who makes the decisions on the two questions and what are the criteria for making the decisions? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzRAvGfyPuM&feature=player_embedded
16 Final Vote to Ban Fracking on Hawaii Island http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e__Mz2Wn9qI
17 Contamination and Science
Gas Production In Pennsylvania May Be Polluting Creek With Radioactive Waste
Fracking may be contaminating a Pennsylvania river with radioactive waste, a Duke University study to be published this week shows. Scientists found elevated levels of radioactivity in river water at a site where treated fracking wastewater from oil and gas production sites in western Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale is released into a creek.
Duke researchers looked at sediment samples collected downstream of the Josephine Brine Treatment Facility in Indiana County, Penn., and found that radium levels were 200 times greater in those samples when compared to those collected upstream of the plant. The plant processes fracking flowback water — highly saline and radioactive fluid that is returned to the surface as part of the fracking process.
Researchers have long been concerned about concentration of bromide, chlorides and other contaminants being discharged from the Josephine Brine Treatment Facility. One researcher, Conrad Volz, former director of the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities at the University of Pittsburgh, testified before the U.S. Senate in 2011 about the high level of contaminants in Josephine’s effluent. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/02/fracking-study-pennsylvania_n_4030748.html? ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
Radiation in Pennsylvania Creek Seen as Legacy of Fracking
Naturally occurring radiation brought to the surface by gas drillers has been detected in a Pennsylvania creek that flows into the Allegheny River, illustrating the risks of wastewater disposal from the boom in hydraulic fracturing.
Sediment in Blacklick Creek contained radium in concentrations 200 times above normal, or background levels, according to the study, published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The radium, along with salts such as bromide, came from the Josephine Brine Treatment Facility about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh, a plant that treats wastewater from oil and gas drilling.
“The absolute levels that we found are much higher than what you allow in the U.S. for any place to dump radioactive material,” Avner Vengosh, a professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and co-author of the study, said in an interview. “The radium will be bio-accumulating. You eventually could get it in the fish.” http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-10-02/radiation-in-pennsylvania-creek-seen-as-legacy-of- fracking-waste
Fracking Water: It’s Just So Hard to Clean
Another crack in the “fracking is safe” story for the industry to address.
18 Measurements suggest that, at least in some cases, drilling operations that include fracking have caused contamination of surface and drinking water, and fracking operations, like all natural gas drilling, cause the leakage of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.
Now a paper published this week in the journal Environmental Science and Technology by Nathaniel Warner formerly of Duke University and colleagues focuses on another of those environmental costs: disposal of wastewater. http://energyblog.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/04/fracking-water-its-just-so-hard-to- clean/#.UlP9X_AxDSg.twitter
The study
Impacts of Shale Gas Wastewater Disposal on Water Quality in Western Pennsylvania http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es402165b?journalCode=esthag
The Deadly Chemicals That Fracking Companies Use - Embedded video – Robert Kennedy
Below is a comprehensive table of the most dangerous and deadly chemicals, with effects ranging from minor skin irritation to severe effects like organ failure and death. http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2013/10/deadly-chemicals-energy-companies-use-fracking/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MQYgnIEx6oY
Fossil fuel emissions must be eliminated, OECD chief says
The world must eliminate emissions from burning fossil fuels in the second half of this century to lower the economic cost of climate change, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Wednesday. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/fossil-fuel-emissions-must-be-eliminated-oecd-chief-says- 1.1931443
Professor Wants Air Emissions Regulated Extreme Levels of Benzene Floating Around
NEW MARTINSVILLE - Levels of carcinogenic benzene in the air 625 feet away from one natural gas drill site were so bad that a West Virginia University professor said he would recommend "respiratory protection."
Although these extreme levels of benzene lasted for only about three hours at one particular site, Michael McCawley, chairman of the Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at WVU, said the readings show that air emissions from Marcellus and Utica shale drilling need more regulation. http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/588790/Professor-Wants-Air-Emissions- Regulated.html?nav=515
19 Study Reveals Dangerous Levels of Radioactivity Near Fracking Waste Sites
Interview with Greg Palast http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10841
More Bad News For Fracking: IPCC Warns Methane Traps More Heat
But the IPCC’s latest report, released Monday (big PDF here), reports that methane is 34 times stronger a heat-trapping gas than CO2 over a 100-year time scale, so its global-warming potential (GWP) is 34. That is a nearly 40% increase from the IPCC’s previous estimate of 25.
Amazingly, the EPA has been using a GWP of 21 for its estimate of how methane compares to carbon dioxide — a figure that is nearly twenty years out of date. That means methane is a whopping 60% stronger than EPA calculates in its GHG inventory. Back in April, EPA finally said it was thinking about raising the GWP — to 25! http://theenergycollective.com/josephromm/284336/more-bad-news-fracking-ipcc-warns-methane- traps-much-more-heat-we-thought
Potential contaminant pathways from hydraulically fractured shale to aquifers.
Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing of deep shale beds to develop natural gas has caused concern regarding the potential for various forms of water pollution. Two potential pathways-advective transport through bulk media and preferential flow through fractures-could allow the transport of contaminants from the fractured shale to aquifers. There is substantial geologic evidence that natural vertical flow drives contaminants, mostly brine, to near the surface from deep evaporite sources. Interpretative modeling shows that advective transport could require up to tens of thousands of years to move contaminants to the surface, but also that fracking the shale could reduce that transport time to tens or hundreds of years. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22509908 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2012.00933.x/abstract
David Suzuki: Earthquakes and toxic wastewater are only part of the problem with fracking
Hydraulic fracturing requires massive amounts of water. Disposing of the toxic wastewater, as well as accidental spills, can contaminate drinking water and harm human health, and pumping wastewater into the ground can further increase earthquake risk. Gas leakage also leads to problems, even causing tap water to become flammable. In some cases, flaming tap water is the result of methane leaks from fracking, and methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
Those are all serious cause for concern—but even they don’t pose the greatest threat from fracking. The biggest issue is that it’s just one more way to continue our destructive addiction to fossil fuels. As
20 easily accessible oil, gas, and coal reserves become depleted, corporations have increasingly looked to “unconventional” sources, such as those in the tar sands or under deep water, or embedded in underground shale deposits.
And so we end up with catastrophes such as the spill—and deaths of 11 workers—from the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. We turn a blind eye to the massive environmental devastation of the tar sands, including contamination of water, land, and air; destruction of the boreal forest; endangerment of animals such as caribou; and impacts on human health. We blast the tops off of mountains to get coal. We figure depleted water supplies, a few earthquakes, and poisoned water are the price we have to pay to maintain our fossil-fuelled way of life. http://www.straight.com/news/david-suzuki-earthquakes-and-toxic-wastewater-are-only-part-problem- fracking
Gas fracking will cause 'irreversible' damage, says Conservation Council of WA
CONSERVATION Council of WA director Piers Verstegen claims gas fracking cannot occur without causing massive and irreversible environmental damage. Mr Verstegen claims it has devastated large areas and poisoned communities in the United States. “Recently I had an opportunity to visit shale gas fracking areas in the USA and I was horrified,” he wrote in a campaign letter sent out to CCWA supporters and donors this week.
WHAT the Conservation Council of WA claims are industry myths about shale gas fracking: • Industry claim 1: The depth of WA shale deposits means fracking is safe • Industry claim 2: WA has a lot of experience with shale gas fracking • Industry claim 3: Opponents of shale gas fracking are confusing it with coal seam gas • Industry claim 4: Shale gas is a clean source of energy • Industry claim 5: There is a robust regulatory framework for shale gas in WA http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/gas-fracking-will-cause-irreversible-damge-says- conservation-council-of-wa/story-fnhocxo3-1226660869144? utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PerthnowTopStories+ %28PerthNow+%7C+Top+Stories%29
Dangers of hydraulic fracturing in shale By ANTHONY INGRAFFEA Powder River Basin Resource Council
While operators repeatedly claim that their technology is safe, those of us who understand the industry can tell you that problems frequently occur. It is often said within the industry that the three biggest problems are cement, cement, and cement. It is difficult to do a perfect cement job. The BP oil well failure in the Gulf of Mexico was a result of a shoddy cementing job. The cement has to bond to a grease-coated steel pipe on one side and with the rocks, minerals, and mud on the other side. The problem is if the outside layer of cement fails, the inside layer doesn’t matter. According to a review of industry’s own data, 60 percent of oil and gas wells failed within 28 years. These failures can lead to the contamination of the aquifers we need to keep clean for drinking water. http://trib.com/news/opinion/forums/dangers-of-hydraulic-fracturing-in-shale/article_b080d8d6-e588- 5505-b082-662434c65df2.html
21 We Deserve Facts on Marcellus Shale Air Quality Impacts
Following last month’s problems which included large clouds of black smoke visible for miles away, a new problem related to a power failure caused more heavy black smoke emissions last week. MarkWest said the problem requires specific manufacturing of parts and could take several months to fix, asking residents to be patient. In a move that surprised nobody who has ever dealt with them, the PA Department of Environmental Protection said they have no intention of taking any specific action to ensure the problem is fixed. http://supportjesse.com/2013/08/28/we-deserve-facts-on-marcellus-air-quality-impacts/
22 Questionable Science
Matt Ridley
Matt Ridley aka Viscount Ridley is a science writer and AGW ("anthropogenic global warming") denier on the Academic Advisory Council of the denialist Global Warming Policy Foundation
Climate expertise unclear
It is unclear what expertise Mr. Ridley has developed that leaves him more qualified to assess climate science than 97% of actively publishing climate scientists.
2011 "skeptic bingo" denier speech
A speech Ridley gave in 2011 was "a textbook Gish Gallop, full of false claims, logical fallacies, and trivially true but irrelevant “facts”. It was...“skeptic” bingo", reported the host of the blog The Way Things Break; he characterized Ridley as "a techno-optimist of the Lomborgian mold", and debunked a few of Ridley's claims[3], noting inconsistencies and errors like: "Ridley wants us to know that the climate changed rapidly in the past- but yet we’re also supposed to believe that climate sensitivity is very small. He also flubs basic concepts- equilibrium sensitivity is not the same thing as transient sensitivity..." Associations
Ridley sits on the advisory councils of the British lobby groups Sense About Science and Reform. He is also on the Academic Advisory Council of the denialist Global Warming Policy Foundation[4]
Northern Rock bank failure
The failure of Northern Rock was the first run on a British Bank since 1878. Under his chairmanship, the bank pursued what the Treasury select committee later described as a "high-risk, reckless business strategy".[5] MPs identified the directors of Northern Rock as "the principal authors of the difficulties that the company has faced". They singled Ridley out for having failed "to provide against the risks that [Northern Rock] was taking and to act as an effective restraining force on the strategy of the executive members".[6] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Matt_Ridley
American University of London sells study-free MBA
The American University of London (AUOL) awarded a fictitious person created by the programme a Master's in Business in exchange for a £4,500 fee.
Newsnight has found hundreds of senior executives listing AUOL qualifications.
The programme contacted some of them, but they all insisted that they had had to study for their degrees.
However, Newsnight found that getting the university to provide a qualification without any study at all was easy.
23 The programme drew up a one-page fake CV for a management consultant Peter Smith, known as Pete, living in South London, which included 15 years of made-up work experience and a fictitious undergraduate degree from a UK university.
The real Pete was actually a dog living in Battersea Dogs' Home.
Despite these omissions, just four days after sending in the application, AUOL sent "Pete" an e-mail saying that his application for a degree based on previous experience had been successful and that once the university had received his £4,500 fee he would be registered as an MBA graduate within about two weeks. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24618786
Hundreds of oil spills kept secret by North Dakota
North Dakota’s fracking frenzy is leaking like a sieve. And you haven’t heard about it because fracking companies, oil pipeline owners, and state officials have been keeping information about hundreds of oil spills secret for years.
After a huge spill of more than 20,000 barrels on a wheat farm was hushed up for 11 days, the Associated Press discovered the extent of the years-long cover-up:
Records obtained by the AP show that so far this year, North Dakota has recorded 139 pipeline leaks that spilled a total of 735 barrels of oil. In 2012, there were 153 pipeline leaks that spilled 495 barrels of oil, data show. A little more than half of the spills companies reported to North Dakota occurred “on- site,” where a well is connected to a pipeline, and most were fewer than 10 barrels. The remainder of the spills occurred along the state’s labyrinth of pipelines. http://westcoastnativenews.com/hundreds-of-oil-spills-kept-secret-by-north-dakota/
Leaked Documents Reveal the Secret Finances of a Pro-Industry Science Group
The American Council on Science and Health bills itself as an independent research and advocacy organization devoted to debunking "junk science." It's a controversial outfit—a "group of scientists… concerned that many important public policies related to health and the environment did not have a sound scientific basis," it says—that often does battle with environmentalists and consumer safety advocates, wading into public health debates to defend fracking, to fight New York City's attempt to ban big sugary sodas, and to dismiss concerns about the potential harms of the chemical bisphenol-A (better known at BPA) and the pesticide atrazine. The group insists that its conclusions are driven purely by science. It acknowledges that it receives some financial support from corporations and industry groups, but ACSH, which reportedly stopped disclosing its corporate donors two decades ago, maintains that these contributions don't influence its work and agenda.
According to the ACSH documents, from July 1, 2012, to December 20, 2012, 58 percent of donations to the council came from corporations and large private foundations. ACSH's donors and the potential backers the group has been targeting comprise a who's-who of energy, agriculture, cosmetics, food, soda, chemical, pharmaceutical, and tobacco corporations. ACSH donors in the second half of 2012 included Chevron ($18,500), Coca-Cola ($50,000), the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation ($15,000), Dr. Pepper/Snapple ($5,000), Bayer Cropscience ($30,000), Procter and Gamble ($6,000), agribusiness
24 giant Syngenta ($22,500), 3M ($30,000), McDonald's ($30,000), and tobacco conglomerate Altria ($25,000). http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/american-council-science-health-leaked-documents- fundraising
25 Renewable Energy
IKEA: Residential Solar Panels To Go On Sale At Stores In Britain
STOCKHOLM -- Swedish flat-pack furniture giant IKEA will start selling residential solar panels at its stores in Britain, the first step in its plan to bring renewable energy to the mainstream market worldwide.
The company started selling solar panels made by China's Hanergy in its store in Southampton on Monday. It will sell them in the rest of Britain in coming months, it said.
A standard, all-black 3.36 kilowatt system for a semi-detached home will cost 5,700 British pounds ($9,200) and will include an in-store consultation and design service as well as installation, maintenance and energy monitoring service. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/ikea-solar-panels-britain_n_4016087.html? ir=Canada&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
Big bank places bets on renewable energy
A report from a bunch of bankers on creating “an integrated energy cost curve” is not the sort of thing that gets most people’s hearts pounding. But it should raise eyebrows in Ontario where the province is redoing its Long-term Energy Plan.
That’s because, in a nutshell, what the bankers – in this case from U.S. giant Citigroup -- are saying is that when it comes to the economics of electricity generation, it’s a whole new ballgame. Think of it as being a phone company circa 1990 and watching the liftoff of cellphone technology -- you just know nothing is ever going to be the same again.
For electricity, the cellphone equivalent is renewable power, primarily solar and wind. And like mobile phones, the technology is just getting better and better, and cheaper and cheaper. Citigroup estimates that every time the amount of solar power doubles, the cost drops by around 30 per cent. http://environmentaldefence.ca/blog/big-bank-places-bets-renewable-energy
Nova Scotia bets on economic lift from rising tidal technology
Nova Scotia, with its record-setting tides, could be a world leader in tidal technology. But work is progressing at a snail’s pace in the province, while more investment is under way on the other side of the ocean, in Scotland and France.
The epicentre of Nova Scotia’s attempts to stay in the tidal game is a stretch of ocean floor near the town of Parrsboro. Here, in the Minas Basin – a huge inlet of the Bay of Fundy – the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) hopes to become a key centre of tidal power research. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/slowly-but- surely-nova-scotia-sees-progress-in-developing-tidal-technology/article13945483/
26 Google Invests $103 Million in Southern California Solar Project
Google made its 13th renewable energy investment since 2010 this week, helping to fund a 265.7- megawatt (MW) solar project in California.
Google invested $103 million in Silver Ridge Power’s Mount Signal Solar project, the company announced today on its Green Blog. Located in Imperial County, Mount Signal is expected to be operational some time in 2014. http://ecowatch.com/2013/google-invests-103-million-california-solar-project/
Canada, U.S. poised to catch the offshore wind
Canada’s once waning offshore wind sector has been recently resurrected as companies on both coasts are looking to delve into this market thanks to renewable energy demands from the United States and the natural gas sector.
Offshore wind farms, which consist of large wind turbines located several kilometres off a country’s coastline, are already used throughout Britain and other parts of Europe such as Germany because of the quality of the winds and the out-of-sight appeal. But Canada has yet to construct its own even though the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says the country has the potential to be a world leader, ranking it third in the world in the development of technology for offshore renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the United States is taking advantage of advancing offshore wind technology as approximately 30 states have passed legislation that require at least some of their energy be generated by renewable sources.
St. John’s-based Beothuk Energy wants to take advantage of that customer base and last month the company announced its intention to build an offshore wind farm manufacturing facility near Corner Brook. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/breakthrough/canada-us-poised-to-catch-the- offshore-wind/article14988940/
Big Corporations Embracing Microgrids: A Threat for Utilities?
Microgrids are emerging as a credible threat to the dominance of America’s 100-year-old-plus utility monopoly. The small-scale versions of centralized power systems, once just used against blackouts, are now gaining thousands of customers as homeowners in states with high power costs turn to them as a way to manage rooftop solar systems, cut electricity bills and, in some cases, say goodbye to their power companies.
Not much of a factor a decade ago, microgrids are expected to explode into a $40 billion-a-year global business by 2020, according to Navigant Research, a clean-technology data and consulting company. In the U.S., about 6 gigawatts of electricity -- enough to power as many as 4.8 million homes -- will flow through microgrids by 2020, Navigant said. http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/10/big-corporations-embracing- microgrids-a-threat-for-utilities?cmpid=WNL-Friday-October25-2013
27 Canadian geothermal firm finds hot opportunities abroad
For Vancouver-based Alterra Power Corp., today’s big geothermal energy opportunities lie outside Canada. Publicly traded renewable energy specialist Alterra operates two geothermal plants in Iceland with a total capacity of 172 megawatts and a 23-megawatt-capacity facility in Soda Lake near Reno, Nev. It owns the latter outright and the former with Icelandic pension funds. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/breakthrough/canadian-geothermal-firm-finds-hot- opportunities-abroad/article15133903/
28 Science and Health
Update on Hydraulic Fracturing - Medical Society of the State of New York
MSSNY’s Preventive Medicine and Family Health Committee was charged with studying the subject and informing MSSNY policy on fracking, and recommended delaying the onset of operations. MSSNY Council adopted a policy on December 9, 2010 (Position Statement # 90.992) to “support a moratorium on natural gas extraction using high volume hydraulic fracturing in New York State until valid scientific information is available to evaluate the process for its potential effects on human health and the environment.”
MSSNY recommended ongoing monitoring and analysis, including a Health Impact Assessment which should be conducted by the New York State Department of Health or a different, non-governmental, health organization.
Potential Health Effects from Hydrofracking Chemicals
The chemically complex world in which we live today continually exposes us to an abundance of industrial toxins that are in our food, water and air supply. All of us carry an unknown burden of environmental contaminants that affect our health, including unborn fetuses. Many toxins cross the placenta, and newborns today are born with at least 200 to 300 chemical contaminants in their cord blood, 10-15 and in meconium, 15 amniotic fluid, 16 placenta or in their mother’s breast milk. 12,14 Furthermore, mixtures of different chemicals can act synergistically to potentiate adverse developmental effects 17 and many serious chronic diseases including cancer, later on in life. These alarming facts caution us to pursue greater awareness and wiser, more carefully regulated approaches to future industrial endeavors such as hydrofracking. http://aapdistrictii.org/update-on-hydrofracking/
Potential Public Health Implications of Unconventional Shale Gas Drilling Bernard D. Goldstein, MD - University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health April 4, 2013
My View: What’s the Rush to Drill?
• There is no reasonable scenario in which non-fossil fuels or energy conservation will completely obviate our national need for fossil fuels in the next few decades • During this time it is certain that virtually all of the natural gas within the US tight shale formations will be tapped • In contrast to the Gulf oil deposits, which might be tapped by other countries, the shale gas deposits of natural gas are ours
So what’s the rush?
My Advice STALL http://www.munsontwp.com/Fracking_PPT/Ohio_Notre_Dame_april_4.pdf
29 Another Alberta Family Flees Oil Sands Pollution
Thera Breau, a 36-year-old physiotherapist and mother of four young boys, says she moved her family to central Alberta this week and won't be coming back.
"I see the health effects on my boys, the tremendous traffic on the roads and I can smell the bitumen."
Air pollution from heated bitumen storage tanks owned by Calgary-based Baytex Energy just south of the town of Peace River is said to have sickened dozens of people and already forced at least six families to leave their homes over the last two years.
Powerful and rank emissions from bitumen storage tanks and land farming of petroleum wastes northeast of Peace River in the Three Creeks area have also resulted in persistent health complaints from scores of local farmers. http://thetyee.ca/News/2013/03/22/Alberta-Family-Flees-Oil-Sands/
Health Effects of Chemicals Used in Fracking
An in-depth review by Dr. Theo Colborn and colleagues at The Endocrine Disruption Exchange generated a list of hundreds of products used during oil and gas development and only a fraction of their respective chemical components. The study, “Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective,” published in 2011, presented an extensive database of fracking products and chemicals made publicly available to date, and their respective health effects. http://www.psr-la.org/health-effects-of-chemicals-used-in-fracking/
Note that the link to "Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective" in the article is broken. The following two links will work. http://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/fracking%20chemicals %20from%20a%20public%20health%20perspective.pdf http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10807039.2011.605662
Fracking Can Lead to Lung Cancer, US Scientists Claim
Fracking poses a significant health risk to workers involved in the shale gas drilling process being pushed by Whitehall.
A study from the US, where fracking is making big inroads, found that workers risked developing a disease that caused inflammation and scarring to the lungs - and had the potential to cause lung cancer.
Prime Minister David Cameron said that fracking was essential to the UK's energy mix. It would make Britain more energy-efficient, create jobs and reduce energy bills, he claimed. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/498503/20130812/fracking-causes-lung-inflammation-scarring-cancer- workers.htm
30 Moncton emergency physician says shale gas is a public health issue
Dr. Angie LeGresley, an emergency physician at Moncton hospital, shared her thoughts about shale gas at a June 2 rally in Moncton, NB.
Hi, my name is Angie Legresley and I have been an emergency physician in Moncton since 1998. I want to thank the organizers for asking me to speak.
In the Moncton emergency dept we see patients of all ages with both acute and chronic illness as well as patients from all over the province…trauma patients in particular who are transferred to us.
I say that to remind you that emergency as well as family physicians are on the front line to deal with any public health threat.
I realised there was controversy about shale gas and decided to look into it from a public health perspective, not a financial perspective.. The more I read, the more interested and concerned I became….partly because it is difficult to get credible information re all of the possible public health implications.
From my perspective as an emergency physician, I am concerned not just about the possible long term effects of exposure to various chemicals and carcinogens in the air and water but also the short term risks related to increase air, noise and light pollution, especially in the area of drilling ,as well as the risks of toxic spills, chemical exposures, fires ,explosions and increased traffic accidents. http://frackingandhealth.ca/96/
Dr. Eilish Cleary and the Sackville Memorial Hospital medical staff speak out about the dangers of fracking
On July 9th 2013, the New Brunswick branch of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI) announced the recipient of its national Environmental Health Review (EHR) award, given out every year to a person or organization that made a valuable contribution to the field of public health. On July 11th 2013, CIPHI presented the EHR award to Dr. Eilish Cleary and the New Brunswick Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (NB OCMOH). Dr. Cleary was selected for her leadership in producing the report, “Chief Medical Officer of Health’s Recommendations Concerning Shale Gas Development in New Brunswick.”
Gary O’Toole, National President of CIPHI stated “Dr. Cleary has demonstrated exceptional leadership in protecting the health of New Brunswickers and this award recognizes the work of her office in bringing public attention to the potential health effects of shale gas exploration.” http://canadians.org/content/dr-eilish-cleary-and-sackville-memorial-hospital-medical-staff-speak-out- about-dangers
Heavy Air Pollution in Canada Linked to Cancer Spikes in Rural Region
It turns out that heavy air pollution in Canada may be associated with cancer spikes. Scientists have discovered that levels of contaminants higher than in some of the world's most polluted cities have
31 been found downwind of Canada's largest oil, gas and tar sands processing zone in a rural area where men suffer elevated rates of cancers linked to such chemicals.
In order to examine how this processing zone might be impacting the community downwind from it, the researchers captured emissions in the rural Fort Saskatchewan area. They took one-minute samples at random times in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Despite the random times, though, all of the samples showed similar results; amounts of some dangerous volatile organic compounds were 6,000 times higher than normal.
That's not all the researchers discovered, either. It turns out that the Alberta plumes were comparable to those found in heavily polluted megacities. In fact, the levels of some chemicals were higher than in Mexico City during the 1990s or in the still polluted Houston-Galveston area. http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/10415/20131023/heavy-air-pollution-canada-linked-cancer- spikes-rural-region.htm
Study finds carcinogens downwind of Edmonton petrochemical plants http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/study-finds-carcinogens-downwind-of-edmonton-petrochemical-plants- 1.1509934
32 Economics, Legal, and Investigations
Gaz de schiste : premiers déclins aux Etats-Unis
C'est là que le boom des gaz de schiste a commencé. C'est là aussi que le déclin semble s'amorcer. Les champs de Barnett et de Haynesville, dans le Sud des Etat-Unis, ont franchi leur pic de production respectivement en novembre et décembre 2011.
Les puits de Barnett et Haynesville ont fourni jusqu'ici près de la moitié de la production américaine de gaz de schiste.
Le développement plus tardif du troisième principal champ nord-américain de gaz de schiste, celui de Marcellus dans les Appalaches, compense jusqu'ici le déclin de ses deux prédécesseurs. La poursuite du développement de Marcellus joue un rôle clé pour maintenir sur un plateau la production totale de gaz naturel aux Etats-Unis, stable depuis le début de l'année 2012.
Bing translation
Shale Gas: first declines in the United States
It is there that the shale gas boom began. It is there also that decline seems to boot. The Barnett and Haynesville, in the South of the State United, fields reached their peak production respectively in November and December 2011.
The Barnett and Haynesville Wells provided so far nearly half of U.S. production of shale gas.
The later development of the third main field North American shale gas, the Marcellus in Appalachia, offsets so far the decline of his two predecessors. The continuation of the development of Marcellus plays a key role to maintain on a plateau production of natural gas in the United States, stable since the beginning of the year 2012. http://petrole.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/10/01/gaz-de-schiste-premiers-declins-aux-etats-unis/
Externalities par Sustainable Man David Suzuki - Embedded Video
L’environnement est considéré comme une externalité en économie. Pourtant l’environnement est au coeur du tout ce qui nous entoure et de ce que nous sommes. David Suzuki vous présente, dans cette vidéo percutante, les effets néfastes de notre modèle économique actuel. http://www.jourdelaterre.tv/coups-doeil/externalities/
San Carlos: Judge orders PG&E to shut down natural gas pipeline
SAN CARLOS -- Acting on concerns from city officials that a failure to properly inspect a natural gas pipeline could lead to an explosion like the one that devastated a San Bruno neighborhood in 2010, a San Mateo County judge late Friday ordered PG&E to shut down the pipeline.
33 Superior Court Judge George Miram signed a temporary injunction shortly after San Carlos City Manager Jaff Maltbie declared a state of emergency following the company's refusal to act on the city's request to close the pipeline, known as line 147. The company has until Oct. 15 to contest the order; a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 24. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24245177/san-carlos-judge-orders-pg-e-shut-down
CEO of Royal Dutch Shell admits it might take longer than expected to see shale benefits
Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser has claimed that it will take longer than initially thought for the company to see the benefits of its shale gas projects, following poor short-term results. Weak US shale liquids production was a contributing factor in the firm’s decision to scrap its goal to deliver 4 million barrels a day by 2017.
Voser said: “We didn’t get the results which we were expecting to get in the shorter term and we will therefore have to develop this a little bit more before we can take benefits from it,” Voser told reporters on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress. It was clearly not as successful as thought.” http://www.shaleenergyinsider.com/2013/10/15/ceo-of-royal-dutch-shell-admits-it-might-take-longer- than-expected-to-see-shale-benefits/? utm_source=Shale+Energy+Insider&utm_campaign=5060ece20e- 16_10_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_346cca65c0-5060ece20e-14604705
Shell CEO talks about disappointment in shale three months before stepping down
The Financial Times spoke to Shell CEO Peter Voser, three months before he will be giving up this position, who said that he regretted the ‘huge bet’ – at least USD 24 billion – the company made on US shale.
According to Voser: “Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned… We expected higher flow rates and therefore more scalability for a company like Shell.”
He also said that the company’s Upstream Americas business was suffering due to a “strategic decision to slow down” on shale when faced with low gas prices. “Therefore you are hit with more than $3bn of depreciation whilst you don’t have the revenues against it,” he said.
Earlier this year in August, Shell had posted a 60% fall in profit for the second quarter, largely as a result of a write-down of more than $2 billion on the value of its North American liquids-rich shale assets, following which it said it would review its US shale portfolio strategy. http://www.shaleenergyinsider.com/2013/10/07/shell-ceo-talks-about-disappointment-in-shale-three- months-before-stepping-down/?utm_source=Shale+Energy+Insider&utm_campaign=ae7dcd6670- 07_10_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_346cca65c0-ae7dcd6670-14604705
Southwestern Energy faces fracking lawsuit
A U.S. company that is seeking to drill for natural gas in New Brunswick is facing a class-action lawsuit in Arkansas over its use of the controversial hydro-fracking procedure.
34 Southwestern Energy has committed to invest $49 million into the province as a part of a three-year licence to search for oil and gas.
But in the United States it is already facing a claim for damages from about a dozen families in Pennsylvania. Now, another law firm has launched a class-action suit in Arkansas. Tim Holton, the lead lawyer on the case, said hundreds of people could be included in the latest lawsuit.
Holton said the case started when one family's water well was turned into a gas well allegedly because of nearby fracking.
"The water well next door to their house began to spew methane. So much so that they ended up putting a flare in the person's backyard," Holton said. http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/new-brunswick/story/1.1007171
Alberta woman loses round in anti-fracking lawsuit, can't sue Alberta regulator
Jessica Ernst launched a $33-million lawsuit against the Alberta government, the province's energy regulator and energy company Encana (TSX:ECA).
She claims gas wells fracked around her property in southern Alberta unleashed hazardous amounts of methane and ethane gas and other chemicals into her water well.
An Alberta Court of Queen's Bench judge has ruled Ernst can't sue the regulator because under provincial law it is immune from private legal claims. http://ckom.com/content/albertan-loses-round-anti-fracking-lawsuit http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/09/jessica-ernst-loses-anti-fracking-lawsuit-_n_4072429.html
Shale: High depletion rates in Bakken
Fracked wells age very fast. The initial production is very high so is the rate of depletion. The point is, a newly fracked well may produce 1,000 barrels a day, but this falls by sixty percent the next year, thirty five by the third and fifteen percent by the fourth. Oil companies should replace forty to forty five percent of the current production each year to maintain/increase production. For now at least, the number of wells and cost of production can keep pace with profits because of the higher oil prices. But what happens when the price comes down? The depletion rates will make the wells unviable and the search of oil will continue elsewhere. Roughly the US will need more than 9,000 wells at more than $50 billion to counterbalance the declines.
The number of operating wells in the US has been increasing rapidly while the corresponding productivity (considering all the wells in the US) has declined. There are about 9,000 wells in North Dakota (analyst expect the number to go up to 50,000 by 2030). The state produced more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day in May, a new record. This averages to 89 b/d from each well in North Dakota, hence the need to constantly add new wells in order to maintain a sustainable level of output. http://oil-price.net/en/articles/shale-high-depletion-rates-in-bakken.php
35 ABOUT THAT SHALE OIL & GAS MIRACLE
Not a day goes by without a story in the MSM by some industry shill like Daniel Yergen about the imminent energy independence of the Great American Empire. Shale oil and gas will revolutionize the American energy prospects. We have hundreds of years of oil and gas under our feet. We will be a net exporter in the next few years. A glorious future awaits. Politicians tout the billions of barrels to be extracted from Bakken, Eagle Ford and the hundreds of untapped shale formations across the country. Wall Street puts out glowing investment analysis papers promoting the latest IPO. There’s just one little problem. It’s all hype.
Royal Dutch Shell is one of the biggest corporations in the world, with financial resources greater than 99% of all the organizations on earth. Their CEO probably knows a little bit more about oil exploration than the Wall Street systers and CNBC bimbos. His company has poured $24 billion into shale exploration in the U.S. It has been a huge failure. They have already written off $2.1 billion. They are trying to sell huge swaths of land in the Eagle Ford area. They are losing money in the shale oil and gas business. If Shell can’t make it profitable, who can?
The flow rates are too low. The extraction costs are too high. Companies will only invest in ventures where they have a reasonable chance to make money. Shell is a rational company, led by a rational man. He says they can’t make money. Of course, if oil prices reach $150 and natural gas prices reach $8, then companies can make money. All of the cheap easily accessible oil and gas have been accessed. Only the expensive hard to access oil and gas are left. The shyters never mention these facts when they tout our future energy independence. http://www.theburningplatform.com/2013/10/07/about-that-shale-oil-gas-miracle/
Calgary firm sues Corridor over data use
Corridor Resources Inc. of Halifax is being sued for more than $1.73 million for allegedly using a Calgary company’s intellectual property without paying for it.
Geophysical Service Inc. alleged in documents filed recently in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta that Corridor breached a 2003 licensing agreement between the two firms by acquiring prorietary seismic data compiled for government regulatory bodies without authorization or payment. The plaintiff valued the data at $680,960.01, based on GSI’s licensing fee rates, according to court documents filed in Calgary. GSI also alleged that Corridor used the data to receive $1,052,520 in allowable expenditure credits from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, despite a prohibition allegedly included in the 2003 agreement.
GSI filed a similar, $13-million action against Hunt Oil Co. of Canada Inc. in Nova Scotia Supreme Court last week. http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1160934-calgary-firm-sues-corridor-over-data-use
Norse Energy shutting down U.S. operations as New York hydrofracking moratorium continues
ALBANY — The Norwegian gas-drilling company that has wells in Madison County and had planned to drill the first hydrofracking well in the deep Utica shale is shutting down its U.S. operations.
36 Oslo-based Norse Energy Corp. announced last Friday it was converting from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, meaning it was ceasing operations. Norse will shutter its U.S. affiliates and terminate its final eight employees. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/norse_energy_were_leaving_new_york_because_we _cant_frack.html
Scientists live in a ‘climate of fear’; poll suggests federal researchers can’t speak freely
OTTAWA – Ninety per cent of Canadian government scientists feel they can’t speak freely to the media and half say they have seen the health and safety of Canadians or environmental sustainability compromised because of political interference with scientific work, says a national survey of federal scientists.
“Science is increasingly being frozen out of policy decisions and scientists themselves are not able to provide timely, vital scientific information to Canadians,” said Gary Corbett, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada union, which represents 60,000 government workers.
The 4,000 scientists who responded to the survey made it clear that muzzling of scientists is prevalent and is negatively affecting Canadians, Corbett said. PIPSC spokesman Peter Bleyer said the response rate was “robust” for an online survey; Environics says the results would reflect the opinions of federal scientists within 1.6 percentage points 19 times out of 20. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/national/Scientists+live+climate+fear+poll+suggests+federal/9063 045/story.html
U.S. has ‘overfracked and overdrilled,’ Shell director says
“The reservoirs don’t need that many wells. The reservoirs don’t need that many stages of fracks, because not all the pieces of the rocks are as good,” Mr. Bichsel said in a telephone interview from Vancouver last week, where he was speaking at a company event.
“We only talk about the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and the Permian in West Texas, and the Marcellus — we never talk about the basins that have not worked,” said Mr. Bichsel, a geologist by training. “We have some areas that are simply not as good as others.” http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/18/u-s-has-overfracked-and-overdrilled-shell-director-says/? __lsa=6be8-9fc0
Rexton from a constitutional point of view
What follows is my understanding, in my own words...and there is more that will have to wait for another time. Here it goes: Subsection 35(1) of our Constitution Act (1982) states "existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed." Subsection 35(1) makes clear in no uncertain terms that Aboriginal peoples have a different constitutional standing NOT SUPERIOR but DIFFERENT when it comes to Canadian Law.
37 In addition, the affirmation of treaty rights confirms these treaties remain the legally binding contracts they were at the time of signing and must be upheld.
Section 25 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states "the guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from any Aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms that pertain to the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada."
Finally for today, and most importantly in light of the Elsipogtog situation...the legislative assemblies of the provinces passing legislation that singles out Indian people or that pass legislation which is intended for the general population of said province but is either a) detrimental to First Nations or b) impacts matters that are of federal jurisdiction over First Nations and their lands
Such legislation has exceeded the authority of said legislature and appears (indeed I am almost 100% convinced) ULTRA-VIRES meaning invalid.
In sum, the Government of New Brunswick seems to have broken the law according to the standards set by our Constitution. If they had of included the Mi'kmaq as demanded by our Constitution, blockades would never have been seen as necessary by the People of the Dawn. I pray for favourable and peaceful resolutions for all my relations. https://monctonfreepress.ca/post/23858
The Heresy of Capitalism Threatens Well Being in Indian Country
Capitalist market fundamentalism at its most basic level is defined by and depends on the endless exploitation of natural (and human) resources, or what we normally call economic growth. The principle of market sustainability holds that the maintenance of and unrestricted access to markets stimulates growth and reverses violence. It doesn’t take an economics genius to understand that on a finite planet there is no such thing as unlimited resources, to say nothing of how the unfettered exploitation of those resources, especially fossil fuels, is responsible for global warming.
But more to the point: market-based capitalism is fundamentally rooted in competition, and competition means there will always be winners and losers. Its results are an intensely stratified social class system. So the obvious question is, how can an economic system that creates such profound differences between the haves and the have-nots—and thus violent crime—simultaneously prevent violence? The answer is it can’t. It’s a fallacy of epic proportions to think that the invisible hand of an omnipotent market will lead to social equity. http://www.smagnis.com/the-heresy-of-capitalism-threatens-well-being-in-indian-country/
U.S. Shale-Oil Boom May Not Last as Fracking Wells Lack Staying Power
Chesapeake Energy’s (CHK) Serenity 1-3H well near Oklahoma City came in as a gusher in 2009, pumping more than 1,200 barrels of oil a day and kicking off a rush to drill that extended into Kansas. Now the well produces less than 100 barrels a day, state records show. Serenity’s swift decline sheds
38 light on a dirty secret of the oil boom: It may not last. Shale wells start strong and fade fast, and producers are drilling at a breakneck pace to hold output steady. In the fields, this incessant need to drill is known as the Red Queen, after the character in Through the Looking-Glass who tells Alice, “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-10/u-dot-s-dot-shale-oil-boom-may-not-last-as-fracking- wells-lack-staying-power
Fracking linked to rape, meth addiction, and STDs
Yet another reason to hate fracking: It’s connected with an increase in STDs, car crashes, drug-related crimes, and sexual assault in areas where the oil and gas industry sets up shop. Or in Vice-speak, fracking workers have “an insatiable appetite for raw sex and hard drugs.” Writes Peter Rugh on Vice:
Critics of fracking have compared it to raping the Earth, but where drilling has spread, literal rape has followed. Violence against woman in fracking boomtowns in North Dakota and Montana has increased so sharply that the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced in June that it plans to spend half a million dollars investigating the correlation…[T]he DoJ speculated that “oil industry camps may be impacting domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the direct and surrounding communities in which they reside.” http://grist.org/list/fracking-linked-to-rape-meth-addiction-and-stds/? utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=socialflow
Legal proceedinks filed against citizens by SWN
Proceedings have been filed against ten named individuals plus Jane and John Doe in the Court of Queens Bench Trial Division at Moncton. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1AfXdlRj1QCb1dPSERwR2NNQms/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1
Scientists wary of shale oil and gas as US energy salvation
After 10 years of production, shale gas in the United States cannot be considered commercially viable, according to several scientists presenting at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver on Monday. They argue that while the use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling for "tight oil" is an important contributor to U.S. energy supply, it is not going to result in long-term sustainable production or allow the U.S. to become a net oil exporter.
Both studies show that despite a tripling of prices and of expenditures for oil exploration and development, the production of nearly all countries has been stagnant at best and more commonly is declining—and that prices do not allow for any growth in most economies.
"The many trends of declining EROIs suggest that depletion and increased exploitation rates are trumping new technological developments," Hall said.
J. David Hughes, president of the Canadian firm Global Sustainability Research Inc., echoes Hall with an analysis of the Bakken Field and the Eagle Ford Field of Texas, which together comprise more than
39 half of U.S. tight oil production. It shows that drilling must continue at high levels, to overcome field decline rates of 40 percent per year. http://phys.org/news/2013-10-scientists-wary-shale-oil-gas.html
40 Regulations
European Union Votes for Mandatory Fracking Impact Studies
While fracking has been touted as the answer to our energy and economic problems in the U.S., Europe has proven to be more cautious of these claims. Yesterday, members of the European Parliament endorsed proposals to impose mandatory, in-depth Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for all shale gas and other unconventional drilling activities in the European Union (EU), according to Food & Water Watch Europe.
The new rules would mean that large scale fracking projects require audits based on “the direct and indirect significant effects” on human health, animal species and habitats, land, water and climate.
The decision demonstrates the EU’s resolve to avoid an out-of-control, unregulated shale gas drilling boom like that in the U.S. Mandatory EIAs would provide baseline data for proposed drilling sites, increase preparedness among environmental agencies and allow community residents to be included in consultation early on in the drilling process.
“This vote to impose a mandatory EIA for all shale gas drilling was a litmus test for the resolve among MEPs to demand an adequate risk-management framework for shale gas activities in Europe,” said Geert De Cock, a Food & Water Europe policy officer. “The majority in favor of this proposal should be a boost of confidence for Environment Commissioner Potocnick to bring forward stringent proposals for this risky industry.” http://ecowatch.com/2013/europe-votes-for-mandatory-fracking-impact-studies/
One Man's Clever Idea to Fight Frackers and Save His Organic Farm
He did more than just act against fracking when he became the first private property owner in the United States to use a deed easement recognizing the Rights of Nature.
What we’re trying to do is make the gas companies come into court and argue against the rights of Nature , to make them argue that their industrial activity they call “fracking” gets to threaten those living systems by which all of life is sustained. We don’t think they will want to do that. The easement is one of a number of steps I’m willing to take to hold them off.”
It isn’t only individuals that can take a stand, and are taking a stand, in this way. Cities, townships, and municipalities are adopting community bills of rights that put their right to a clean ecosystem and the Rights of Nature into law. Pittsburgh has banned fracking within its city limits on such a basis. These local ordinances display a paradigm shift in our culture towards recognizing Nature’s rights and asserting our community rights.
Anyone interested in discussing a similar easement for their land should contact Shannon Biggs at Global Exchange, or the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). CELDF helped Cleghorn write his easement and is a signatory to it, standing ready to defend the easement in court if that becomes necessary. http://www.alternet.org/fracking/one-mans-clever-idea-fight-frackers-and-save-his-organic-farm? page=0%2C1&akid=11027.243243.ZvTXzj&rd=1&src=newsletter908277&t=10
41 UK fracking ambitions threatened by EU warning over methane emissions
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says methane is 86 times more damaging than CO2 over a 20-year period, and risks triggering a dangerous “feedback loop” for global warming.
Mr Delbeke’s warnings come as Brussels draws up its framework law for shale by the end of the year, shaping rules that could make or break the industry in Europe. A tough code risks a cathartic showdown with Britain just as the country gears up for a referendum on EU membership. Any sense that Brussels was obstructing the UK’s economic revival could prove the last straw for many voters. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10370306/UK-fracking-ambitions- threatened-by-EU-warning-over-methane-emissions.html?fb
Gary Tresidder’s story is the third in a series of short films on hydraulic fracturing in Alberta
Dr. Gary Tresidder is determined to make progress on the impacts of hydraulic fracturing for tight oil that occurs just across the road from his Lochend home in the Cardium play. For three years, operators have violated flaring regulations, causing serious health problems for Gary and his family. Within a five- kilometre radius, there are approximately 80 wells. About seven to nine of the wells immediately upwind of his house flared gases for 18 consecutive months without penalty, longer than the maximum 72 hours allowed by regulations.
Gary has education in dentistry, medicine, and chemistry and despite his recent experiences with local industry activity, he makes his position on oil and gas development clear.
“I am not against the oil companies, I’ve owned many shares in oil companies. It’s just their new high, high pressure hydraulic fracturing….” http://albertavoices.ca/stories/thetresidders
42 Environment and Enjoyment of Property
More Bang For Our Buck
Canada’s increasing reliance on the oil sands is not the best strategy for the economy or our environment. This report shows if the $1.3 billion in government subsidies, now given to the oil and gas sector, were instead invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency, Canada would create more jobs: 18,000 more. We also discuss in detail the economic risks of relying increasingly on the volatile oil market. A graphic illustrating the job growth potential is available here. http://bluegreencanada.ca/more-bang-for-our-buck
Some Places on Earth Should Remain Untouched - Embedded video
Few places on our planet have been unaffected by humans. Satellite images taken from hundreds of kilometres above Earth reveal a world irrevocably changed by our land use over just the past few decades. From Arctic tundra, to primeval rainforest, to arid desert, our natural world is being fragmented by ever- expanding towns and cities, roads, transmission lines and pipelines, and pockmarked by mines, pump jacks, flare stacks and other infrastructure used to drill, frack and strip-mine fossil fuels.
Areas that have remained relatively free of industrial development have thus taken on a special significance. They're places where a wide range of animals feed, breed and roam in large numbers, where rivers run wild and indigenous people fish, hunt and practise traditional ways. In Canada, they include awe-inspiring landscapes like the boreal forests of Pimachiowin Aki straddling the Manitoba-Ontario border, Gwaii Haanas off Canada's West Coast and the Sacred Headwaters (called Tl'abāne in the local Tahltan language and pronounced "Klabona" in English) in northwestern B.C. The latter is the birthplace of three of the continent's great salmon rivers, the Stikine, Skeena and Nass. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/david-suzuki/tahltans-sacred-headwaters_b_3943788.html
Colorado among top three frack-wracked states in nation
When it comes to environmental impacts from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, Colorado ranks among the three most negatively affected states in the country in most categories, according to a new report from the Environment Colorado Research & Policy Center.
And Colorado ranks second only to Texas in the report when it comes to certain indicators on the spread of fracking and its effects.
As of press time, the center was set to formally unveil its report, “Fracking by the Numbers: Key Impacts of Dirty Drilling at the State and National Level,” at an Oct. 3 event in downtown Denver featuring Boulder City Council member and environmental attorney Macon Cowles, Lafayette community activist and trauma nurse Cliff Willmeng and Environment Colorado field associate Lindsey Wilson. http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-11727-report-colorado-amon.html
43 Groundbreaking Report Calculates Damage Done by Fracking
As federal policy makers decide on rules for fracking on public lands, a new report calculates the toll of this dirty drilling on our environment, including 280 billion gallons of toxic wastewater generated by fracking in 2012—enough to flood all of Washington, DC, in a 22-foot deep toxic lagoon. The Environment America Research & Policy Center report, Fracking by the Numbers, is the first to measure the damaging footprint of fracking to date.
“The numbers don’t lie—fracking has taken a dirty and destructive toll on our environment,” said John Rumpler, senior attorney for Environment America. “If this dirty drilling continues unchecked, these numbers will only get worse.” http://ecowatch.com/2013/report-calculates-damage-by-fracking/ http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/10/04/2731921/fracking-billion-gallons-wastewater/
The report - Fracking by the Numbers http://www.environmentamerica.org/sites/environment/files/reports/EA_FrackingNumbers_scrn.pdf
Nobel laureates press EU leaders on tar sands law
(Reuters) - Twenty-one Nobel laureates including South African anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu have written to European Union leaders urging them to implement a law that would label oil from tar sands as dirtier than other crudes.
The EU tar sands proposal has incensed the government of Canada, whose economy is highly dependent on its vast reserves of unconventional oil and it has overshadowed protracted talks on a trade treaty with the European Union.
The Nobel laureates say the EU law is necessary because "the extraction of unconventional fuels - such as oil sands and oil shale - is having a particularly devastating impact on climate change", according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.
The letter was sent this week to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU heads of state. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/02/us-eu-tarsands-idUSBRE9911C520131002? feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563
More Bad News For Fracking: IPCC Warns Methane Traps Much More Heat Than We Thought
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that methane (CH4) is far more potent a greenhouse gas than we had previously realized.
We learned last month that the best fracked wells appear to have low emissions of methane, but that study likely missed the high-emitting wells that result in the vast majority of methane leakage. Back in August, a NOAA-led study measured a stunning 6% to 12% methane leakage over one of the country’s largest gas fields — which would gut the climate benefits of switching from coal to gas.
44 But the IPCC’s latest report, released Monday (big PDF here), reports that methane is 34 times stronger a heat-trapping gas than CO2 over a 100-year time scale, so its global-warming potential (GWP) is 34. That is a nearly 40% increase from the IPCC’s previous estimate of 25. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/10/02/2708911/fracking-ipcc-methane/
The report - LARGE 158 megabytes http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WGIAR5_WGI-12Doc2b_FinalDraft_All.pdf
Methane Is Popping Up All Over Boston
In Boston and many other aging cities in the Northeast, a maze of underground low-pressure natural gas pipelines are riddled with leaks. The research team, led by Nathan Phillips, an associate professor of earth and environment at Boston University, measured atmospheric methane concentrations along all 785 miles of road within Boston’s city limits with a highly sensitive device known as a cavity-ring- down mobile CH4 analyzer.
They discovered 3,356 leaks of methane whose isotopic characteristics indicated that they originated in fossil fuel rather than microbial sources. Some leaks clocked in at more than 15 times the global background methane level, the researchers write in the journal Environmental Pollution. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/methane-is-popping-up-all-over-boston/?_r=0
Wendell Berry on His Hopes for Humanity - Moyers & Company, Embedded video
Wendell Berry, a quiet and humble man, has become an outspoken advocate for revolution. He urges immediate action as he mourns how America has turned its back on the land and rejected Jeffersonian principles of respect for the environment and sustainable agriculture. Berry warns, “People who own the world outright for profit will have to be stopped; by influence, by power, by us.” In a rare television interview, this visionary, author, and farmer discusses a sensible, but no-compromise plan to save the Earth. http://billmoyers.com/segment/wendell-berry-on-his-hopes-for-humanity/
Fracking hurts US climate change credibility, say scientists
Huge growth in fracking for shale gas is undermining America's credibility at international climate change talks, say climate scientists.
As fracking catapults the United States to the top of the list of the world’s largest crude oil and natural gas producers, climate scientists worry that the nation's booming fossil fuels production is growing too quickly with too little concern about its impact on climate change, possibly endangering America’s efforts to curb global greenhouse gas emissions.
45 The U.S. is likely to become the world’s top producer of crude oil and natural gas by the end of 2013, producing more hydrocarbons than either Russia or Saudi Arabia, the Energy Information Administration recently announced. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/11/fracking-us-climate-credibility-shale-gas
Canada won't come close to meeting emissions target: Environment Canada
The Environment Canada report released today shows that the country is on pace to get just half way to the greenhouse gas emissions target under the Copenhagen Accord. Even with long-overdue regulations on the oil and gas sector which have not yet been announced, the report doesn't foresee a scenario where the 2020 target will be met.
The report says increased production in Alberta's oil sands will result in overall emissions from the oil and gas sector increasing by 28 per cent between 2005 and 2020. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-won-t-come-close-to-meeting-emissions-target-environment- canada-1.1511806
Arctic Temperatures Reach Highest Levels In 44,000 Years, Study Finds
New research shows that average summer temperatures in the Canadian Arctic over the last century are the highest in the last 44,000 years, and perhaps the highest in 120,000 years.
"The key piece here is just how unprecedented the warming of Arctic Canada is," Gifford Miller, a researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a joint statement from the school and the publisher of the journal Geophysical Researcher Letters, in which the study by Miller and his colleagues was published online this week. "This study really says the warming we are seeing is outside any kind of known natural variability, and it has to be due to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/arctic-temperatures-highest-44000-years_n_4157863.html? ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
More than 15 Million Americans Now Live Within One Mile of a Fracking Well
The natural gas boom has led to an “unprecedented industrialization” of many Americans’ backyards, an analysis from the Wall Street Journal has found. The WSJ looked at census and natural gas well data from more than 700 counties in 11 major natural- gas producing states, and found that at least 15.3 million Americans have a natural gas well within one mile of their home that has been drilled since 2000. That’s more than the population of Michigan or New York.
The boom has left some towns inundated with natural gas operations. In suburban Johnson County, Texas, 99.5 percent of the area’s 150,000 residents now live within a mile of the county’s 3,900 wells — in 2000, there were fewer than 20 oil and gas wells. http://www.nationofchange.org/more-15-million-americans-now-live-within-one-mile-fracking-well- 1382883382
46 Changements climatiques : des leaders environnementaux tendent la main à l'industrie pétrolière et gazière Climate change: environmental leaders reaching out to the oil and gas industry
Vous réunissez les membres de votre association aujourd'hui à l'hôtel Sheraton de Montréal dans le cadre de votre Assemblée générale annuelle. Vous aurez d'ailleurs le privilège d'entendre le ministre des Finances du Québec, Monsieur Nicolas Marceau. Comme ce fut souvent le cas par le passé, vos assises seront certainement l'occasion de porter votre regard sur les obstacles qui vous empêchent de réaliser vos projets d'exploration et d'extraction de pétrole et de gaz de schiste au Québec, notamment sur l'opposition des groupes environnementaux et d'une partie significative de la population et de la société civile.
Cette opposition est légitime, bien qu'elle ne serve pas vos intérêts. Elle s'appuie sur une problématique réelle, celle du réchauffement climatique, et est fondée sur des connaissances scientifiques désormais indéniables. Le dernier Rapport d'évaluation du GIEC est sans équivoque quant aux changements climatiques en cours, à la responsabilité des activités humaines (en particulier de l'exploitation des carburants fossiles) et à la trajectoire catastrophique dans laquelle nous sommes engagés. Vous aurez bien compris que notre position vient du fait que nous ne parvenons pas à comprendre comment on peut aujourd'hui vouloir exploiter du pétrole et du gaz (au Québec, comme partout ailleurs dans le monde) sans contribuer à empoisonner le climat et à dérégler le fonctionnement des cycles naturels et l'intégrité des écosystèmes sur lesquels repose la vie sur Terre. Notre position est la même que celle de la Banque mondiale, de la communauté scientifique internationale, de l'Agence internationale de l'Énergie et des Nations Unies.
Bing translation
You get members of your association today at the Sheraton hotel in Montreal as part of your General Assembly annual. You'll also the privilege of hearing the Minister of Finance of Québec, Mr. Nicolas Marceau. As was often the case in the past, your seats will certainly be an opportunity to take your look at the obstacles that prevent you from achieving your projects of exploration and extraction of oil and shale gas in Quebec, including opposition from environmental groups and a significant part of the population and civil society.
This opposition is legitimate, although she does not serve your interests. It relies on a real problem, that of global warming, and is based on scientific knowledge now undeniable. The last IPCC assessment report is unequivocal about the ongoing climate change, the responsibility of human activities (in particular the exploitation of fossil fuels) and to the catastrophic path in which we are committed. You will have understood our position comes from the fact that we fail to understand how you may now want to exploit oil and gas (in Quebec, as everywhere elsewhere in the world) without contributing to poison the climate and to disrupt the functioning of natural cycles and the integrity of ecosystems on which is based the life on Earth. Our position is the same as that of the World Bank, the international scientific community, the International Energy Agency and the United Nations. http://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/karel-mayrand/lettre-ecologistes-apgq_b_4169962.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Three First Nations formed Political Coalition to protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence
GESPEG, QC, Oct. 29, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - The Innu, Maliseet and Mi'gmaq Chiefs announced today they have formed a Political Coalition to protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the dangers posed by oil and gas exploration.
47 On October 23, 2013 the Chiefs signed - during the Chiefs Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador - a Memorandum of Understanding setting out the Coalition's main objectives:
Speak with a common voice on issues related to the Gulf of St. Lawrence; Protect Aboriginal and Treaty Rights and Title throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence; Prepare and table with the Government of Canada and the Government of Québec a joint Aboriginal and Treaty Rights and Title Claim to the Gulf of St. Lawrence; Develop an Innu, Maliseet and Mi'gmaq Accord in response to the "Accord between the Government of Canada and the Government of Québec accord for the shared management of petroleum resources in the Gulf of St. Lawrence".
"Since time immemorial, the waters and shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence have been used and occupied by the Innu to the north and the Maliseet and Mi'gmaq to the south, for purposes including fishing, hunting, and travel. Our three peoples were the first trading partners of the French from the time that Champlain sailed into the Gulf's waters over 400 years ago", declared Chief Claude Jeannotte on behalf of Mi'gmawei Mawiomi. http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1250873/oil-and-gas-exploration-three-first-nations-formed-political- coalition-to-protect-the-gulf-of-st-lawrence
The document https://www.dropbox.com/s/da5ef30vdib9q8k/The%20Innu%2C%20Maliseet%20and%20Mi %E2%80%99gmaq%20National%20coalition%20for%20the%20protection%20of%20the%20Gulf%20of %20St.%20Lawrence.pdf
Time for Revolt? Some Scientists Say ‘Yes’
Journalist Naomi Klein writes in Britain’s New Statesman magazine that scientists often use softer language than they should when presenting their findings about the inevitability of climate change and the destruction it will bring. But now some scientists are raising their voices and taking action, demanding dramatic changes in the cultural and economic systems that are to blame for our fossil fuel dependency.
Klein starts with a talk by one UC-San Diego researcher, Brad Werner, who presented a talk at a American Geophysical Union conference last year entitled: “Is Earth F**ked? Dynamical Futility of Global Environmental Management and Possibilities for Sustainability via Direct Action Activism.”
“When pressed by a journalist for a clear answer on the ‘are we f**ked’ question,” Klein writes, “Werner set the jargon aside and replied, ‘More or less.’” http://billmoyers.com/2013/10/30/time-for-revolt-some-scientists-say-yes/
Ecology: Lady of the lakes
Diane Orihel set her PhD aside to lead a massive protest when Canada tried to shut down its unique Experimental Lakes Area. http://www.nature.com/news/ecology-lady-of-the-lakes-1.14043
48 Government, Meetings, News, and Letters
Louis LaPierre's research record in question
Scarce evidence online of peer-reviewed papers by Moncton professor called `very unsual' The controversy over Louis LaPierre’s doctoral degree has prompted a debate on what qualifies someone as a scientist — a debate that may also raise new questions about LaPierre.
Prof. Andrea Cabajsky, a professor of English at Moncton University, says it’s also important to look beyond someone’s degree at their academic publishing record. Scientists are expected to conduct original research and report the results in peer-reviewed journals, she said.
“To put it frankly, you're only as good as your last published article,” she says. “In that respect, in academia you really need to be publishing actively and producing research and communicating the results of that research.
“So in effect the PhD gets your foot in the door [during the hiring process], but then when you are publishing, you're renewing your qualifications with each subsequent article that you publish.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/louis-lapierre-s-research-record-in-question-1.1874289
Le prix de la désinformation - The price of misinformation
Il fallait s’y attendre, la tension monte dans le comté de Kent dans le dossier de l’exploration pour le gaz de schiste. Les confrontations entre manifestants et policiers ne sont certainement pas propices à engager un débat rationnel sur toute la question de l’exploitation du gaz de schiste au Nouveau- Brunswick.
Dans ce dossier très délicat, le gouvernement Alward est en déficit de crédibilité. Assez tôt dans son mandat, le gouvernement a distribué par les quotidiens de la province un cahier spécial sur «tout ce qu’on devrait savoir sur le gaz de schiste » . Comme nous l’avions signalé à ce moment-là, le cahier soit passait sous silence certains problèmes associés à l’exploitation du gaz de schiste ou en minimisait les impacts. Le document reprenait de l’information en grande partie produite par l’industrie gazière, légèrement assaisonnée des intentions du gouvernement de s’assurer que la réglementation protégerait l’environnement et la sécurité des sources d’eau potable.
Habituellement, quand il s’agit de l’exploitation des ressources naturelles, le rôle du gouvernement est de réglementer, d’encadrer les activités de l’industrie afin de protéger l’intérêt public. C’est, à notre avis, son rôle primordial que de protéger l’intérêt public. En se donnant le rôle de promoteur de l’exploitation du gaz de schiste, en ne reconnaissant pas la validité des appréhensions de plusieurs de ses citoyens, ceux-ci ont l’impression, avec raison, que leur gouvernement est davantage motivé à protéger les intérêts de l’industrie que ceux des citoyens.
Bing Translation
It was to be expected, the tension mounts in the County of Kent in the folder of the shale gas exploration. Confrontations between protesters and police are certainly not conducive to a rational debate on the issue of the exploitation of gas from shale in New Brunswick.In this very sensitive issue,
49 the Alward Government is deficit of credibility. Early in its mandate, the Government has distributed by newspapers in the province a special booklet on "everything you should know about shale gas. As we had reported at this time there, notebook or ignored some issues related to the exploitation of shale gas or minimized the impacts. The paper reflected the information largely produced by the industry gas, slightly seasoned the intentions of the Government to ensure that regulation would protect the environment and the safety of drinking water sources.
Usually, when it comes to the exploitation of natural resources, the role of the Government is to regulate and supervise the activities of the industry to protect the public interest. In our opinion, it is his role to protect the public interest. Giving himself the role of promoter of the exploitation of shale gas, in failing to recognize the validity of the apprehensions of many of its citizens, they have the impression, rightly, that their Government is more motivated to protect the interests of the industry as those of citizens. http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=d37b918d-df4d-4ba8-a0c0- fa8928440b81&key=YlpU6MqYxxihNect0K2owA%3d %3d&issue=28562013100200000000001001&bookmarkid=U24W46VRJKQ4
New Brunswick Energy Institute names interim replacement for Louis LaPierre
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - The New Brunswick Energy Institute has chosen an interim chairman to replace Louis LaPierre, who quit after admitting he misrepresented his academic credentials.
David Besner, a professional chemical engineer and a former assistant deputy minister with the provincial government, takes the job effective immediately.
Energy Minister Craig Leonard says Besner is a member of the scientific advisory council for the energy institute. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/the-canadian-press/131003/new-brunswick-energy-institute- names-interim-replacement-lou
Council of Canadians applauds Elsipogtog’s sovereignty declaration
FREDERICTON – The Mi’kmaq Chief and council of Elsipogtog First Nations issued a statement on Tuesday vowing to protect our land, water, and air from mining companies like SWN Resources Canada. SWN Resources was also told by Chief and council to leave the province. The Maliseet Chief of Saint Mary’s First Nations concurred.
“We proudly stand by our Aboriginal brothers and sisters on this issue,” says Julia Linke, member of the Fredericton Chapter of the Council of Canadians.
“It is difficult to imagine how this could come as a surprise to anybody,” says Alma Brooks, Traditional Clan Mother Wolastoqiyik of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
Next Monday, October 7th marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 states that lands not ceded to, by treaty or purchased by, the Crown, are reserved for First Nations.
50 “The elected and hereditary leaders of Elsipogtog and the Signigtog district,” says Andrea Bear Nicholas, Retired Chair of Native Studies, St.Thomas University, “are therefore re-asserting their obligations as rightful stewards over Crown lands which they believe are continuously being mis- managed by Canada, the province, and corporations.” http://www.nben.ca/en/collaborative-action/news-from-groups/item/551-council-of-canadians-applauds- elsipogtog%E2%80%99s-sovereignty-declaration
UN special rapporteur, James Anaya, to gauge aboriginal peoples' progress
Visit comes at delicate time for federal government's relationship with First Nations The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is about to put Canada under a microscope.
James Anaya is arriving this weekend, before embarking on a nine-day tour of the country, starting Monday. He will meet with aboriginal people, as well as government officials and even natural resource industry representatives.
Anaya's predecessor visited in 2003 and his final report was not flattering to Canada. It highlighted the continuing inequalities that aboriginal people face in Canada, in terms of economic and social rights, education, housing and health.
"The purpose of my visit is to take stock of what progress has been made," Anaya told CBC News in an interview from his office at the law faculty of the University of Arizona. "That past report does serve as a benchmark of sorts for my visit." http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/politics/story/1.1895425
Royal Proclamation, Canada's 'Indian Magna Carta,' turns 250
A pivotal moment in Canadian and First Nations history gets a small celebration
On Monday a symposium of academics and aboriginal leaders gathers near Ottawa to commemorate one of the most important documents in Canadian history.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III, essentially defined the relationship between the Crown and the native peoples in the new territories in North America acquired by the British — land that would become Canada.
The document became a guide to all treaty-making since, and its presence is felt in the legal underpinnings of Confederation in 1867 and in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. Some refer to it as the Indian Magna Carta. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/royal-proclamation-canada-s-indian-magna-carta-turns-250- 1.1927667?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed&cmp=rss http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/the-royal-proclamation-and-the-way-forward-for-first- nations/article14720012/
51 N.B. Premier firm on shale-gas pledge as anti-fracking protesters cheer injunction’s end
Just days after a violent anti-fracking protest, New Brunswick Premier David Alward is pressing ahead with his vow to develop a shale gas industry, suggesting First Nations people will share the economic benefits.
But natives are not budging, arguing that their drinking water, which they fear the fracking process could contaminate, is not for sale.
In an interview on Monday, Mr. Alward said he is hoping SWN Resources, the Texas energy company exploring for shale gas near Rexton, N.B., will resume its operations. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/nb-premier- firm-on-shale-gas-pledge-as-anti-fracking-protesters-cheer-injunctions-end/article14977082/
ABORIGINAL PEOPLE AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Aboriginal people often experience some of the following problems with respect to the criminal justice system:xci
• Aboriginal accused are more likely to be denied bail; • more time is spent in pre-trial detention by Aboriginal people; • Aboriginal accused are more likely to be charged with multiple offences, and often for crimes against the system; • Aboriginal people are more likely not to have legal representation at court proceedings; • Aboriginal clients, especially in northern communities where the court party flies in the day of the hearing, spend less time with their lawyers; • as court schedules in remote areas are poorly planned, judges may have limited time to spend in the community; • Aboriginal offenders are more than twice as likely to be incarcerated than non-Aboriginal offenders; • Aboriginal Elders, who are also spiritual leaders, are not given the same status as prison priests and chaplains, in all institutions, and • Aboriginal people often plead guilty because they are intimidated by the court and simply want to get the proceedings over with. http://www.ccja-acjp.ca/en/abori4.html
Stephen Harper is Dismantling Canadian Sovereignty for Globalism!
When our Government and Corporate leaders speak, they are talking about their Corporation Companies, they are NOT talking about the benefits to you and I…
We are just the slaves supporting their wealth on a global scale while we have no more rights as human beings. That is the illusion they have created within their corporate take over of the earth and humanity.
52 Along with the help of the United Nations, they have now created the United Corporations that rule us all…listen and you will hear… http://decolonizenorthamerica.org/
53 New Brunswick News
News Release - Elsipogtog First Nations-Signigtog Mi'kmaq Reclaim Stewardship of Native Lands
Signigtog Mi'kmaq Reclaim Stewardship of Native Lands
“There will be no more of our lands being held in trust by governments.”
Elsipogtog First Nation Chief and Council will announce their resolution to reclaim their stewardship over all unoccupied alleged “Crown” land. The Band Council Resolution (BCR) will be publicly unveiled at a media conference at the Rexton shale gas resistance site at the junction of Highway 11 & 134 at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2013.
Compelled to action by their people to save their waters, lands and animals from ruin, the Elsipogtog First Nation and Signigtog District Grand Council are reclaiming responsibility for stewardship of all unoccupied reserved native lands in their territory. http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/krystalline-kraus/2013/10/activist-communique-news-release-elsipogtog- first-nations-s#.Uks_43l1yEg.facebook
Elsipogtog Chief issues eviction notice to Texas-based frackers. Band Council Resolution to reclaim all unoccupied Crown Land.
Rexton, New Brunswick – In what may well go down as an historic Treaty Day, Eslipogtog First Nation's Chief Arren Sock today presented a Band Council Resolution stating that his community is prepared to reclaim all unoccupied Crown Lands in Signigtog District, which comprises most of present day provincial New Brunswick. The resolution was read to an exuberant crowd of hundreds of supporters from across Kent County, New Brunswick, and beyond. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/elsipogtog-chief-issues-eviction-notice-texas-base/19097
First Nations chief issues eviction notice to SWN Resources
Band Council Resolution to reclaim all unoccupied Crown Land.
SWN - Leave by midnight, says chief to Treaty Day crowd of hundreds
Rexton, New Brunswick – In what may well go down as an historic Treaty Day, Eslipogtog First Nation's Chief Arren Sock today presented a Band Council Resolution stating that his community is prepared to reclaim all unoccupied Crown Lands in Signigtog District, which comprises most of present day provincial New Brunswick. The resolution was read to an exuberant crowd of hundreds of supporters from across Kent County, New Brunswick, and beyond.
The Chief of the Elsipogtog First Nation delivered an eviction notice to SWN Resources Canada Tuesday, as dozens of protesters continue to block Route 134 in Rexton to prevent the oil and gas company from moving its exploration equipment.
"We have been compelled to act to save our water, land and animals from ruin," said Chief Arren Sock to cheers from the crowd.
54 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/first-nations-chief-issues-eviction-notice-to-swn- resources-1.1874870
How Fracking Could Ruin New Brunswick
Fracking is a new and unproven technology. There are serious risks to air and water quality from the chemicals pumped underground as part of the fracking process, and the storage of wastewater associated with the process. The risks of this process have been highlighted by the Cleary Report, by concerned citizens in this province, and by experts such as Anthony Ingraffea of Cornell University. In places where fracking is already occurring -- such as in Pennsylvania -- there have been issues with contaminated water supplies and well leaks. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hassan-arif/fracking-new-brunswick_b_2231071.html
N.B. energy minister says some shale gas opponents ignoring facts
HALIFAX—Some opponents of shale gas exploration and other energy developments are driven by ideology and ignoring the facts, New Brunswick’s minister of energy said.
Craig Leonard said during the Maritimes Energy Association conference in Halifax that the shale gas industry could revive the economic fortunes of his province, yet some people aren’t willing to hear a reasoned argument about its merits. http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/general/n-b-energy-minister-says-some-shale-gas-opponents- ignoring-facts-118356
Les Micmacs veulent reprendre le contrôle de leurs terres ancestrales
REXTON - En marge des protestations contre les tests sismiques effectués dans le comté de Kent, le conseil de bande de la Première Nation d’Elsipogtog a choisi le Jour du Traité pour réaffirmer les droits souverains du peuple micmac sur les terres de la Couronne.
Sur le terrain des barricades élevées à la jonction des routes 11 et 134, à l’entrée de Rexton, le Grand Conseil du District de Signigtog et la Première Nation d’Elsipogtog ont réclamé la gouvernance de toutes les terres «dites de la Couronne» qui font partie du territoire micmac, proclamant aussi une souveraineté qu’ils comptent dorénavant exercer dans les faits, que cela plaise ou non.
«Ces terres micmaques de Signigtog n’ont jamais été vendues ou cédées, a affirmé le chef Arren Sock. Pendant des siècles, la Couronne britannique a clamé qu’elle en était la dépositaire. Cependant, les peuples premiers de ce territoire, avec leurs chefs élus et héréditaires, croient fermement que ces terres et leurs eaux sont actuellement mal gérées par le Canada, la province et les grandes compagnies au point d’être menacées de destruction complète.»
Bing Translation
55 REXTON - on the sidelines of protests against seismic testing in the County of Kent, the Elsipogtog First Nation band Council chose the day of the Treaty to reaffirm the sovereign rights of the Mi'kmaq people on Crown lands.
On the ground of the barricades high at the junction of highways 11 and 134, at the entrance of Rexton, Grand Council of the Signigtog District and the Elsipogtog First Nation claimed the governance of all lands "tell of the Crown ' which are part of the micmac territory, proclaiming as a sovereignty that they intend to exercise now in fact, like it or not.
"These Signigtog Mi'kmaq lands were never sold or surrendered, said Chief Arren Sock. For centuries, the British Crown claimed that she was the custodian. However, the first peoples of this territory, with their leaders elected and hereditary, believe firmly that these lands and waters are currently poorly managed by Canada, the province and major companies to the point of be threatened of destruction full." http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=a23907a3-e1fa-4def-b232- 4862b5fcd177&key=Hzs%2fSLd95lFqrrRIdsQHPQ%3d %3d&issue=28562013100200000000001001&bookmarkid=UN6ZPPT3SK82
Information Morning - Terry talks with a lawyer who represents First Nations communities. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/infomornfred_20131002_94090.mp3
Information Morning Mi'kmaq Land - Chief Sock and Willi Nolan Mi'kmaq land
We find out the latest on the stand off between Mi'kmaq leaders and shale gas producers. http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2013/10/02/mikmaq-land/
Paper Tigers at Midnight - Elsipogtog Band notice to Texas-frackers goes unheeded.
Rexton, New Brunswick – After a euphoric Treaty Day, in which Chief Arren Sock of Elsipogtog First Nation announced to a crowd of hundreds that SWN Resources Canada had until midnight of last night to remove their seismic testing equipment from a currently blockaded compound along highway 134 in New Brunswick, an air of slight confusion has descended upon the encampment.
Midnight has come and past, and SWN's blockaded equipment, which includes five seismic testing trucks – or 'thumpers' – remains. Indeed, unconfirmed reports suggest that the Elsipogtog Band has not yet actually delivered their notice to representatives of the Texas-based gas exploration company.
With midnight come and gone, and SWN's equipment still behind a fenced-in compound, anti-fracking activists at the roadblock now hesitantly await the Elsipogtog Band's next move, the as yet closely guarded 'Plan B'. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/paper-tigers-midnight/19100
56 Shale gas development spurs treaty debate in N.B.
Aboriginal rights lawyer T.J. Burke says a move by the Elsipogtog First Nation's chief and council to reclaim its traditional territory currently held by the New Brunswick government as Crown land shouldn't come as a surprise to the Alward government.
On Tuesday, Chief Arren Sock issued an eviction notice to SWN Resources Canada as protesters continued to block Route 134 near Rexton to prevent the company from moving its exploration equipment.
Burke warns that the province is going to have to respond and says the Alward government cannot continue to ignore the fact that members of the Elsipogtog First Nation object to the exploration for shale gas.
Coates says if there was a modern treaty signed in the Maritimes, then Crown land would be the primary source of settlement available to the governments of Canada and New Brunswick.
Ken Coates is a public policy professor at the University of Saskatchewan. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/shale-gas-development-spurs-treaty-debate-in-n-b- 1.1875811
APTN, At the fracking protest front-line - Tempers are flaring again in central New Brunswick.
That's where a US based company is searching for shale gas.
People are afraid the discovery of shale gas may lead to a controversial process known as fracking http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/02/at-the-fracking-protest-front-line/
'8 Women of the 8th Fire' lay Treaty Law smack down on RCMP negotiators
Rexton, New Brunswick – As the stand-off along highway 134 continues, RCMP negotiators Marc Robichaud and Denise Vautour today asked the anti-shale gas activists who have blockaded and surrounded an Irving-owned compound by what authority they had blocked the highway, and in fact what they were doing there.
Robichaud and Vautour initially made the request of the Mi'kmaq Warriors Society. The Society, in deference to what is now – and ostensibly has always been – the true source of power in Mi'kma'ki, told the RCMP that it would be the women who would be providing the forthcoming answers. The written document, which has just been provided to the RCMP negotiators on the promise that the police will be providing it to the provincial government, is as follows:
'We are here for the water: To protect it and the Earth. We have been placed here on Turtle Island by our Creator, and we were granted Sacred Responsibilities by our Creator.
Our Rights are International, and protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Constitution.
57 We are uniting an standing in solidarity with grassroots people to assert our rights. We are also uniting with our Acadian brothers and sisters, who also have Treaty Rights (1686) http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/8-women-8th-fire-lay-treaty-law-smack-down-rcmp-ne/19103
Qui sont les gardiens de la paix de la Société des guerriers Micmacs? Who are the guardians of peace of the society of the Micmac warriors?
La crise du gaz de schiste dans le comté de Kent marque donc un nouveau jalon de l’histoire de cette société de «soldats de la paix» dont les membres se distinguent en portant des tenues militaires de camouflage. Selon Alfred et Lowe, dans le langage des Premières Nations, le terme de «guerrier» a cependant une signification spirituelle que la définition communément admise par nos dictionnaires ne lui reconnaît pas. Arrêtée pour méfait le 9 juin 2013 alors qu’elle priait sur la route 126, Suzanne Patles, qui porte le grade de lieutenante dans la société, en est l’illustration. Elle parle volontiers de paix et d’amour.
Bing translation
The crisis of gas from shale in the County of Kent thus marks a new milestone in the history of this company's "soldiers of peace" whose members are distinguished by wearing camouflage military uniforms. According to Alfred and Lowe, in the language of the First Nations, the term 'Warrior' however has a spiritual significance that the definition generally accepted by our dictionaries did not recognize him. Arrested for mischief June 9, 2013 while she was praying on route 126, Suzanne Patles, who carries the rank of Lieutenant in the society, is the illustration. She speaks readily of peace and love. http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=66d9bb96-dac7-47db-8eb5- c511f40f86d5&key=mwMVtgm6ycNo7q26pMuF0A%3d %3d&issue=28562013100300000000001001&bookmarkid=278T84WNIIY5
First Nation Moves to Evict Fracking Co. From Lands Held in Trust
It is supposed to be a day that commemorates the signing of the 1752 Treaty of Friendship and Peace between the Mi’kmaq and the Crown, a day spent promoting Mi'kmaq culture and history across Atlantic Canada. Instead, Elsipogtog First Nation leaders and members marked Mi'kmaq Treaty Day by defending their land from fracking. First Nations in New Brunswick said they've had enough of shale gas exploration in their territory, and they want a Texas-based exploration company to leave.
On October 1, Elsipogtog Chief and Council announced they were reclaiming all unoccupied reserve lands from the federal and provincial governments and issued an eviction notice to SWN Resources Canada, a subsidiary of Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co. Dozens of protesters blocked the main road traversed by company vehicles. The community was backed by the Signigtog District Grand Council, which represents Mi'kmaq communities across southern New Brunswick and northern Nova Scotia. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/03/elsipogtog-first-nation-wrests-lands-fracking- co-mikmaq-treaty-day-151564
58 Rexton - Injunction against anti-shale gas activists issued
Elsipogtog councillor says Premier Alward is willing to talk.
Rexton, New Brunswick – News has arrived at the anti-shale gas blockade that a New Brunswick court has issued an injunction against the action, which will be enforceable until October 12th. Apparently, SWN Resources Canada applied for the injunction on Wednesday, and that a judge issued it only hours ago.
Moments ago, Robert Levi, councillor for Elsipogtog First Nation, addressed an understandably tense crowd at the compound. Levi noted that he had met with New Brunswick Premier David Alward earlier in the day. Levi said that Alward is in fact prepared to meet with a small group of the anti-shale activists, and that removing the tree barricade that now blocks SWN's equipment was not a precursor to any meeting. Levi noted that the Premier was hesitant to meet with any member of the Mi'kmaq Warrior Society. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/injunction-against-anti-shale-gas-activists-issued/19111
Court orders end to shale gas barricades on Route 134
Among other things, the order restrains the respondents and any other person acting on their behalf from: ■interfering or attempting to interfere with any authorized person from accessing the SWN Resources staging area and storage facility situated on Route 134; ■interfering or attempting to interfere with any person on Route 134, Highway 11, or any public roadway, including any interference with any activities related to the seismic testing program; ■causing a nuisance in the vicinity of SWN Resources equipment, including those activities related to the seismic testing program.
The order authorizes any peace officer to arrest, remove and remand anyone who is contravening the order. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/court-orders-end-to-shale-gas-barricades-on-route-134- 1.1894789
Anti-Frack Blockade now on Cop Lockdown - no one in 'til sunrise.
RCMP on highest alert, say social media calls went out to bring arms to encampment
Rexton, New Brunswick – After SWN Resources Canada earlier today obtained an injunction against the anti-shale gas blockade, tensions between the RCMP and activists came quite close to boiling over as the sun set along highway 134.
At around 9:30pm, Elsipogtog Chief Arren Sock arrived at the scene. After a protracted conversation between himself, other councillors from Elsipogtog First Nation and RCMP negotiators, Sock returned to the ever-vigilant line of women.
59 Sock informed the gathered crowd that the RCMP will remain on highest alert through the night. This, apparently, is due to calls that went across social media networks earlier in the evening, calling on people to come to the blockade bearing arms.
As a measure of commitment to his community, as well as to others opposed to SWN's presence in New Brunswick, Sock will be spending the night at the blockade. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/anti-frack-blockade-now-cop-lockdown-no-one-til-su/19115
Illicit Acts of Government
The lure of shale gas has stirred up a witches brew of the most outrageous illict acts we could ever imagine. Police bullying, the outing of LaPierre, the outlandish statements of Craig Leonard, David Alward and the Irving papers, and now the injunction: these are a few of my favourite things.
Law school is 30 years away for me, but I do recall that an ex parte injunction, one granted without notice to the other parties, is granted only in cases of clear urgency and an unarguable legal claim. This is neither. Among other things, the government is the transgressor here, having ignored its constitutional duty to consult with the natives before authorizing natural resource extraction. This injunction should not have been issued without proper notice to the parties affected and an opportunity to present evidence and defend their actions. This is the foundation of our legal system, tossed in the dustbin. https://monctonfreepress.ca/post/22678
Letter to Judge Rideout regarding injunction
The intent ofthis letter is to bring to your attention some of the obvious defects in process and substance that render the Order issued unfair quite possibly invalid and therefore void, and likely to bring the administration of justice into disrepute if SWN is permitted to benefit from its omissions.
In view of the many defects in this application and Order, it would clearly be a case where the Order is vacated and the process recommenced following proper procedures of disclosure, response and argument. At the very least, the Order should be stayed until the supporting materials have been properly served on all named parties, all of which are well known to SWN. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1AfXdlRj1QCTWFDX29ab0NvSEU/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1
Tit For Tat - As SWN issues injunction against anti-shalers, Treaty Scholar Patles brings out eviction notice from 1778
Notice targets Irving's presence on St. John River - housing of SWN's equipment.
Rexton, New Brunswick – Treaty scholar Suzanne Patles, herself named personally in yesterday's SWN Resources Canada's 'injunction' against the blockade on highway 134, has brought out a little- known document from 1778. The document, found amongst the shelves of the New Brunswick Archives and Museum, amounts to an original eviction notice, served by an assembled contingent of Malicete
60 and Mickmack (colonial spelling) chiefs and representatives to the colonial British forces at the mouth of the St. John River. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/tit-tat-swn-issues-injunction-against-anti-shalers/19123
David Alward est prêt à rencontrer les dirigeants d’Elsipogtog
FREDERICTON – Dans un communiqué de presse publié vendredi, le premier ministre, David Alward, s’est dit prêt à rencontrer les dirigeants de la Première Nation d’Elsipogtog. «Je tiens à réitérer ma volonté de rencontrer le chef et le conseil de bande de la Première Nation d’Elsipogtog. J’ai toujours été disponible pour rencontrer les dirigeants des communautés des Premières Nations et j’entends continuer à me rendre disponible pour les rencontrer à n’importe quel moment», a proclamé M. Alward.
Selon la présidente du groupe Notre Environnement, Notre Choix, les 28 comités provinciaux opposés au gaz de schiste, les municipalités et les Autochtones ont prévu de se rencontrer vendredi à 18 h dans un lieu qui n’a pas encore été déterminé.
Bing translation
David Alward is ready to meet leaders of ElsipogtogFREDERICTON – In a press release issued Friday, Prime Minister David Alward, said he was prepared to meet leaders of the Elsipogtog First Nation. "I want to reiterate my willingness to meet with the Chief and the band Council of the Elsipogtog First Nation. I have always been available to meet the leaders of the First Nations communities and I intend to continue to make myself available to meet them at any time,"proclaimed Mr. Alward.
According to the President of the Group our environment, our choice, the 28 provincial committees opposed to shale gas, municipalities and Aboriginal have planned to meet Friday at 6 pm in a place that has not yet been determined. http://www.acadienouvelle.com/actualites/2013/10/04/david-alward-pret-rencontrer-les-dirigeants- delsipogtog/? fb_action_ids=10201078199621098&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_obje ct_map=%7B%2210201078199621098%22%3A1391348484432303%7D&action_type_map=%7B %2210201078199621098%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Shale gas protesters defy order to remove Rexton barriers
More than 24 hours after they were served an injunction, shale gas protesters continue to block Route 134 near Rexton. Demonstrators have barricaded a stretch of road and the entrance to an equipment compound used by SWN Resources Canada since Monday.
Many of the protesters are members of nearby Elsipogtog First Nation. On Tuesday, Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock issued an eviction notice to SWN Resources. The company ignored the notice. Instead, it went to court seeking an injunction to end the protest. It was granted Thursday by Court of Queen's Bench Justice George Rideout.
61 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/shale-gas-protesters-defy-order-to-remove-rexton- barriers-1.1912218 Angry New Brunswickers Petition Province’s Ombudsman for Investigation
How can the New Brunswick government proceed with their extremely divisive shale gas development plans?
The research report they commissioned and use as their pillar of support, is simply not credible.
As quoted in the Telegraph Journal today, Premier Alward says “the Tory government remains committed to developing the province’s shale gas resources,” while acknowledging that “the New Brunswick Energy Institute faces a ‘perceived lack of credibility’ in the wake of controversy surrounding the academic credentials of Louis LaPierre and his subsequent resignation from the independent body meant to provide trusted research on the shale gas industry.”
It is not just the Institute that is facing a credibility issue. And it is not “perceived” — the credibility gap is so large at this point, it is best described as a vacuum. The research that was done under contract to the Government of New Brunswick by Dr. Louis LaPierre is not credible, and this same research is the basis of the government’s shale gas development plan.
Yesterday, the New Brunswick Ombudsman, Charles Murray, was asked to intervene to stop shale gas development in a petition duly signed by 29 New Brunswickers. Notice of this was sent to media contacts across the region, but it got buried in the other news of the day regarding the injunction obtained by Southwestern Energy to stop protests, and the Premier’s announcements from Saint John. http://upriverenvironmentwatch.com/2013/10/05/angry-new-brunswickers-petition-provinces- ombudsman-for-investigation/ http://upriverenvironmentwatch.com/
Gaz de schiste: le calme revient, mais les opposants tiennent bon
REXTON - L’affrontement n’a pas eu lieu sur la route 134. Au lendemain de leur coup de sang, après avoir appris par le bouche à oreille l’ordonnance obtenue par SWN, les guerriers se sont calmés.
De son côté, la GRC se montre impassible, et ne semble pas encore disposée à faire procéder à l’évacuation des lieux.
«Pour l’instant, il y a de la communication, du dialogue», a indiqué Rachel Daigle, une des personnes nommément visées par l’ordonnance de la Cour.
«Ils ne sont pas venus nous apporter le document, je ne pense pas qu’ils vont le faire ce (vendredi) soir», a-t-elle dit alors que la nuit tombait sur le campement qui n’était plus éclairé, passé 19 h 30, que par les flammes de quelques feux de camp.
Bing translation
REXTON - Confrontation has not taken place on route 134. In the aftermath of their stroke, after learning through the mouth to ear the order obtained by SWN, warriors subsided.For its part, the RCMP shows impassive, and seems not yet ready to carry out the evacuation of the premises."For the
62 moment, there are communication, dialogue", said Rachel Daigle, a person namely referred by order of the Court."They did not come bring us the document, I do not think that they will do this (Friday) evening", she said as night fell on the camp that is was more enlightened, past 7: 30 pm by the flames of a few campfires. http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=6ba4f40a-37ea-47e4-a6a4- cdf10501f517&key=EOQPsGz7sEei1MDUdBGikg%3d %3d&issue=28562013100500000000001001&bookmarkid=H02NF6HXKZ51
New Brunswick energy minister says he's monitoring shale gas protest in province
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - New Brunswick's energy minister says he won't give the RCMP any instructions on how to proceed with a court injunction issued against shale gas protesters blocking a highway near Rexton.
Craig Leonard says he is getting updates from police on the situation where protesters have blocked Highway 134 and the entrance to an equipment compound used by SWN Resources since Monday. http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/business/new-brunswick-energy-minister-says-he-s-monitoring- shale-gas-protest-in-province-1.648962
Shale gas blockade near Rexton enters sixth day
A blockade on Highway 134 near Rexton, N.B. by people opposed to shale gas exploration in the area is into its sixth day.
Demonstrators have barricaded a stretch of road and the entrance to an equipment compound used by SWN Resources Canada since Monday.
Many of the protesters are members of nearby Elsipogtog First Nation. On Tuesday, Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock issued an eviction notice to SWN Resources. The company ignored the notice. Instead, it went to court seeking an injunction to end the protest. It was granted Thursday by Court of Queen's Bench Justice George Rideout. http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/new-brunswick/story/1.1913990
Shale gas protesters defy order to remove Rexton barriers
More than 24 hours after they were served an injunction, shale gas protesters continue to block Route 134 near Rexton.
Demonstrators have barricaded a stretch of road and the entrance to an equipment compound used by SWN Resources Canada since Monday.
Protesters said Thursday night the RCMP told them they would not be taking action for 24 hours. They have planned a meeting at the protest site on Friday evening to discuss the situation. http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/new-brunswick/story/1.1912218
63 Meeting set in effort to end protest blocking highway in New Brunswick
MONCTON, N.B. - A meeting is set for this afternoon between Premier David Alward and members of the Elsipogtog (ELS-ih-pook-took) First Nation in an effort to end a protest that has blocked a highway in eastern New Brunswick for a week.
The meeting is to include Alward, Energy Minister Craig Leonard, Chief Arren Sock, council members and elders. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/06/meeting-set-in-effort-to-_n_4053179.html? utm_hp_ref=canada-politics&ir=Canada+Politics
Buffy St. Marie on Fracking
St. John, New Brunswick – Legendary performer Buffy St. Marie graced the Imperial Theatre in St. John last night, and gave a double standing ovation performance.
Playing in the Irving stronghold of St. John, itself home of Canada's largest oil refinery, with pipe dreams of becoming the butt end of the 'Eastern Energy' pipeline, St. Marie still held back no punches in her criticism of the highly-polluting and water-intensive technique of natural gas extraction known as hydraulic fracturing, or the environmental disaster of the tar sands.
After her show, St. Marie spent a few moments with a contingent of anti-fracking activists. They included veteran arrestees of the summer campaign against SWN Resource Canada's attempts at seismic testing in Kent County, New Brunswick. St. Marie had this to say of the potential of fracking in New Brunswick:
“Are you kidding?” said St. Marie. “Just don't let it happen. Don't let it happen. I've seen it in the US. I seen it in Oklahoma. I went to Fort MacMurray and it's disgusting. It's a disaster. It's worse than I ever could have imagined. It's bigger. And there's no returning. There's no turning back. Certain people signed certain leases and they did not have this in the fine print. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/audio/buffy-st-marie-fracking/19137
Communication Breakdown or Double Cross?
Rexton, New Brunswick – A high-level meeting in Moncton, currently proceeding between Premier David Alward, cabinet ministers and representatives from the ongoing anti-shale gas blockade on highway 134, has apparently forgotten some key invitations. The Mi'kmaq Warriors Society, as well as others, were only informed of the meeting ten minutes prior to.
“We have not sanctioned anyone to represent us at the meeting,” says Warrior Suzanne Patles. “We did not receive our invitation to the meeting until ten minutes prior [to the meeting's start]. We have been excluded from this meeting.”
There is really no conceivable way that the Warriors would have been accidentally excluded from the meeting. They are not hard to find at the blockade, and have established a command centre trailer.
64 “People who were sitting around the circle determined who they wanted representing. I forwarded that list to Chief and council. The Warriors were on that list,” says Sock. “The Warriors on that list are not in that meeting.” http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/communication-breakdown-or-double-cross/19139
Fracking protesters meet with N.B. premier - Embedded Video http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1018421&binId=1.1145463&playlistPageNum=1
Shale standoff
Terry talks with the lawyer representing the Elsipogtog First Nation. Where is the dispute over shale gas headed? http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2013/10/07/shale-standoff-1/
Talks with N.B. premier buy Elsipogtog three days of ‘peace’
ELSIPOGTOG FIRST NATION, N.B. - Ongoing talks between Premier David Alward and Elsipogtog Chief Arren Sock has bought at least three days of peace at an ongoing highway anti-fracking blockade in the northern region of the province.
Sock and a group of band councillors met with lawyers representing SWN Resources Canada late Sunday evening in Moncton. The lawyers reportedly stated that SWN would not be making any legal maneuvers to press enforcement of an injunction against the blockade handed down by a provincial judge Thursday as long as talks continued with the premier, according to Sock. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/07/talks-with-n-b-premier-buy-elsipogtog-three-days-of-peace/? fb_action_ids=1456359991255211&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&actio n_object_map=%7B%221456359991255211%22%3A697144876979625%7D&action_type_map=%7B %221456359991255211%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock in 2nd Day of Talks with Premier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sIVVlOuVrs&feature=player_embedded
Anti-frack Letter of Opposition hand delivered to SWN's Houston office.
Rexton, New Brunswick – Environmental advocacy group Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS), in conjunction with the Mi'kmaq Warriors Society, has today hand-delivered a request to SWN Energy's head office in Houston, Texas.
The request is that “all projects, leases, and permits issued to SWN Resources by the Government [of New Brunswick] come to a halt until all Mi'kmaq-L'nu, and Wabanaki communities, as sovereign
65 individuals are Meaningfully Consulted, and that we are able to come to an informed decision as individuals.”
“We asked for Steven Mueller [President and CEO of SWN Energy] to come and take the request,” says Parras. “The receptionist said that wasn't going to happen. Then we asked for any representative. That wasn't going to happen either.
“I then asked the receptionist, Joni Navarra, if she would sign for it. She wouldn't sign. So I told her 'I'm going to leave it here on the counter and take your word for it that it won't wind up in the trash. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/anti-frack-letter-oposition-hand-delivered-swns-ho/19151
Fracking protest in Moncton - Embedded video
First Nations in New Brunswick says it doesn't want companies fracking in its land http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2410778423/?page=2
"It's hell. If you're looking to kill yourself that's one way to do it."
As hundreds gather at Rexton anti-frack blockade, Nina Was'te, co-founder of Idle No More, speaks on fracking.
Rexton, New Brunswick – October 7th, Royal Proclamation Day, saw hundreds gather at the ongoing anti-shale gas blockade of highway 134 in Rexton, New Brunswick where an Irving-owned compound, containing numerous pieces of seismic testing equipment sub-contracted by SWN Resources Canada – including five seismic testing trucks, or 'thumpers' – remains under activist control.
Under inclement skies, and the shadows of a court-ordered injunction and ongoing shale gas negotiations involving Elsipogtog Chief Arren Sock and Premier David Alward of New Brunswick, yesterday's gathering was an attempt at soldiering on against shale gas. A stage was quickly erected; children prepared and read letters in opposition to shale gas; and food was served to over 300 people. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/its-hell-if-youre-looking-kill-yourself-thats-one/19171
NB premier, Mi’kmaq chief discussed ending blockade, allowing shale gas exploration to continue handwritten notes reveal
Days after Elsipogtog Chief Arren Sock demanded Houston-based firm SWN Resources Canada leave New Brunswick, he sat at a hotel conference table with the province’s premier discussing a strategy that would see the company stay and continue its controversial shale gas exploration work, APTN National News has learned.
On Oct 1, during Treaty Day celebrations, Sock demanded the company leave the province within 24 hours. He read out a band council resolution declaring Elsipogtog was taking “stewardship” over all unoccupied Crown lands.
66 But in a closed-door meeting Monday in Fredericton, Sock and Premier David Alward discussed a timeline to end a blockade targeting SWN machinery and allow the company to finish some of its exploration work, according to three pages of handwritten notes from the meeting obtained by APTN National News. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/09/nb-nb-premier-mikmaq-chief-discussed-ending-blockade- allowing-shale-gas-exploration-to-continue-handwritten-notes-reveal/
Information Morning - Future of Mactaquac
The Canadian Rivers Institute is asked to look at the impact of three options being considered by NB Power for the Mactaquac Dam. http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2013/10/09/future-of-mactaquac/
Selling the farm without the deed
Mi'kmaq Warriors Society issues list of 13 demands from behind blockade lines - brings into doubt legitimacy of Alward/Sock talks.
Rexton, New Brunswick – As negotiations between New Brunswick Premier David Alward and Elsipogtog First Nation Chief Arren Sock continue, the Mi'kmaq Warrior Society – not invited to said talks – have issued their own list of demands from inside the anti-shale gas blockade that continues along highway 134.
The demands, which follow, bring into doubt Alward's actual right to lead – and speak on behalf of – a territory that has never actually been ceded. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/selling-farm-without-deed/19187
Shale gas complaints to ombudsman unprecedented
New Brunswick's ombudsman says the number of complaints his office has received about shale gas development in the province is unprecedented, but his mandate is limited.
Charles Murray says more than 1,000 people opposed to the industry have submitted letters, including the organizers of a recent petition calling for a review of disgraced academic Louis LaPierre's work for the provincial government on shale gas.
The problem, however, is that many people are writing to say they don't agree with the Alward government's policies on the issue, which isn't something his office can change, said Murray.
"The legislative assembly didn't appoint me to go and overrule them on a series of policy decisions they've made," he told CBC News. "They've given me a limited ability to double check what they do and to be a watchdog on what they do." http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/shale-gas-complaints-to-ombudsman-unprecedented- 1.1931188
67 Seeking answers to questions unasked NB Ombudsman Visits Rexton
New Brunswick's ombudsman, Charles Murray, pays visit to anti-shale gas blockade.
Rexton, New Brunswick - Charles Murray, New Brunswick's ombudsman, was on the scene at the ongoing blockade of an Irving-owned compound along highway 134 that contains key pieces of SWN Resources Canada's seismic testing equipment.
Murray's office remains in a observation - rather than investigation - mode, and the ombudsman was also clear that the power of his office lies in the ability to determine the precursory steps that have escalated to the current stand-off. If an investigation were to occur, it is likely that it would focus on the consultative process – or lack thereof – that the current Alward government has undertaken.
“A lot of the government consultation on this issue has been effectively to say 'How could we best develop shale gas in the province of New Brunswick?' says Murray. “That's a very specific form of consultation. And that's a very different form of consultation than to say: 'Should we develop shale gas in the province of New Brunswick?'
“So when you start your consultation process by determining that you're not going to ask specific questions, you're only going to ask others, then you've set the consultation in a certain direction. Now, the question then becomes: Does that colour the consultation that happens after that? Have you pre- judged the result when you've done that? And what are the mechanisms that you do, so that even given that you've limited your mandate to discuss, [that you're] still having a real conversation and not, for want of a better term, a show consultation?” http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/seeking-answers-questions-unasked/19203
Shale gas protesters partially reopen Route 134
Shale gas protesters near Rexton have partially dismantled their barricades on Route 134 after 11 days, but continue to bar access to the area where SWN Resources Canada has its seismic exploration vehicles parked.
The trees blocking the provincial road were removed Friday with the assistance of equipment from the Department of Transportation. However, the protesters intend to remain on the side of the road and would like to see pylons put in place to reduce traffic through the area to one lane and cause vehicles to slow down.
The protesters said the change in approach was prompted by an incident Wednesday when a protester was burned in a campfire and the ambulance had difficulty accessing the area. The Oct. 3 injunction was set to expire on Saturday. With that possibility looming, SWN Resources went to the Court of Queen's Bench in Moncton on Friday seeking an extension to the injunction. The extension was granted until Oct. 21, with provision made for an Oct. 18 court hearing to hear an application for a further extension, if necessary.
At Friday's court hearing, the court was told SWN Resources is losing $60,000 every day its seismic exploration trucks remain blockaded in the compound off Route 134. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/shale-gas-protesters-partially-reopen-route-134- 1.1991284
68 RCMP deny ambulance to burn victim, New Brunswick anti-shale activists remove blockade trees
Blockaded equipment not moving, aim of sending the frackers packing remains the same.
Rexton, New Brunswick – After a member of the Warriors Society was seriously burned – and the RCMP denied an ambulance access – those who continue to live at the anti-shale gas blockade along highway 134 have decided to remove the felled trees from the highway in order to allow regular traffic to flow.
“There were seven of us sleeping in the teepee,” says Lisa Saulnier, member of Elsipogtog First Nation. “And of a sudden I could hear hollering and I looked over and the whole sleeping bag was just engulfed [in flames]. One of the boys called the ambulance to come in, and the RCMP would not allow it to come in. He had to walk to the far end of the camp to the ambulance.”
It is important to remember that it was the RCMP who originally blocked both sides of highway 134, and that the anti-shale gas activists only later felled the trees. Unlike the RCMP roadblock, which takes up both lanes of highway 134, the felled trees always allowed access to one lane of traffic. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/rcmp-deny-ambulance-burn-victim-new-brunswick-anti/19259
RCMP explain lack of intervention in Rexton protest - Embedded video
The RCMP's commanding officer in New Brunswick is defending the force's approach to dealing with the ongoing shale gas protest at Rexton. Despite an court injunction being issued on Oct. 3 ordering an end to the protest and authorizing the police to make arrests, no action has been taken by the RCMP.
The injunction was set to expire on Sunday. However, a lawyer for SWN Resources Canada was in court in Moncton on Friday, requesting an extension. The request was granted, with the injunction extended until Oct. 21.
There is a strong police presence around the roadblocks on Route 134, but no arrests have been made.
In the Court of Queen's Bench in Moncton Friday, the Cmmr. Roger Brown defended his force's approach Thursday at a news conference at J Division headquarters in Fredericton. "(Until) this point in time, things were going well," said Brown. "There were negotiations between the interested parties. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/rcmp-explain-lack-of-intervention-in-rexton-protest- 1.1990669
Shale gas blockade gets extended - Embedded video
Protesters representing dozens of groups have been blocking shale gas exploration equipment from leaving a compound along Route 134 for two weeks.They say they’re worried about pollution related to shale gas exploration, and want the province to stop allowing exploration in the province.
69 Last week, a judge granted a court injunction to force the protesters to leave. However, they say they haven’t been served court papers and they’ve got no intention of leaving. http://globalnews.ca/news/898336/shale-gas-blockade-gets-extended/
CTV Atlantic: Fracking stalemate costs company big bucks - Embedded video http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1022520
Protest at Rexton and Support from people in Fredericton, CBC News: Oct 11, 2013 http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/ID/2411696856/
Natural Resources Canada “A Preliminary Tsunami Hazard Assessment of the Canadian Coastline”
The independent investigation into the causes of the Fukushima accident concluded that the accident was clearly “man made”. Fukushima Diet Report One of the main reasons for this conclusion was that they knew of a tsunami around 800 years ago that was much larger than the plant was designed for, but did nothing about it. Less than 100 years ago in 1929 there was a very large tsunami that hit the Burin Peninsula. It had wave runup of 13 meters. This kind of wave runup would flood Point Lepreau just as the tsunami wave did in Fukushima. http://newclearfreesolutions.com/2013/10/12/natural-resources-canada-a-preliminary-tsunami-hazard- assessment-of-the-canadian-coastline/
Shale gas testing company says protest is costing them big bucks - Embedded video
Trees have been moved from a road in Rexton, N.B. but protesters are continuing to block shale gas testing equipment.
The protesters have defied a court injunction not to interrupt efforts by SWN Resources to test for shale gas – a court order that was extended for another 10 days on Friday.
SWN Resources originally asked for a 30-day extension but a Moncton judge agreed to 10. The company says it is losing thousands of dollars every day while their trucks sit idle. http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/shale-gas-testing-company-says-protest-is-costing-them-big-bucks-1.1494289
Warrior Society Call to Support Elsipogtog Seizure of Fracking Equipment
"Rexton, NB" unceded Mi'kmaqi - On “Colombus Day”, a day which celebrates 521 years of genocide and oppression of Indigenous peoples, the Mi'kmaq Warrior Society has released the following video call for support. Suzane Patles, an Ilnu woman and member of the Mi'kmaq Warrior Society calls for physical support at the blockade, solidarity actions across Turtle Island on Oct. 18th and a flooding of Kanadian official representatives' phone and mail lines. The October 18th Day of Action is to protest the court injunction that SWN is looking to serve against the encampment. Organize an action in your
70 community, use #INDIGENIZE and send us a write up with photos to post online: reclaimturtleisland [at] gmail [dot] com. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/video/warrior-society-call-support-elsipogtog-seizure-fr/19272
Idle No More Day of Solidarity Houston, Texas October 7, 2013
Delivery of notice of eviction to SWN and protesters at Canadian Consulate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmKemK8thuc&feature=player_embedded
We need a change of heart – Marilyn Lerch
“It is a change of heart that’s needed, a change of direction, an understanding in the bone that we must stop the desecration of our lands.” Something beautiful, inspiring and historic has been happening in our province,this summer and fall of 2013. It has been coming to fruition for three years or more in people’s living rooms, in community halls in Berwick, Taymouth, St. Ignace, Bass River, Cornhill, Hillsborough and in the hearts and minds of countless thousands of our people. It manifested on country roads like 116 and 126 in Kent County in June and is continuing to grow at the Unity Encampment near Rexton today.
We are Francophones, Anglos, First Nations people talking together, laughing and planning together. I sit there for hours as the Talking Stick moves around the circle, as consensus is patiently found, woodsmoke in my hair and clothes, and I long for more writers, poets, thinkers, teachers, doctors, town councilors, to be there. http://protectalbertcounty.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/we-need-a-change-of-heart/
Canadians Unite to Stop Fracking in New Brunswick
For the past two weeks, an unprecedented coalition of Acadians, Anglophones and members of the Elsipogtog First Nation have blockaded a compound in the Canadian town of Rexton, New Brunswick, where trucks and equipment used in the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are stored. The company that owns the facility — SWN Resources Canada — has been working all summer to conduct seismic tests as the first step in the fracking process. While the natural gas derived from the drilling would primarily be sold over the border in the United States, the impacts of extraction — namely polluted water and air — would be felt in these communities for generations to come. http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_66108.shtml
CBC Information Morning Moncton - Gallant touts moratorium
Liberal leader Brian Gallant says he still supports a halt to shale gas explorations until legitimate concerns are addressed. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Maritimes/Information+Morning+- +Moncton/ID/2412050821/
71 Advisers to Chief Sock in Anti-shale gas negotiations are provincial government employees
While Barrera and APTN determined that they would not name the advisers interviewed after the negotiations, the Halifax Media Co-op has learned that the two advisers were Tobique First Nations band member John Deveau and Listuguj First Nations band member Wendell Metallic.
The HMC has also learned that Deveau, under the company name Wolf Industries, has been contracted by the province of New Brunswick in his advisory role at the meetings. It is assumed that Deveau, through his company, has subcontracted an advisory position to Metallic.
Deveau has himself confirmed his provincial pay check, although when interviewed he could not remember which provincial department was actually employing him in this advisory capacity.
What this means, in effect, is that the two advisers working alongside Elsipogtog Chief Sock are actually New Brunswick provincial employees.
So while Deveau has told the Halifax Media Co-op that: “I want to see this all end peacefully,” in reference to the ongoing blockade of SWN's equipment, it also appears that his financial allegiances lie with the pro-shale gas provincial government. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/advisers-chief-sock-anti-shale-gas-negotiations-ar/19321
Gaz de schiste: Kent-Sud veut se faire entendre
NOTRE-DAME - «Klaxonnez si vous buvez de l’eau». Munis de leurs pancartes et de leur enthousiasme, les opposants au gaz de schiste de la région de Kent-Sud mènent une opération de sensibilisation en faisant la tournée des communautés.
La communauté acadienne veut aussi démontrer qu’il n’y a pas que les Autochtones qui sont concernés par le dossier de la fracturation hydraulique. Dans Kent-Sud, ce dossier devrait constituer un enjeu électoral majeur au cours des 12 prochains mois.
«On est là pour montrer notre soutien, et dire qu’on est avec les opposants qui sont à Rexton», a ajouté son épouse Thérèse.
Bing translation of three clips
Notre-Dame - 'Honk if you drink water. With their signs and their enthusiasm, opponents of the region of Kent South Shale Gas lead an awareness-raising operation by doing the tour of the communities.
The Acadian community also wants to demonstrate that there are not only Aboriginal people who are involved in the case of hydraulic fracturing. Southern Kent, this folder should be a major electoral issue in the next 12 months.
"We're here to show our support, and say that we are with opponents who are in Rexton", added his wife Thérèse. http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=7edc35b4-4c5f-4782-bf97- 9b2c94f7f971&key=1smtKghphRaRYsGuci6pzQ%3d %3d&issue=28562013101700000000001001&bookmarkid=EXFDT4GPHJH2
72 Elsipogtog First Nation Sees Violence As RCMP Moves To End Protest (PHOTOS)
REXTON, N.B. -- The RCMP say dozens of people were arrested after Molotov cocktails were thrown at officers and police vehicles torched Thursday when they began enforcing an injunction to end an ongoing demonstration against shale gas exploration in eastern New Brunswick.
RCMP Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh said at least five RCMP vehicles were destroyed after they were set ablaze and at least one shot was fired by someone other than a police officer at the site of the protest in Rexton.
Robert Levi, a councillor with the Elsipogtog (ell-see-book-took) First Nation, said he went to the protest site early Thursday after hearing the RCMP had moved in to begin enforcing the injunction.
Levi said police pepper-sprayed dozens of people after 9:30 a.m. when he arrived with the chief and council.
"They sprayed the crowd that was there," he said in an interview. "The chief was manhandled a little bit and all hell broke loose." http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/17/elsipogtog-photos-rcmp-protest- violence_n_4114506.html#slide=607291
RCMP officers and sniper apparently pointing rifle at someone's mother https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPd4U9_YFPw&feature=player_embedded
Concerning the Possible Arrest of Reporter Miles Howe in Elsipogtog
Participants in the anti-fracking struggle in New Brunswick have been stormed by an estimated 200 members of the RCMP, some dressed in military fatigues. The police raided the Rexton blockade where Mi'kmaq warriors and supporters are camped out against SWN Resources Canada Inc.
Our reporter Miles Howe, who has been covering the blockade since the spring, has been incommunicado for approximately four hours. We have received a report that Miles was arrested this morning. We are still awaiting first hand confirmation of his arrest. http://www.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/19341
Shale gas protesters clash with police in Rexton, N.B - Embedded video
Shale gas protesters and RCMP trying to enforce an injunction are clashing in Rexton, N.B., leading to at least five police vehicles being set on fire and the arrest of a First Nations chief.
In a news release, the RCMP said more than 40 protesters have been arrested for various offences including firearms offences, uttering threats, intimidation, mischief and for refusing to abide by a court injunction.
73 The RCMP said at least one shot was fired by someone other than police. that Molotov cocktails have been thrown at police and at least five RCMP vehicles have been destroyed by fire. Police are also investigating suspected explosive devices at the scene,
"The RCMP has worked diligently with all parties involved in hopes for a peaceful resolution. Those efforts have not been successful. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/shale-gas-protesters-clash-with-police-in-rexton-n-b- 1.2100703
40 arrested as shale gas protesters clash with RCMP in eastern New Brunswick - Embedded video
Police have arrested at least 40 shale gas protesters after attempting to dismantle a New Brunswick highway blockade that's blocking access to an energy company compound.
RCMP moved in on the blockade near Rexton, N.B., on Thursday morning in an attempt to enforce a court injunction to remove it.
The protesters were arrested for firearms offences, threats, intimidation, mischief and violating the injunction, the RCMP said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/40-arrested-as-shale-gas-protesters-clash-with-rcmp-in-eastern-new- brunswick-1.1500986
The Council of Canadians stands in solidarity with anti-shale gas protesters in Kent County, NB
Ottawa, ON – The Council of Canadians denounces the excessive use of violence by the RCMP and stands in solidarity with those in Rexton, New Brunswick and around the world who oppose shale gas/fracking.
Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, who was recently in New Brunswick, said, “Watching the day’s events unfold online was shocking. I met with the Elsipogtog leaders not long ago and know they are committed to peaceful resistance to stop the destruction of their land and water and what they do is in all of our names. We stand in solidarity with the people fighting to protect the water and the land.”
Angela Giles, Atlantic Regional Organizer, said, “To defend the rights of an American company, the RCMP came in with essentially para-military units including snipers, to remove the opposition. The New Brunswick government does not have the social license to allow fracking and the people will continue to fight for the future of their families, their province, and the environment.” http://canadians.org/media/council-canadians-stands-solidarity-anti-shale-gas-protesters-kent-county- nb
Demonstrations across continent decry violence at New Brunswick anti-fracking protest
Clashes between police and First Nations protesters near a New Brunswick reserve on Thursday have sparked protests and blockades across Canada.
74 RCMP arrested at least 40 people at a compound owned by SWN Resources Canada, where protesters from the Elsipogtog First Nation had erected a blockade to halt seismic testing at a proposed shale gas project.
In Ottawa, demonstrators marched on Parliament Hill and held a rally around the Eternal Flame. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/demonstrations-across-continent-decry-violence-at- new-brunswick-anti-fracking-protest/article14918339/
Most RCMP withdraw after shale gas clash in Rexton
The mood has changed at a standoff that turned violent today in Rexton N.B. between shale gas protesters and the RCMP.
The majority of police at the scene left around 7 p.m., to cheers from a crowd of protesters.
John Levi, a First Nations chief on the scene, had earlier spoken to RCMP officers — trying to reach an agreement on ending the standoff. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/most-rcmp-withdraw-after-shale-gas-clash-in-rexton- 1.2100703
Mi'kmaq lawyer on N.B. protests
Dr. Pam Palmeter is Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/Power+%26+Politics+with+Evan+Solomon/ID/2412799896/
Solidarity With Mi'kmaq Nation
Ellen Gabriel on the situation facing the Mi'kmaq in Elsipogtog New Brunswick as RCMP use force of arms against peaceful protesters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWoV0UA4eik&feature=player_embedded
Les manifestations contre le gaz de schiste gagnent Montréal
Environ deux cents personnes ont marché dans les rues de Montréal tard ce soir en signe de solidarité avec les manifestants du Nouveau-Brunswick, qui veulent empêcher une entreprise gazière d'effectuer des tests sismiques dans leur région.
Bing Tanslation
Demonstrations against the shale gas win MontrealAbout two hundred people marched in the streets of Montreal late tonight in sign of solidarity with the demonstrators of New Brunswick, who want to prevent a gas company to perform seismic tests in their region.In a peaceful manner, they travelled Street
75 Sainte-Catherine, in the heart of downtown, to the Park of peace, scene of several Aboriginal gatherings, near the corner of René-Lévesque and Saint-Laurent boulevard. http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/montreal/201310/17/01-4700894-les-manifestations-contre-le-gaz-de- schiste-gagnent-montreal.php
UPDATE: Mi’kmaq Resist! 6 RCMP Cars Torched, Fracking Equipment Confiscated
In retaliation against a violent police raid this morning on a peaceful First Nations blockade, Mi’kmaq warriors and supporters have fought back.
The RCMP appear to have arrested journalist Miles Howe, who has been reporting on the Elsipogtog struggle against the illegal gas grab on indigenous lands. More than 200 RCMP are participating in the raid, including snipers in fatigues. Ambulances have been prevented from treating protestors wounded by pepper spray, plastic bullets, and general brutality. http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2013/10/17/update-mikmaq-resist-6-rcmp-cars-torched-fracking- equipment-confiscated/
RCMP bring 60 drawn guns, dogs, assault rifles, to serve injunction on the wrong road
Around 6am yesterday morning, October 17th, RCMP forces again blocked off both sides of the anti- shale gas encampment along highway 134, this time with an as yet unseen amount of police force. For numerous days prior, RCMP were allowing first walking traffic, then one lane of automobile traffic, to pass freely through the blockaded area.
I could hear police beginning to identify themselves, and a rustling through the trees that suggested numerous bodies moving around. RCMP, I surmised, were everywhere, and the always possible event of the RCMP serving SWN's injunction against blocking their equipment was upon us.
I grabbed my car keys and ran the 100-odd metres towards the Mi'kmaq Warrior encampment. What I saw was surprising. The ditch opposite me was already filled with 20-odd police in tactical blue uniforms, pistols already drawn. Three police officers dressed in full camouflage, one with a short-chained German Shepherd, were also near the ditch.
In the far field, creeping towards the Warrior encampment - which was comprised of one trailer and about ten tent - were at least 35 more police officers. Many of these wore tactical blue and had pistols drawn. At least three officers were wearing full camouflage and had sniper rifles pointed at the amassing group. The Warriors, for their part, numbered about 15.
Shortly after, three so-called warriors with a journalist in tow – who claim to have arrived two nights ago from Manitoba – appeared to have determined that the situation was too extreme for them. Two of them have since been identified as Harrisen Freison and 'Eagle Claw'. They promptly ran down the road towards the far end of the police blockade. Until last night no one had ever seen these individuals before. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/rcmp-bring-60-drawn-guns-dogs-assault-rifles-serve/19358
76 Conservation Council responds to the events in Rexton
The Conservation Council of New Brunswick deeply regrets the violence that occurred in Rexton on Oct. 17th.
We are disheartened by the way the injunction on the ongoing blockade was enforced, with excessive aggression by way of tactical force, weapons and arrests.
We offer sincere support and solidarity to the people of Elsipogtog First Nation, Chief Arren Sock and Council, and to the communities and community groups in Kent County who have tirelessly stood up as protectors of our air, land and waters. This grassroots community movement has been an unprecedented coming together of Aboriginal, Francophone and Anglophone communities and today, more than ever, we must work together for solutions to heal our communities, our environment and economy. http://www.conservationcouncil.ca/conservation-council-responds-to-the-events-in-rexton/
Several N.B. shale gas protesters now charged after clash
Eight of the 40 people arrested Thursday in a protest over land used for shale gas exploration in Rexton, N.B., have been charged following the violent clash between RCMP and protesters.
The charges Friday include: ■Mischief. ■Breach of an undertaking to keep the peace. ■Unlawful confinement. ■Obstruction.
Some of the protesters arrested will remain in jail over the weekend out of a concern for a protest revival, a Moncton court was told Friday.
Protest violence described as worrisome Ken Coates, a historian who authored "The Marshall Decision and Aboriginal Rights" in 2000, said Thursday's events are worrisome for all parties.
"This is one of those conflicts that has the potential to explode on a national scale," said Coates, now a Canada Research Chair at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan.
"It's the kind of a standoff and a protest that generates a lot of support from other First Nations who feel they're facing similar circumstances, who are worried about an accelerated pace of resource development that basically leaves them out of the equation or does not include them sufficiently."
Speaking prior to Alward's announcement that no meetings are planned with aboriginal leaders, Coates said any meeting may be coming too late. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/several-n-b-shale-gas-protesters-now-charged-after- clash-1.2125134?cmp=rss
77 Statement by the Grand Council of the Crees on the Events Involving Elsipogtog
(October 18, 2013) The Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) unconditionally supports the Elsipogtog First Nation in exercising their aboriginal and human rights and categorically condemns the use of force by the RCMP to prevent the exercise of those rights.
The Elsipogtog First Nation was raising legitimate concerns about the environmental impacts of shale gas fracking which could have serious and negative impacts on its traditional territory and the health of its citizens. The environmental issues associated with shale gas fracking are far from clear. To raise concerns and to insist on an appropriate forum for airing these concerns is the proper things to do in a democratic society. Instead, the Elsipogtog First Nation was met with pepper spray, rubber bullets and arrest. http://gcc.ca/newsarticle.php?id=338
Hundreds of fracking protesters take to Halifax streets
Today, a serious of protests in support of the Elsipogtog protesters have occurred across Canada, including in Halifax. Protesters began to gather along the street in front of the Irving station on Robie Street near Charles Street. They rallied for about 20 minutes, waving signs, chanting and singing, and were greeted by mostly supportive people passing by, who honked horns and gave thumbs-up. Police were present, but kept at a distance. At its height, the protesters numbered about 250. http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2013/10/18/hundreds-of-fracking-protesters-take-to- halifax-streets
Chief Atleo slams RCMP for ‘extreme use of state force’ in N.B. shale gas protest
OTTAWA – The head of the Assembly of First Nations is slamming the RCMP for “extreme use of state force and control” following a violent anti-shale gas protest in eastern New Brunswick.
The protest in Rexton, N.B. Thursday resulted in torched police cars and 40 arrests, including members of the Elsipogtog First Nations who want the province’s SWN Resources to stop seismic testing.
In a letter to New Brunswick Premier David Alward, National Chief Shawn Atleo says the “peaceful protest” on Elsipogtog First Nation was “disrupted through police and military intervention.” http://globalnews.ca/news/910934/chief-atleo-slams-rcmp-for-extreme-use-of-state-force-in-n-b-shale- gas-protest/?utm_source=facebook-twitter&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=community
Statement by RCMP Commissioner Roger Brown and St. Charles LSD Chairperson
CBC As it Happens - Starts at just after 12 minutes http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/asithappens_20131018_42727.mp3
78 Op-Ed: Heavy-handed response to the Elsipogtog blockade in New Brunswick
As we watched the blockade, we also witnessed the violent response that often follows violent provocation. Although thankfully there were no serious injuries reported, five flaming police cars have a way of catching the attention of the general public. After RCMP officers converged on the blockade, Elsipogtog First Nation Chief Arren James Sock — who was allegedly “roughed up” in the process, according to at least one eyewitness — was among those arrested, and as matters escalated, police also began using non-lethal bullets, pepper spray, and physical confrontation in an attempt to break the blockade.
It seems that cooler heads have prevailed and the RCMP pulled back their offensive for the time being, but it’s unfortunate that the violence seems to be what’s generating headlines in the aftermath. It’s distracting many from the injustice of gas exploration and fracking around Richibucto and Canada’s relations with First Nations in general. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/op- ed/Heavy+handed+response+Elsipogtog+blockade+Brunswick/9054564/story.html
As It Happens on shale gas demonstration - Oct 18, 2013
As It Happens speaks with Allan Marsh, the elected Chair of the Local Service District for Saint- Charles, N.B. He was at Thursday's protests to support the anti-shale gas activists. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/ID/2412962477/
Manitoba chief in New Brunswick to back fracking protests
As a Manitoba chief arrives to offer support, members of New Brunswick's Elsipogtog First Nation are meeting Sunday to plan their next steps after a tense week of anti-fracking protests.
The CBC's Jessica Doria-Brown says the meeting will be open to the media, unlike previous, private sessions.
The protests drew support from across Canada and around the world via social media. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said it stands in solidarity with Elsipogtog First Nation and sent Grand Chief Derek Nepinak to Elsipogtog Mi'kmaq territory over the weekend. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/manitoba-chief-in-new-brunswick-to-back-fracking- protests-1.2127250
Shale-gas exploration debate exposes intersecting issues of race and colonialism.
The debate surrounding “fracking” and shale-gas in New Brunswick may have started as a conflict over environmental values versus economic growth but this is hardly where it ended.
What I am about to write is going to be uncomfortable for many of you. Addressing issues of racism, colonialism and white-privilege is never comfortable, but even more so to a population in which only 1.4% of people identify as a visible minority.
79 The highway 11 protests of October 17th appeared to be a conflict over whether or not environmental concerns trump economic prosperity and vice versa. On the surface these were the issues at hand, but on a deeper level it was colonialism – the tale as old as time of white people stealing land, then exploiting it economically – that was at the heart of that day’s conflict. Here is the uncomfortable part: whether you choose to admit it or not, we live on stolen land. Regardless of whether or not “you” personally stole it is irrelevant; the fact that you benefit from colonialism every day of your life makes you a colonizer. If you refuse to acknowledge the inherent privilege that you experience as a white colonizer you become even more complacent in this fact. http://www.miramichionline.com/opinion-shale-gas-exploration-debate-exposes-intersecting-issues-of- race-and-colonialism/? fb_action_ids=514097348682870&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_ map=%7B%22514097348682870%22%3A529384030476647%7D&action_type_map=%7B %22514097348682870%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Canadian Police Use Military Tactics to Disperse Indigenous Anti-Fracking Blockade
OSCAR LEÓN, TRNN PRODUCER: Thursday, October 17, 2013, in New Brunswick, Canada, indigenous protesters refused to comply a judge injunction ordering them to surrender the siege of SWN equipment store.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police moved in, fully armed, 200 men strong, arresting many elders. Pictures of agents in camouflage with automatic assault weapons and dogs flowed trough Twitter and other social media websites. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10891
Frackas in Elsipogtog
Since the violent confrontations between RCMP and protestors at Elsipogtog, New Brunswick on October 17, 2013, there has been an explosion of concern across Canada. Many solidarity rallies have been held across the country (including one in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that I attended on October 18, pictured in the photographs accompanying this article) and almost 23,000 people have already signed a petition calling on the RCMP to refrain from using violence against these peaceful protests by First Nations peoples and their supporters.
Should it be done? Aye, there's the rub. While it's unquestionably the case that natural gas (which is what is at issue in Elsipogtog) burns more cleanly and with fewer carbon-dioxide emissions than other hydrocarbons such as coal or oil, it is still a fossil fuel and burning it (or letting it escape) emits greenhouse gases (GHGs), which on a daily bassis are bringing our planet closer to what many climatologists fear may be runaway global warming, the consequences of which could end civilization as we know it -- something I would think should be of non-insignificant concern … (See Loaded dice in the climate change casino, In the valley of the shadow of peak oil, Acid bath: Evil twin of climate change, and Pestilence, famine, and climate change: Horseman of the Apocalypse). http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/christophermajka/2013/10/frackas-elsipogtog
80 Mohawk Nation at Kahnawà:ke Stand in Support of Mi'maq Protest Against Hydro-Fracking
The Mohawk Nation at Kahnawà:ke – People of the Longhouse – is horrified by the recent RCMP attack of indigenous protesters at the Mi’kmaq Nation at Elsipogtog near Rexton, New Brunswick. The protestors have been barricading Route 134 since September 30, to prevent the SWN Resources Canada from conducting exploratory research for potential shale hydrofracking in that area.
Since its introduction into our traditional territory, the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy has been opposed to hydrofracking. A statement issued by the Haudenosaunee Grand Council states:
“We have seen first-hand the impacts of hydrofracking; the vast industrialization of the landscape, the pollution of the air from hundreds of trucks, propane stripping stations, gas flares, and compression stations; the fragmentation of habitat and landscape by the incursions of roads and drill pads; the ruining of streams and drinking wells from drilling-related contamination; and most heartbreakingly, the permanent disruption of peoples homes, lives and communities. Even when things are done “right”, the impacts are devastating.”
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples established human rights standards that directly relate to this matter. They include:
■ Article 19, States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them. ■ Article 29, This article contains three important provisions relating to the rights to the conservation and protection of the environment of the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples. ■ Article 37, Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties, agreements and constructive arrangement concluded with States and their successors. http://kahnawake411.com/2013/10/18/mohawk-nation-at-kahnawake-stand-in-support-of-mikmaq- protest-against-hydro-fracking/? fb_action_ids=10201810689804923&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=below- post&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B %2210201810689804923%22%3A563760153672810%7D&action_type_map=%7B %2210201810689804923%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%7B %2210201810689804923%22%3A%22below-post%22%7D
N.B. fracking protests and the fight for aboriginal rights
Protests this month at a potential shale gas site in New Brunswick involve an issue that has been at the heart of resource development battles across Canada — the duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal people when the development is on their traditional land.
Rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada and lower courts have established a duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal people when development is considered on their land, even non-reserve traditional lands. Since the mid-'80s, aboriginal groups have recorded 186 victories in lawsuits over resource development, a 90 per cent success rate.
Land wasn’t surrendered
81 First Nations in New Brunswick didn't really surrender their land through treaties, Stephen Augustine, the principal of Unama'ki College at Cape Breton University, told CBC News. "Those pre-Confederation treaties were just treaties of peace and friendship, the government of Canada has acknowledged that," he said. Augustine is originally from Elsipogtog and is a hereditary chief of the Signigtog region. http://www.cbc.ca/news/n-b-fracking-protests-and-the-fight-for-aboriginal-rights-1.2126515?cmp=rss
Tensions persist at scene of anti-fracking protests in New Brunswick
A handful of protesters, angered by what they called biased reporting of the anti-fracking movement, asked media outlets to leave the scene at Rexton, N.B., Saturday morning. Vehicles belonging to CTV News and Global News were left behind. The CTV News truck was later driven out of the area and returned to the crew. Global News reporters were also able to retrieve their vehicle in the afternoon.
The Assembly of First Nations Chiefs in New Brunswick issued a statement Saturday “condemning the acts of intimidation against representatives of the media.” http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/tensions-persist-at-scene-of-anti-fracking-protests-in-new-brunswick- 1.1504379
Decision to shut down Rexton camp by force adding new resolve, support to protest movement
St. Ignace – Anti-shale gas protesters in New Brunswick are gearing up for more confrontations with the province in the wake of the Alward government’s decision to have the RCMP shut down a protest camp in Rexton by force on Oct. 17th. The camp, outside the Irving Compound on Highway 134 south of Rexton, had been the site of a three week peaceful protest that had kept five shale gas thumper trucks confined to the compound. The decision to end a peaceful protest by force ended in a debacle that saw forty people arrested, pepper spray and rubber bullets, and five RCMP vehicles burned. It also triggered spontaneous demonstrations elsewhere in New Brunswick, and activists in Kent County report say people previously not involved in the protest are calling to ask how they can help.
By Friday, less than 24 hours after the Rexton camp had been stormed by more than a hundred RCMP officers in riot gear, some with weapons drawn, and attack dogs, hard questions were already being asked about the Alward government’s timing and motivation. Protesters point to the fact that the provincial government’s use of force to end the Rexton protest came the day before Aboriginal peoples were to seek a court injunction against SWN for invading their territory. That the attack was designed to portray protesters as violent people and influence how the Aboriginal injunction would be received in court cannot be discounted. http://nbmediacoop.org/2013/10/19/decision-to-shut-down-rexton-camp-by-force-adding-new-resolve- support-to-protest-movement/
Letter to the Premier of NB from Maritime Conference, United Church of Canada
82 A letter to to New Brunswick Premier David Alward has been sent from Martime Conference in regard to the protest near Elsipogtog/Rexton, NB. http://marconf.ca/41609-letter-premier-nb/
The letter http://marconf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Premier-David-Alward-re-protest.pdf
Serving a Corporate Agenda: Canada’s RCMP Brutalize Indigenous People for Opposing Fracking on Their Land
Moncton, New Brunswick – I have been camping at the current blockade along highway 134 since the inception of the encampment, filing almost daily reports for the Media Coop. During June and July of this year, when protests against shale gas exploration in New Brunswick were of far less national interest, I was doing the same.
Around 6am yesterday morning, October 17th, RCMP forces again blocked off both sides of the anti- shale gas encampment along highway 134, this time with an as yet unseen amount of police force.
The ditch opposite me was already filled with 20-odd police in tactical blue uniforms, pistols already drawn. Three police officers dressed in full camouflage, one with a short-chained German Shepherd, were also near the ditch.
In the far field, creeping towards the Warrior encampment – which was comprised of one trailer and about ten tents – were at least 35 more police officers. Many of these wore tactical blue and had pistols drawn. At least three officers were wearing full camouflage and had sniper rifles pointed at the amassing group. The Warriors, for their part, numbered about 15.
Through a police loud speaker towards the highway 11 off-ramp, an officer began reading the injunction against the blocking of SWN’s seismic equipment. This was all before dawn. http://www.globalresearch.ca/serving-acorporate-agenda-canadas-rcmp-brutalize-indigenous-people- for-opposing-fracking-on-their-land/5354782
A New Brunswick Development Charter
Government policy has not served the needs of the people and not secured sustainable economic development. Agreements are signed in secret, regulations do not exist or are nor enforced, and revenues flow out of the province, never to be seen again. The forests are denuded, the seas emptied of fish.
The story of shale gas in the province is remarkably similar to the story of our forests. While a small number of large players have become very rich, the average New Brunswicker has seen little of no return. Many people have been harmed by the destruction of their environment around their homes and camps.
We need in this province a new approach to resource and economic development, one that on the one hand respects the environment and protects the people, and on the other hand ensures that
83 development helps the economy, helps pay for government services, and returns real value to the people.
To that end, I propose a draft New Brunswick Development Charter, embracing the following principles:
• development must benefit the people of the province • development must compensate fully all harm caused • development must be environmentally progressive • development must be democratic https://monctonfreepress.ca/post/23600
Showdown at highway 134 - Embedded video
With some of the only video from behind police lines, subMedia.tv witnessed the brutal raid by the Royal Colonial Mounted Police on the Mi’kmaq blockade of fracking equipment. But the fierce response of the community in defense of the warriors was also captured on camera. We bring you the real story about what really went down on Highway 134, the story that the corporate media doesn’t want you to see. http://www.submedia.tv/stimulator/2013/10/20/showdown-at-highway-134/
Gaz de schiste: Elsipogtog déterminé à poursuivre sa lutte Shale Gas: Elsipogtog determined to continue its fight
250 personnes se sont réunies, dimanche, pour planifier la suite des choses ELSIPOGTOG - La communauté micmaque d’Elsipogtog s’est rassemblée, dimanche, afin de planifier ses démarches dans la lutte contre le gaz de schiste.
Le chef d’Elsipogtog, Aaron Sock, et le grand chef de l’Assemblée des Premières Nations du Manitoba, Derek Nepinak, ont organisé cette réunion, qui s’est déroulée devant environ 250 personnes.
Bing translation
250 people gathered Sunday to plan the rest of the thingsELSIPOGTOG - Elsipogtog Mi'kmaq community gathered, Sunday, in order to plan its efforts in the fight against of shale gas.Elsipogtog leader Aaron Sock and the grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Manitoba, Derek Nepinak, organized this meeting, which took place in front of about 250 people. http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=4e717d38-13ec-4c7e-a1c0- f4e327f7e42e&key=8dYTfHSiaG7VPnq%2bWmwMtQ%3d %3d&issue=28562013102100000000001001&bookmarkid=MJKMFZESXMI7
Gaz de schiste: les municipalités francophones exigent à nouveau un moratoire Shale Gas: francophone municipalities again demand a moratorium
84 CAMPBELLTON - L’Association francophone des municipalités du NouveauBrunswick (AFMNB) a reçu de ses membres le mandat de réitérer sa demande de moratoire sur l’exploitation du gaz de schiste dans la province.
Acadie Nouvelle: Béatrice Seymour Aldéo Saulnier, le maire de Bouctouche, a proposé que l’AFMNB réclame, pour une deuxième fois, un moratoire sur l’exploration et l’exploitation du gaz de schiste -
C’est la Ville de Bouctouche qui en a fait la proposition, dimanche, dans le cadre de l’assemblée générale annuelle de l’AFMNB qui s’est tenue à Campbellton.
Tous les délégués participants ont appuyé cette résolution, à l’exception du maire de Bathurst, Stephen Brunet.
Bing translation
CAMPBELLTON - The francophone Association of municipalities of New Brunswick (AFMNB) has mandated its members to reiterate its request for a moratorium on the exploitation of shale gas in the province.Acadie Nouvelle: Béatrice Seymour Likitha Saulnier, Mayor of Bouctouche, suggested that the AFMNB calls for a moratorium on exploration and exploitation of gas from shale - for a second time,It is the town of Bouctouche who made the proposal Sunday, the annual general meeting of the AFMNB which is held in Campbellton.All participating delegates supported this resolution, with the exception of Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet. http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=52bc4344-008a-4ddb-a63b- fd46652e7f50&key=dMgWdbgIUb5k%2f7mlogQxEA%3d %3d&issue=28562013102100000000001001&bookmarkid=OE3438VDER75
Shale gas company loses bid for injunction to halt N.B. protests
A request by SWN Resources Canada to extend a court injunction that prevents anyone from impeding its exploration activities in New Brunswick has been denied by a judge.
Justice George Rideout issued a ruling Monday afternoon after hearing arguments in the Court of Queen's Bench on Friday. Rideout did not state his reason in court, but said he would issue a written decision.
Meanwhile, the Assembly of First Nations' Chiefs in New Brunswick is calling for the provincial government to suspend shale gas exploration permits issued to energy companies until a peaceful solution to the dispute can be negotiated.
Assembly co-chair George Ginnish says such a step would be part of the "cooling off period" agreed to last week between Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock and Premier David Alward in the wake of Thursday's violent protest confrontation in Rexton.
"We have been saying that this process has been rushed from Day 1," said Ginnish, chief of Eel Ground First Nation. "There is concern in many areas, not just the First Nations. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/shale-gas-company-loses-bid-for-injunction-to-halt-n-b- protests-1.2128622
85 Premier Alward's beliefs cannot be reconciled with reality
Well, Alward sincerely believes that developing shale gas is the best solution at hand for an otherwise bankrupt and jobless province. He believes that the following plank in his PC’s 2010 platform gave him a democratic mandate to allow fracking in this province: “[we will] support the responsible expansion of the natural gas sector while ensuring the safety and security of homeowners and our groundwater supply”. He believes that fracking can be done safely if strict regulations are in place, and that this industry will bring jobs, revenues and prosperity to this province. If New Brunswick is a ship as its flag evokes, Alward’s belief is that shale gas will keep this ship afloat. Is he entitled to such belief?
Consider this story. Once upon a time, a shipowner was weighing whether he should send his cruise ship to the shipyard for major repairs. It struck him that his ship was rickety, and that its safety might be in question. Knowing that repairs would be costly, the shipowner managed to push these worries aside and form the sincere and comfortable conviction that since his ship had gone safely through so many trips and weathered so many storms, she was old but still safe and seaworthy for just one more trip. Thus he dismissed the captain’s concerns, sold the tickets, bade the passengers farewell, and then quietly collected the insurance money when she went down in mid-ocean and told no tales.
“What shall we say of him?” asks philosopher William Clifford, author of this story. “Surely this, that he was verily guilty of the death of those people. It is admitted that he did sincerely believe in the soundness of his ship; but the sincerity of his conviction can in no way help him, because he had no right to believe on such evidence as was before him”. https://monctonfreepress.ca/post/23716
New Brunswick fracking protests are the frontline of a democratic fight
Images of burning cars and narratives about Canadian natives breaking the law obscure the real story about the Mi'kmaq people's opposition to shale gas exploration
But smoke and flames from police cars can only hide the truth for so long. The exact chronology is not yet settled, but this much is clear: on Thursday morning someone in government sanctioned the Canadian police to invade a peaceful protest site like an army. In a dawn raid, snipers crawled through the forest, putting children and elders in their cross-hairs. Police carried assault rifles and snarling dogs, and sprayed tear gas and shot rubber-type bullets. The result was predictable: shocked and enraged people, a day ending in chaos.
There is only one reason the police were unleashed. Not because of the New Brunswick Premier's claims about the dangers of an "armed encampment"; protestors had been unswervingly non-violent for months. Ever since 2010, when New Brunswick handed out 1.4 million hectares of land – one-seventh of the province – to shale gas exploration, opposition had been mounting. Petitions, town hall meetings, marches on legislature had slowly transformed to civil disobedience, and in October, to the blockade of equipment that Texan SNW Resources was using for seismic testing. The company was losing $60,000 daily, and the non-violent defiance had put a wrinkle in the Premier's plans for a resource boom. The blockade had to go.
Levi-Peters says the Mi'kmaq remember the "audacity" all too well. How their nation signed a peace and friendship treaty in 1761 to let the English settle but not to trample Mi'kmaq interests. How before
86 they came for the shale gas, they came for the timber, the fish, the wildlife. And then for the children, locked away in residential schools and split from their connection to the land. The farms that were burnt to push them onto reserves. And how every act of resistance has been greeted by the same lectures from authority. “In no way can we as a country of laws condone the breaking of laws and violence,” Premier Alward reminded them on Friday. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/21/new-brunswick-fracking-protests
'An act of war': Armed RCMP officers carry out militant action against Mi'kmaq and Elsipogtog Nations
BY KRYSTALLINE KRAUS| OCTOBER 18, 2013
There is a picture circulating widely over the Internet of a woman on the front lines of the struggle against SWN Resources, a company which seeks to potentially frack on traditional Mi'kmaq and Elsipogtog Nations territory in New Brunswick. In the photo, she is kneeling in front of a line of armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers, holding an eagle feather.
Eagles are one of the most -- if not the most -- important bird for Indigenous people. It can fly the highest so it is closest to Creator. That is where the eagle and its feathers get their reverence.
So no, she didn't have a gun or a sword. Perhaps arming yourself with a feather in the face of extreme police repression -- the RCMP had an attachment of snipers in camouflage when they raided the blockade Thursday morning -- seems useless. http://www.firstperspective.ca/index.php/news/1669-an-act-of-war
Elsipogtog Solidarity March in Corner Brook: what it means for our community - NFLD
With the outbreak of violence in Kent County, New Brunswick on Thursday, Canada is reminded of the national demonstrations which took place last December. Sometimes it even gets difficult to discern the images. Flashes of demonstrations and roadblocks throughout the years spring up. Visions of the almost war-like situation during the Oka Crisis of 1990 come forward and Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is present in our ears once more. It is vital that we sift through the anger, the violence, and the fervent media blaze, fuelled by political rhetoric, and identify what is at the heart of this immediate and hugely important issue.
On Friday, October 18th, just one day after the outbreak of violence in New Brunswick, an astounding number of solidarity demonstrations erupted across the nation. Here, in Corner Brook, a march which encompassed over twenty sympathizers was also organized to raise awareness and offer support to the brothers and sisters of Elsipogtog and others who share their hardships. http://4oclockwhistlenews.tumblr.com/post/64481677529/elsipogtog-solidarity-march-in-corner-brook- what-it
Shale gas company loses bid for injunction to halt N.B. protests
87 SWN Resources Canada says protesters are impeding exploration activities - Embedded Video
A request by SWN Resources Canada to extend a court injunction that prevents anyone from impeding its staging area and and storage facility near, Rexton, N.B., has been denied by a judge.
Justice George Rideout ruled Monday afternoon that there were no grounds to extend the injunction, after hearing arguments in the Court of Queen's Bench on Friday. http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/new-brunswick/story/1.2128622
Link to embedded video http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/video/clips/ys_2413258331.html?st=myregion&ln=canada-new- brunswick&pid=2413258331
Elsipogtog chief says RCMP 'manhandled' shale gas protesters - Embedded videos
The chief of the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick says community members endured "manhandling" by RCMP officers at a protest against gas exploration Thursday. Aaron Sock says the band will heal, but remains determined.
Amy Sock shows bruises and makes statement http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-elsipogtog-chief-says-rcmp-manhandled- shale-gas-protesters/article14970942/
'8 Women of the 8th Fire' lay Treaty Law smack down on RCMP negotiators
Rexton, New Brunswick – As the stand-off along highway 134 continues, RCMP negotiators Marc Robichaud and Denise Vautour today asked the anti-shale gas activists who have blockaded and surrounded an Irving-owned compound by what authority they had blocked the highway, and in fact what they were doing there.
Robichaud and Vautour initially made the request of the Mi'kmaq Warriors Society. The Society, in deference to what is now – and ostensibly has always been – the true source of power in Mi'kma'ki, told the RCMP that it would be the women who would be providing the forthcoming answers. The written document, which has just been provided to the RCMP negotiators on the promise that the police will be providing it to the provincial government, is as follows:
'We are here for the water: To protect it and the Earth. We have been placed here on Turtle Island by our Creator, and we were granted Sacred Responsibilities by our Creator.
Our Rights are International, and protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Constitution.
We are uniting an standing in solidarity with grassroots people to assert our rights. We are also uniting with our Acadian brothers and sisters, who also have Treaty Rights (1686) http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/8-women-8th-fire-lay-treaty-law-smack-down-rcmp-ne/19103
88 subMedia.tv and Miles Howe visit SWN HQ in Moncton - Embedded video
After a few free pints at Mexicali Rosa's, subMedia.tv and the Halifax Media Co-op Journalist Miles Howe pay a visit to South Western Energy's New Brunswick headwaters, on the day a judge denied their request to extend an anti-protest injunction. We were there to request an interview and instead the police were called. http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/video/submediatv-and-miles-howe-visits-swn-hq-moncton/19419 http://vimeo.com/77512031
Indian Brook residents rally in support of N.B. anti-frackers - Embedded video
The Indian Brook First Nation resident was one of about 40 community members who stood on the side of Highway 102 for several hours Monday in what was called a demonstration of solidarity with the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick. http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1161974-indian-brook-residents-rally-in-support-of-nb-anti- frackers
We are all treaty people - Written by David Coon on October 21, 2013
We are treaty people, whether Aboriginal or not. Those of us who are not members of First Nations don’t usually think of ourselves as treaty people, but it is the case. The movement to protect our peoples, land and water from fracking has opened a door for us to stand beside our Aboriginal neighbours to demand that the treaties are honoured by both Fredericton and Ottawa.
It is plain to see for most people of good will, that we need a new relationship rooted in the treaties with First Nations if we are ever to achieve true peace and friendship. The efforts of anglophones, Acadians and the people of the First Nations to safeguard our water and land from fracking has opened that door. Let’s all walk through it. http://nbmediacoop.org/2013/10/21/we-are-all-treaty-people/
Fracking Indigenous Country - Elsipogtog
If anyone doubted that it’s a good thing that Sun News in Canada has been both going broke and also denied the ability to force their way onto Canada’s basic cable system (vastly expanding their audience and getting themselves included in most homes with television subscriptions by default), the racist rantings of Ezra Levant in response to the recent RCMP attack on the Mi’kmaq community of Elsipogtog ought to clear it up.
The RCMP swooped in a community that has never ceded their land via treaty to either Canada or the British Crown, with multiple dozen armed officers coordinating an attack on an encampment of shocked and terrorized Mi’Kmaq people and their supporters. RCMP had stated against just such an act only the night before.
89
After breaking the blockade up and arresting over 40 people– and then holding the obligatory press conference to smear those they had attacked– the RCMP discovered that as of Monday, October 21, 2013 the injunction demanding the road to be evacuated was overturned and tossed out. http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/10/22/fracking-indigenous-country/
Overview of RCMP deployment against Mi’kmaq blockade, Oct 17, 2013
There has been a lot of speculation and misinformation concerning the deployment of RCMP officers during the assault on the anti-fracking blockade in Rexton, New Brunswick (in Mi’kmaq territory) on Oct 17, 2013. So much, in fact, that I have been inspired to provide this brief overview of the RCMP deployment, units, weaponry, and tactics.
First, let’s deal with one of the more outlandish claims being asserted about the RCMP assault by conspiracy theorists: the alleged presence of US military personnel. It has even been suggested that these soldiers were members of the US Army Delta force, the most secretive and elite of all US special operations forces. This bit of misinformation appears to have resulted from the choice of camouflage fatigues used by the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) that accompanied the regular RCMP officers. http://warriorpublications.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/overview-of-police-tactics-used-in-assaulting- blockades/
Gaz de schiste au N.-B.: remise en cause l'intervention de la GRC
Jim Emberger, de l'Alliance contre le gaz de schiste au Nouveau-Brunswick, a affirmé mardi que les agents de la GRC devraient être questionnés sur la nécessité et l'ampleur de l'usage de la force jeudi dernier à Rexton. M. Emberger estime qu'il faut déterminer pourquoi la situation avait été différente à Rexton, faisant valoir qu'il y a eu bon nombre de manifestations pacifiques contre les gaz de schiste dans la province au cours des deux dernières années. En l'absence de réponses, un précédent serait créé qui «assurerait» une répétition de ce qui s'est passé à Rexton, a-t-il soutenu.
Bing TRanslation
N.B. shale gas.: questioning the R.c.m.p.'s intervention.
Jim Emberger, of the Alliance against the Brunswick shale gas, said Tuesday that the RCMP should be questioned on the need and extent of the use of force Thursday last in Rexton.
M. Emberger considers to determine why the situation had been different in Rexton, arguing that there were many peaceful demonstrations against of shale gas in the province over the past two years.
In the absence of answers, a precedent would be created which would "ensure" a repetition of what has passed in Rexton, he argued.
90 http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/dossiers/gaz-de-schiste/201310/22/01-4702466-gaz-de-schiste- au-n-b-remise-en-cause-lintervention-de-la-grc.php Craig Leonard defends record on shale consultation
The New Brunswick government is challenging charges that it failed to consult with the aboriginal community about shale gas exploration and development.
That idea has been put forward by aboriginal leaders, anti-shale groups and political opponents of the Alward government as a contributing factor to the violence on the protest line in Rexton last Thursday, when 40 protesters were arrested and five police vehicles were set on fire.
But in a statement released late Tuesday, Energy Minister Craig Leonard stated the government "has gone above and beyond to ensure that First Nations have full details about the current program." http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/craig-leonard-defends-record-on-shale-consultation- 1.2186465
Interview with Jim Emberger at Route 134 Camp - Premier refuses to to talk to CBC http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/ID/2413742421/
‘Crude contempt’
Editor: Premier Alward: while you continue to ignore public concerns into fracking New Brunswick, kicking First Nations in the teeth for trying stop your stupidity and a Texas-based oil company from threatening precious Canadian groundwater;
And all the while you work with Harper and Alberta to build a risky pipeline to carry tar sands derived bitumen — the dirtiest and most polluting oil on earth — across New Brunswick and this province’s pristine Atlantic salmon river watersheds, so that the Irvings can ship millions of barrels of oil out via a planned tax-payer subsidized Irving supertanker port threatening Atlantic Canadian fishing communities in the same way as the Exxon Valdez;
And all while helping push the worst climate change project on the planet through Alberta tar sands based global pollution.
If we spent as much time and money on oil production and distribution of the last reserves available worldwide as we did on truly investing in alternative energy sources, hydro, solar, wind, etc. we’d get somewhere. Right now we are all like bad heroine addicts addicted to black sludge.
Let it be known that your “crude” arrogance and contempt for concerned people and this planet is appalling and shameful. http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Opinion/Letter-to-editor/2013-10-23/article-3438750/%26lsquo %3BCrude-contempt%26rsquo%3B/1
Mi’kmaq warriors in court after RCMP crackdown - Embedded video
91 http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/23/mikmaq-warriors-court-rcmp-crackdown/
New Brunswick’s shale gas protests
When 150 RCMP officers, a sniper team and dogs stormed a previously peaceful camp of those protesting against shale gas exploration near Rexton, New Brunswick on October 17, our community and the protest were vaulted into national and international news.
One shale gas activist, a Canadian armed forces veteran trained in intelligence work, and the chairman of a Local Service District, visited the camp most days. He’s adamant that he witnessed a man torching an RCMP vehicle and that he knows that arsonist was not someone from the camp. http://www.dennisgruending.ca/2013/10/new-brunswicks-shale-gas-protests/
Council of Canadians stunned by Premier’s comments on consultation with Indigenous Peoples
FREDERICTON– The Fredericton Chapter of the Council of Canadians is stunned by Premier Alward’s comments suggesting that adequate consultations have taken place between his government and Indigenous Peoples on the issue of shale gas.
“That is not what I heard at a meeting last night with members of the Wabanaki Confederacy which included Harry Laporte, Grand Chief of the Maliseet First Nation,” says Dr. Jean Louis Deveau, Chair, Fredericton Chapter of the Council of Canadians.
Deveau who completed his doctoral studies on the duty to consult and accommodate persons with disabilities in the workplace believes that Premier Alward is misleading New Brunswickers on this issue. “Not only does our government have to consult Indigenous Peoples about shale gas,” says Deveau, but it also has to accommodate their concerns, as outlined by the Supreme Court of Canada” http://www.nben.ca/en/collaborative-action/news-from-groups/item/559-council-of-canadians-stunned- by-premier
Was the fix in for Mi'kmaq Warriors at Elsipogtog?
Signs point to some having prior knowledge October 17th was 'take down' day As bail hearings today continue for the five remaining incarcerated members of the Mi'kmaq Warriors Society, enough information is beginning to surface to suggest that the vicious pre-dawn RCMP takedown of the anti-shale gas encampment on the morning of October 17th was a well known fact among some before it happened.
This is not to suggest that these people necessarily knew of the severity or magnitude of the RCMP raid, or even what it would look like. On the other hand, the possibility that others knew of the raid on October 17th is becoming too real to ignore. http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/4927
Elsipogtog protest adds fuel to Global Frackdown fire
92 October 19 was the second annual Global Frackdown, an international day of action with communities around the world calling for a ban on fracking. Over 250 events were and are still being organized in 30 countries including Argentina, Canada, France, India, Romania, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S. This year's Global Frackdown was timely in that just days before, the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick were confronted by RCMP for actively opposing shale gas development on their territory. New Brunswickers have been opposing fracking/shale gas development for years and the Elsipogtog First Nation for months. The Elsipogtog had led a peaceful blockade of SWN Resources' vehicles for seismic testing for fracking since September 30 and the RCMP had been present since then. However, on the morning of October 17, the RCMP moved in on the Elsipogtog and their supporters at the blockade.
The excessive use of force -- many images of the RCMP in riot gear and snipers are floating online and there are accounts of the use of tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets -- sparked a wave of solidarity events in communities around the world. http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/making-waves/2013/10/elsipogtog-protest-adds-fuel-to-global- frackdown-fire
Aboriginal Laws just as valid as European Settler Laws
Re: ‘New Brunswick’s new energy’, Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail, Wed. Oct. 23, 2013 http://murraylumley.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/aboriginal-laws-just-as-valid-as-european-laws/
Do We Need the “Rule of Law” in New Brunswick to Deal with Native Protestors?
Elsipogtog First Nation is only the most recent in a long line of examples of Aboriginal communities protesting resource development on their lands without their consent, and police force being used to ‘take down’ Aboriginal protest sites. This is not a “new” story – it has happened before. In some cases, like Oka and Ipperwash, it led to full blown public inquiries to get to the roots of why the Aboriginal protests occurred in the first place, why violence escalated, what could have been done to reduce violence, and how to avoid future conflicts. You would think that after the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Ipperwash Inquiry Report, we would have learned a lesson or two about helpful and unhelpful ways to deal with these types of conflicts over resources, including appropriate police responses. But watching reactions to Elsipogtog, we at OKT have a strong sense of history repeating itself. http://www.oktlaw.com/blog/do-we-need-the-rule-of-law-in-new-brunswick-to-deal-with-native- protestors/
Sussex Protests Still Popping Up - Embedded video
Oct 25: Shale gas protests have now extended to the town of Sussex which has a history in dealing with the resource. Over 30 natural gas wells sit near the town and have been producing since 2005. As Globals Tino Makris tells us an upgrade to the project there has some residents concerned. http://globalnews.ca/video/926479/protests-still-popping-up/
93 N.B. First Nation says it will take land claims to court
The chief of the First Nation at the centre of an ongoing dispute over shale gas development says his community will go to court to try to take control of Crown lands in New Brunswick.
Elsipogtog First Nation Chief Aaron Sock made the announcement Thursday after meeting with the Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo.
Sock said the concern shouldn't be with blocking roads or fighting with companies.
"Because at the end of the day, the real question is the title of the land," he said. "Once we can distinguish who actually is the rightful owner, then we can start talking about extracting natural resources."
CBC's Jennifer Choi reported that if legal action is taken, all shale gas development in New Brunswick could be put on hold.
Former prime minister Paul Martin also weighed in on Thursday, saying that there has been inadequate consultation between First Nations and government over resource development.
He said the federal government has ignored fundamental issues that the First Nations have asked them to address for "quite some time." The provincial government has defended its level of consultation, but Martin said it hasn't been enough.
"Consultation isn't simply a question of saying all of a sudden, 'We want to do something, let's go in,'" he said from Fredericton, where he was receiving an honorary degree from the University of New Brunswick. "Consultation is something that you build on; you've got to build confidence in order for it to function." http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/n-b-first-nation-says-it-will-take-land-claims-to-court- 1.2223423
Former ombudsman says Alward and protesters at an impasse
Bernard Richard draws comparisons bewtween debate over shale gas and debate over selling NB Power New Brunswick's former ombudsman Bernard Richard says citizens and the provincial government are at an impasse when it comes to the development of shale gas. He says there has been a great deal of discussion around the issue but unfortunately citizens haven't seen it as genuine consultation.
"From my perspective it seemed more like the kind of engagement I've seen over the NB Power issue at the time of the Graham government... where it seemed to most people that the government had made up its mind and then decided to consult," Richard said.
"This is what I'm seeing happening here and that rarely works, I think people don't like to be taken for granted."
94 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/former-ombudsman-says-alward-and-protesters-at-an- impasse-1.2254165 Iqaluit protestors shut down Four Corners in Oct. 18 anti-fracking demo
A group of about 25 protestors shut down Iqaluit’s Four Corners, the busiest intersection in Nunavut, in an Oct. 18 march supporting the Elsipogtog First Nation’s anti-fracking protests in New Brunswick.
After a brief anti-fracking speech outside the Iqaluit RCMP detachment — where the protest started — the group started chanting, “Elsipogtog, Elsipogtog, Elsipogtog!” http://www.isuma.tv/en/DID/news/iqaluit-protestors-shut-down-four-corners-in-oct-18-anti-fracking- demo
Interactive map of New Brunswick's shale gas industry
New Brunswick has been involved in the oil and gas industry since the first well was drilled in 1859 near Dover. The industry has slowly grown over the years. There have been 322 oil and natural gas wells drilled in the province. There have been 40 oil and 40 natural gas wells drilled in the province since 1990. There are nine companies that now hold a licence or lease to search Crown land for shale gas deposits. This includes 71 rights agreements covering 1.4 million hectares of Crown land. This interactive map shows what companies hold licences or leases in the province. It also shows where all of the active wells are located and where the nearest pipelines are located. Click on the well or specific lease for more information. http://www.cbc.ca/nb/features/fracturedfuture/rights_map.html
Maliseet anti-shale gas letter delivered to premier’s office
A letter signed by several First Nation leaders, calling for a moratorium on shale gas exploration and development in New Brunswick, has been delivered to the premier's office.
"Our unified front has already been established by us meeting in here today in our government longhouse. Mr. Alward probably should come talk to us. Then he'll have a better understanding of who we are. And what we are. And why we are." http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/maliseet-anti-shale-gas-letter-delivered-to-premier-s- office-1.2253996
New Brunswick fracking protests are the frontline of a democratic fight
There is only one reason the police were unleashed. Not because of the New Brunswick Premier's claims about the dangers of an "armed encampment"; protestors had been unswervingly non-violent for months. Ever since 2010, when New Brunswick handed out 1.4 million hectares of land – one-seventh of the province – to shale gas exploration, opposition had been mounting. Petitions, town hall meetings, marches on legislature had slowly transformed to civil disobedience, and in October, to the blockade of equipment that Texan SWN Resources was using for seismic testing. The company was losing $60,000 daily, and the non-violent defiance had put a wrinkle in the Premier's plans for a resource boom. The blockade had to go.
95 But Premier David Alward, hell-bent on opening up the province to shale gas, has spurned consultation with First Nations and the rest of the population. His latest step is demonization. "Clearly, there are those who do not have the same values we share as New Brunswickers," he cynically announced on Friday. But the opposition to the Premier's shale gas agenda is not just a supposedly isolated Indigenous community: it is two of every three people in Atlantic Canada. Little wonder he has repeatedly rejected a referendum on shale gas. It turns out the residents of Elsipogtog aren't criminal deviants. They are the frontline of a fight for the democratic and environmental will of New Brunswick. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/21/new-brunswick-fracking-protests
Information Morning - Fredericton | Oct 28, 2013 | 14:57
We find out about the traditional Woolastook longhouse that's been constructed across the road from the New Brunswick legislature. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Maritimes/Information+Morning+- +Fredericton/ID/2414701491/
Maliseet chief calls for hydro-fracking ban - June 2011
The Grand Chief of the Maliseet Grand Council says the controversial mining process of hydro-fracking should not be allowed in New Brunswick over fears it could harm the water supply.
Chief Harry LaPorte said First Nations living along the St. John River honour the water as the source of all life. And he said hydro-fracking carries too much risk of endangering water supplies. The Maliseet Grand Council represents all six Maliseet First Nations.
"Hydro-fracking has a very, very good chance to leak into our water system. That's not only our drinking water but it's also our lakes, our rivers, our streams. And the chemicals that they put in, I'm told are very poisonous," LaPorte said. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/maliseet-chief-calls-for-hydro-fracking-ban-1.1111884
N.B. premier refuses to meet shale gas protesters in Fredericton
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick Premier David Alward says he has no plans to visit a traditional First Nation longhouse that has been erected across the street from the provincial legislature to protest shale gas exploration.
Alward says Chief Candace Paul of the St. Mary’s First Nation has made her position on resource development clear, and he doesn’t know what might be gained by meeting with her.
Alward says his government remains committed to the development of natural gas in the province. http://globalnews.ca/news/935809/n-b-premier-refuses-to-meet-shale-gas-protesters-in-fredericton/
96 For B.C.'s First Nations, the true cost of gas fracking is too high
For the past year, government and industry have worked hard to make “LNG” part of British Columbians’ everyday language. Hailed as a generational opportunity, LNG promises to deliver trillions of dollars of investment, a debt-free future and tens of thousands of jobs while ensuring the highest environmental standards in the world. It all seems simple, almost elegant.
Sadly it has taken the images from New Brunswick over the past two weeks to raise the debate around “shale gas” to the national stage. It has taken Elsipogtog people being arrested, and images of burning vehicles to illuminate how raw the tension is between the indigenous peoples, and the federal and provincial governments around unchecked resource extraction.
We feel particularly close to our relatives in New Brunswick. We share a connection through our treaties and our concern for the land, water and air and the future generations in the face of shale gas.
We are Dene and Cree people – people of the river and people of the land – a nation of eight hundred. We are also treaty people. In exchange for the guarantee that we are free to live our lives as formerly and undisturbed by newcomers, our ancestors agreed to share our lands and to live in peace with our new neighbours. Today, we are a small, remote community 2,200 kilometres north of Vancouver. We are grappling with a powerful industry that brings significant economic benefits to B.C. and profound environmental impacts to our territory. http://m.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/true-cost-of-bcs-lng-plan-is-getting-too-high-for-first-nations- to-pay/article15152147/?service=mobile
Fracking company sues protesters
HALIFAX — The company trying to explore for shale gas near Rexton, N.B., is suing Native anti- fracking protesters because it alleges they held its security workers captive, threatened them and destroyed an expensive piece of drilling equipment.
In its statement of claim dated Oct. 3, SWN Resources Canada Inc. names 12 defendants, including protesters Willi Nolan and Ann Pohl and self-described Mi'kmaq warriors Susan Patles and Jim Pictou.
The Texas-based company alleges people identifying themselves as "warriors" held its security workers captive prior to Oct. 17, when the RCMP enforced a court injunction against the Native blockade near the site where the company is trying to find shale gas.
The statement of claim alleges the workers were trapped near their seismic equipment in the woods near Rexton and claims they were threatened by people yelling over a megaphone: "This is the last face you will see" and "Your family will hate you because you won't come home." http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2013/10/20131029-171336.html
Damage Control: Oil Train Derailment in Alberta and Gas Fracking Protest in New Brunswick
Another oil train derailment and explosion in Canada has sent nearby residents fleeing from their homes in the middle of the night. It happened at 1 a.m. on Saturday, October 19 on a CN Rail line
97 outside the hamlet of Gainford, Alberta, 85 km west of Edmonton. The accident coincides with new steps by the Canadian government to extend oil and other resource extraction into the Arctic.
A portion of a long, mixed-cargo CN Rail train traveling westbound derailed. Nine of the derailed wagons were carrying liquid petroleum gas (propane) and four contained crude oil. Three of the propane wagons exploded into flames. A fourth was breached. The accident closed the adjoining Trans-Canada Highway for days. Fortunately, no lives were lost or serious injuries sustained in the conflagration.
In New Brunswick, the anti-natural gas fracking movement in the province has emerged strengthened following a violent assault against it by the RCMP on October 17. On that day, the federal police force attacked a weeks-long protest against exploratory drilling and seismic testing being conducted by a Houston-based company contracted by the province's Irving Oil conglomerate.
The attack completely backfired. Within hours, large protests in solidarity with the movement erupted across Canada, in the United States and further internationally. Protests actions at the site continued in the days following, and a community-wide consultation on October 20 drew hundreds of people. The exploratory testing has been halted and pressure is now stronger than ever on the Conservative Party government of the province to declare a moratorium. http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/892.php
Mi'kmaq urged to reclaim Crown land
Mi'kmaq Band Council is urging it members to reclaim all Crown land in the midst of the shale gas dispute in New Brunswick.
A "reclamation day" is scheduled for Saturday, Elsipogtog First Nation warrior chief John Levi told CBC News on Wednesday.
"Since the premier is not taking care of the land properly, we will take care of it ourselves," he said.
Mi'kmaq will be staking their claims to become stewards of public land in their territory by putting up plaques under the authority of the chief and grand council, said Levi.
"Are they [the provincial government] going to recognize it, or are they going to fight it? It's up to them," he said. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/mi-kmaq-urged-to-reclaim-crown-land-1.2288214
RCMP investigating officer who uttered slur during raid on Mi’kmaq-led anti-fracking camp
An RCMP officer involved in the Oct. 17 raid on a Mi’kmaq-led anti-fracking camp in New Brunswick is under an internal investigation for saying “Crown land belongs to the government, not to fucking natives.”
An RCMP spokeswoman said the force was informed of the statement on Oct. 18 and immediately sent the officer home and he is now the subject of an internal investigation.
98 “This type of behaviour is unacceptable and is taken very seriously by the RCMP,” said Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh.
Rogers-Marsh wouldn’t say whether the officer was suspended. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/31/rcmp-investigating-officer-uttered-slur-raid-elsipogtog-anti- fracking-camp/
99 Maritime News
Controversy Over Shale Gas Fracking Galvanizes Communities In The Maritimes
A few kilometres from Ken Summers's home, a stout pipe bristling with rusty valves and thick bolts protrudes from the middle of a cleared field.
Summers says it represents the beginning of a potential environmental nightmare for Nova Scotia.
The device is a wellhead. It sits atop an exploratory natural gas well drilled in 2008 by Elmworth Energy, Canadian subsidiary of Denver-based Triangle Petroleum Corp.
Summers, a carpenter who has lived in Minasville, N.S., for 20 years, says he and his neighbours weren't concerned about the test well until they started learning more about hydraulic fracturing, the extraction process used on at least two of the company's five test wells east of Windsor, N.S.
"The industry does thousands of wells wherever there's a major producing field," Summers says, noting that the wells are now idle. "It would be like living in an industrial zone plopped down in a place that was previously quite rural." http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/03/fracking-maritimes-shale-gas_n_1181602.html
Disposal plan still unclear for waste water
Some 4.5 million litres of waste water from fracking still sits in Debert with nowhere to go. Atlantic Industrial Services is holding the water in two holding ponds at its Debert facility. The company’s provincial environmental approval to pass the water through five carbon filters to remove radiation, before sending it through four more steps and disposing of it through Colchester County’s municipal waste-water system, runs out Saturday. County staff initially approved the disposal process but were over-ruled by council in May after a public backlash. That left Atlantic Industrial Services stuck with the water.
No one appears to know what to do with the water, which is from a former drilling operation in Hants County. http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1150694-disposal-plan-still-unclear-for-waste-water
CBU students join fracking protest
SYDNEY — Residents from Membertou First Nation were joined Friday by political science students from Cape Breton University who aided in a peaceful protest against fracking along Highway 125 near the Membertou exit. Protest spokesperson Graham Marshall said the protest hopes to continue to educate the public about what many consider the perils of fracking which combines water, sand and chemicals to break up shale rock underground to release oil and gas deposits. The university has taken no official position on the issue. http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2013-10-25/article-3448696/CBU-students-join-fracking- protest/1
100 Fracking fluid leak near Kennetcook school - NS
A citizens coalition has formed in East Hants to express their concern around fracking waste water which has been found to be leaking from ponds and holding containers located near an elementary and high school in Kennetcook.
Despite the assurances of Nova Scotia Environment, studies have identified chemicals that are used in fracking are carcinogenic and hazardous to human health, and citizens have not been provided with details as to the contents of the leakage, how long the ponds and containers have been leaking, whether the chemicals from the leaking ponds have entered the watershed that supplies drinking water to the schools, and whether children and students have been exposed to the hazardous chemicals that are prevalent in hydraulic fracturing processes. http://www.atlanticfarmer.com/article.php?id=17741
Windsor commits to not processing fracking wastewater
There will be hoops to jump through if anyone hopes to have fracking wastewater disposed of through the Town of Windsor’s wastewater treatment facility again in the future.
The original recommendation council considered suggests “a statement be made that no fracking water will be processed through the Town’s wastewater treatment plant until there is an extensive public consultation and full consideration given by the Department of Environment, Province of Nova Scotia protocols and procedures to address fracking water and the eventual disposal of this byproduct through wastewater treatment plant facilities.”
Mayor Paul Beazley asked that the motion read “eventual safe disposal.” http://www.novanewsnow.com/News/2013-10-30/article-3457168/Windsor-commits-to-not-processing- fracking-wastewater/1
Mitchell taking anti-fracking message back to Qalipu council
Mitchell opened the meeting, which was attended by close to 50 people, by clarifying that the letter of intent was discussed at the council table and that opportunities by way of conventional drilling only is supported. He said it was stated clearly that fracking cannot be supported at this time.
Bennett said he attended protests at a potential shale gas site in New Brunswick this month, actually leaving just hours before the violent clash with police. He said the pride he felt when he was told he was the first Qalipu member from Newfoundland to join the Elsipogtog First Nation in their protest was replaced with shame and embarrassment when he told them about the letter of intent that was signed.
“They were shocked and appalled and I was ashamed,” he said. “I am not ashamed of who I am ... but I was ashamed for that moment of who I was.
“ ... Come on Qalipu. Where are you? I agree you have to be progressive and you have to do what you can to get people educated and working, but not at this risk.”
101 If he had not been called away by a friend, Bennett said, he would have been there when the violence ignited. If physical protests are required to stop fracking in this area, he said he will be there too. http://www.thewesternstar.com/News/Local/2013-10-31/article-3459213/Mitchell-taking-anti-fracking- message-back-to-Qalipu-council/1
102 Canadian News
BC LNG: Shale gas expert David Hughes debunks minister’s math
Rich Coleman recently stated that the province could supply North American markets with 1.8 trillion cubic feet per year (tcf/year) of gas, along with 5 BC LNG terminals exporting to Asia for 84 years – and that would only use 30% of BC’s gas resources.
Now let’s look at BC production. It has been on a plateau recently, although at an all time high, at about 1.2 tcf/year, produced from nearly 9,000 wells, despite the much-vaunted shale resources in the Horn River, Montney and Cordova Bay fields of northeast BC.
All this points to the fact that BC is being ill-served by politicians that don’t understand the numbers but seem mesmerized by their own rhetoric (if you say something often enough it must be true). None of the proponents of the major BC LNG facilities have made a final decision to spend the money (you can bet they have done the math), and the fourth LNG export facility in the US was recently approved. http://commonsensecanadian.ca/VIDEO-detail/bc-lng-shale-gas-expert-david-hughes-debunk-minister- coleman-math/
Activist group Idle No More gets busy again in Canada
In the past few weeks alone, First Nations groups in Canada have set up a blockade to stop shale gas exploration in New Brunswick, marched outside the Ontario premier's house to protest high mercury levels, and forced a coal-mining company in British Columbia to delay exploratory drilling.
The protests are part of a growing First Nations activism that took root in Canada last winter, with the powerful movement known as Idle No More. The mass protests that drew thousands to snow-lined streets across the country have gone quiet in recent months, but activists insist the fight is far from over.
On Monday, they will try to take that message to the wider public, with events planned across Canada along with several more in the United States. That day marks the 250th anniversary of the British Royal Proclamation, which led to the founding of Canada. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/6/activist-group-idlenomoregetsbusyagainincanada.html
First Nations leader in London to fight Canada’s lobbying onslaught
On Thursday, George Poitras arrived from Paris to begin his short stay in London. George has travelled to Europe to push for the labelling of tar sands as a dirty fuel in the Fuel Quality Directive – at the same time as Alberta Ministers are touring Europe advocating the opposite. George is a former chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation and lives in Fort Chipewyan, northern Alberta, downstream from where tar sands companies have been operating for more than forty years. http://keeptarsandsoutofeurope.org/the-human-case-for-the-fqd/
103 Nearly 300 contractors replaced with temporary foreign workers
As hundreds of pipefitters and welders arrived at Husky Energy’s Sunrise project for their weeks-long shifts, a company spokesperson told the crew of approximately 270 this would be their last.
Their replacements?
An equal number of temporary foreign workers brought in by Saipem, a non-union Italian company specializing in oil and gas construction projects.
Over the next 30 days, dozens of temporary foreign workers from Mexico, Ireland, Portugal and Italy were arriving at the site 60 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, waiting for turnover.
By Sept. 27, the original workers —all contractors with Toronto-based Black & MacDonald— were gone. http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/2013/10/07/canadian-employees-replaced-with-temporary-foreign- workers#dsq-form-area
Malaysian LNG promise is actually a massive BC giveaway
What was touted as a $36 Billion investment commitment by Malaysian LNG giant Petronas is actually a massive giveaway of natural gas by BC – valued at up to $400 Billion gross over the 25 year term of a secretive export licence being negotiated behind closed doors.
Wait a minute – this is not sounding very good and certainly nothing like the $100 Billion prosperity fund that will erase debt, lower taxes and provide vital services, which the Liberals campaigned on.
In fact, it is sounding a lot like trade and investment agreements where deals are negotiated in secret and the corporate rights they establish, including the worlds lowest royalty rates, are “locked in” for a generation.
Coleman goes onto claim that “We will not be beaten by anybody with regard to fundamentals.” Translation, we will be the cheapest operating district in the world by charging the lowest royalty rates, providing the best subsidies and tax breaks, and offering the least government intervention on issues related to the build out processes and pipeline approvals, including environmental protection. http://commonsensecanadian.ca/malaysian-lng-massive-bc-giveaway/
Gaz de schiste: la communauté universitaire veut en savoir plus
«Lorsque vous avez quelqu’un dans une telle situation, en train de se noyer, si vous lui présentez un Lifesaver, le bonbon, il va quand même y croire. C’est un peu la situation dans laquelle on se trouve», a confié le biologiste et professeur à l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. http://numerique.acadienouvelle.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=fc76ae12-14b2-4429-9438- e5ba95e8231e&key=uu4kJoPzlgZvrWEHYxpJPA%3d %3d&issue=28562013101600000000001001&bookmarkid=WHRRIJX4GFQ4
104 Canada not doing enough to tackle problems of aboriginal people: U.N.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is not doing enough to tackle the social and economic ills facing its large aboriginal population, which is beset by poverty, poor housing and high unemployment, a United Nations official said on Tuesday.
In a rare international rebuke to Canada, James Anaya, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said Ottawa was taking some measures to address problems that have bedeviled the native population for many decades.
"It is equally clear that these steps are insufficient, and have yet to fully respond to aboriginal peoples' urgent needs," he told a news conference in Ottawa at the end of a nine-day visit. http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE99E10120131016
Most Canadians oppose natural-gas 'fracking'
The majority of Canadians and a strong majority of British Columbians oppose hydraulic fracturing - better known as "fracking" - and would sup-port a moratorium on the natural gas extraction method, a poll reveals. The Environics Research poll, commissioned by the Council of Canadians, found that 62 per cent of the Canadians polled supported a moratorium on all fracking for natural gas until all environmental reviews are complete.
B.C. residents, at 67 per cent, were most likely to support a moratorium on fracking. B.C. was followed by Atlantic Canada, where 66 per of those polled supported a moratorium, then Ontario (65 per cent), Manitoba/Saskatchewan (64 per cent), Alberta (57 per cent) and Quebec (55 per cent). "The poll results send a strong message that Canadians are really wanting the federal government to put in place a moratorium until the reviews are complete, and so we're hoping that the federal government will take up the call," said Emma Lui, the water campaigner for the Council of Canadians. http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/archives/story.html?id=932f7379-144d-4d56-98f1- 0609ca74fe41
Oil, gas obsession mean 'game over for the planet,' says filmmaker
The plans to accelerate oil extraction from Alberta's oilsands, as well as the increased use of mining techniques such as hydraulic fracturing "mean game over for the planet," says a filmmaker coming to Saskatoon. Josh Fox, director of documentaries Gasland and Gasland II, is one of the featured speakers at the Council of Canadians' annual general meetings in Saskatoon later this week. His films explore the effects of hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking" around the world.
"We have to stop using all these unconventional sources (of oil and gas). That carbon simply has to be left in the ground," Fox said in an interview Sunday. http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/movie- guide/obsession+mean+game+over+planet+says+filmmaker/9061539/story.html? google_editors_picks=true
105 Fracking Immunity: Holding regulators accountable - CBC The Currrent
Jessica Ernst says she could light her water on fire as it came out of the tap from her well in rural Rosebud, Alberta. She blames hydraulic fracturing or fracking for her problems but her attempts to sue Alberta's Energy Regulator have hit a snag: the regulator has immunity.
Two years ago she decided to seek compensation in the courts and filed a 33 million dollar lawsuit against the energy company Encana, the Alberta government, and Alberta's Energy Regulator, the body that has replaced the Energy Resources Conservation Board.
But last week an Alberta justice ruled provincial law protects the energy regulator from her suit. The decision raises concerns about the ability to hold regulators accountable. http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2013/10/22/fracking-immunity-holding-regulators-accountable/
Sondage Léger: 84 % des Québécois ont une perception positive du travail des groupes environnementalistes Leger survey: 84% of Quebecers have a positive perception of the work of environmental groups
Montréal, le 22 octobre 2013 - Selon un sondage réalisé à l’initiative de l’équipe de l’émission Les Verts contre-attaquent, dont les résultats seront divulgués ce soir à 19 h 30 sur les ondes de Télé-Québec, les Québécois ont une perception très positive des environnementalistes. Le sondage, dont l’objectif était de vérifier si les écologistes souffrent d’un problème d’image, a au contraire démontré que la population les appuie largement.
•Les environnementalistes sont trop moralisateurs •Les environnementalistes sont trop alarmistes •Les environnementalistes sont trop rêveurs •Les environnementalistes n'apportent aucune solution •Les environnementalistes sont trop revendicateurs •Je suis fatigué d'entendre parler d'environnement •Je m'intéresse moins qu'avant à l'environnement
En moyenne, 84 % des personnes interrogées ont affirmé être en désaccord avec ces affirmations, 89 % ont affirmé ne pas être fatiguées d’entendre parler d’environnement et 93 % ne sont pas moins intéressées qu’avant par l’environnement. Les opinions les plus favorables à l’endroit des environnementalistes se retrouvent chez les 18-24 ans (88 %), les femmes (88 %) et les gens de la grande région de Montréal et ses couronnes (86 %).
Bing translation
Leger survey: 84% of Quebecers have a positive perception of the work of environmental groups
Montreal, October 22, 2013 - according to a survey carried out at the initiative of the team the Greens strike back, whose results will be released tonight at 7:30 pm on the airwaves of Télé-Québec, Quebecers have a very positive environmentalists perception. The survey, whose aim was to verify whether environmentalists are suffering from an image problem, instead showed that the population supports them widely.
• Environmentalists are too moralistic
106 • Environmentalists are too alarmist • Environmentalists are too dreamy • The environmentalists bring no solution • Environmentalists are too vocal • I'm tired of hearing about environment • Interests me less than before to the environment
On average, 84% of respondents claimed to disagree with these statements, 89% said not be tired to hear talk about the environment and93% are not less interested than before by the environment. The views more favourable towards environmentalists find themselves among 18-24 year-olds (88%), women (88%) and the people of the greater Montreal region and its crowns (86%). http://www.equiterre.org/communique/sondage-leger-84-des-quebecois-ont-une-perception-positive-du- travail-des-groupes-environ#.UmaKjS51grs.twitter
Stop Mainstream Canada's Apathy Toward First Nations Abuse
One week ago, First Nations community members in New Brunswick, from the Elsipogtog and Mi'kmaq tribes blocked a road, in protest. The blockade was formed in an effort to prevent the passage of vehicles, belonging to American shale gas company SWN Resources, which is engaged in development in the area.
What happened in New Brunswick is not an isolated incident.
First Nations communities across Canada are uniting, in the struggle to maintain and preserve their land from environmental destruction, as corporations remove resources on native land with our governments' blessing. In doing so, they are also working to save their individual and treaty rights from further deterioration.
A movement has taken hold. It arose amidst the apathy and racism of mainstream Canadian society that surrounds First Nations people wherever they go.
It arose notwithstanding the torturous abuse First Nations people withstood as children and youth at Canada's residential schools which took place during the course of my generation and previous generations. The after effects of the abuse continue to haunt communities. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/shahla-khan-salter/first-nations-issues_b_4164289.html
BC RCMP investigating explosion aimed at First Nation anti-pipeline blockade - Embedded video
HOUSTON,BC–Officers from the Houston, B.C., RCMP detachment are investigating an explosion set off at the gates of an anti-pipeline blockade in the province’s interior.
A crude explosive device was detonated next to a sign leading to the blockade Monday evening by unknown individuals who fled the scene up a logging road in a vehicle.
“We have received a report this morning and have initiated an investigation,” said Sgt. Steven Rose, who is based in Houston.
107 The blockade and camp were built to block the proposed Pacific Trails and Coastal Gas Links natural gas pipelines along with Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline which aims to pump Alberta tar sands bitumen to the Pacific Coast.
All three pipelines are mapped to run through an area about a kilometre from the camp. Toghestiy said a traditional pit house is being constructed on the pipelines’ route.
Monday night’s incident followed reports that locals in the area were planning to commit sabotage against the blockade. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/30/bc-rcmp-investigating-explosion-aimed-first-nation-anti-pipeline- blockade/
108 Other News
Siena Poll: More New Yorkers Opposing Fracking
When it comes to fracking, the largest plurality ever is opposed to the drilling process, according to a Siena Poll.
The survey shows 45% of New Yorkers oppose the state lifting the moratorium on the drilling process, while 37% support it.
Pro-frackers say Governor Cuomo and other state leaders haven't done a good job educating people on fracking.
While anti-frackers say people are starting to educate themselves. http://www.wicz.com/news2005/viewarticle.asp?a=29915
Idle No More gets US boost from top climate activist for day of action
One of the U.S.’s top environmentalists has thrown his considerable clout and that of his organization behind Idle No More’s planned Oct. 7 day of action.
Bill McKibben, a prominent journalist who wrote for the New Yorker magazine and founded 350.org which is one of the driving forces behind U.S. opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, said Indigenous peoples have “spearheaded the fight to preserve the planet at its most critical hour.”
Idle No More has called for an international day of action for Oct. 7 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation and the arrival of James Anaya, the UN rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples, who also begins a visit to Canada that day. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/01/idle-no-more-gets-us-boost-from-top-climate-activist-for-day-of- action/
Age of Unreason
The governments of Britain, Canada and Australia are trying to stamp out scientific dissent.
It’s as clear and chilling a statement of intent as you’re likely to read. Scientists should be “the voice of reason, rather than dissent, in the public arena.”(1) Vladimir Putin? Kim Jong-un? No, Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser at the UK’s department for environment.
Boyd’s doctrine is a neat distillation of government policy in Britain, Canada and Australia. These governments have suppressed or misrepresented inconvenient findings on climate change, pollution, pesticides, fisheries and wildlife. They have shut down programmes which produce unwelcome findings and sought to muzzle scientists. This is a modern version of Soviet Lysenkoism: crushing academic dissent on behalf of bad science and corporate power(2). http://www.monbiot.com/2013/09/30/age-of-unreason/
109 64% of EU citizens against development of Shale Gas
The results of an EU on-line questionnaire on fracking were presented at a meeting on 7th June in Brussels, attended by Irish representatives of the campaign against fracking. Almost 23,000 people responded to the questionnaire, a large majority of which agree on the lack of adequate legislation, the need for public information and the lack of public acceptance of unconventional fossil fuels (e.g. shale gas). When the responses were weighted to reflect EU Member States’ population, they indicated that 64% of EU citizens thought that shale gas should not be developed in Europe at all. http://goodenergiesalliance.com/2013/06/15/64-of-eu-citizens-against-development-of-shale-gas/
TODAY'S INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUE, LNG facilities
In February 1973, a liquefied natural gas tank blew up, and forty workers died. They were all crushed by the ten-story structure's concrete roof, which was blown off by the force of the explosion and which had, before falling on them, risen 10-20 feet into the air. According to a firefighter on the scene, the resulting conflagration "was like a science fiction novel, or Dante's 'Inferno.'"
As a direct consequence, Liquefied Natural Gas facilities have been banned in New York State for the past 40 years. (To be sure, other than in New York City, which is legally protected until at least 2015, the official statewide ban actually ended in 1999. However, without regulations, a de facto prohibition remains in place, as required under state law.)
Now, fourteen years since the ban elapsed, the DEC has proposed such regulations, which, if adapted, will serve to permit Liquefied Natural Gas facilities in New York State. http://www.thirtydaysoffrackingregs.com/oct7.php
MEPs recognise dangers of fracking - European Union
European politicians recognised the specific environmental, health and social impacts of fracking today, according to Friends of the Earth Europe. For the first time, and as a result of a vote in the European Parliament today, some of the dangers of unconventional fossil fuels like shale gas are now specifically reflected in environmental and health safeguards applicable to all fossil fuels. However, the organisation warns that this does not close the door on dirty and dangerous unconventional fossil fuels.
As part of a wider review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, and as a result of today's vote, fracking during the exploration for, and extraction of, unconventional fossil fuels is now subject to the same mandatory assessments as conventional fossil fuels. http://www.foeeurope.org/european-parliament-recognise-dangers-fracking-091013
Chevron scheitert an der Basis
FRACKING Es sah nach einem Turbostart aus. Jetzt ist das Frackingprojekt des Energieriesen Chevron in Litauen geplatzt - durch lokalen Widerstand
110 STOCKHOLM taz | Die Entscheidung sei ein Ergebnis des Klimawandels, sagt ein Sprecher des Energiekonzerns Chevron. Er meint allerdings eher so ein soziales Klima: "Signifikante Änderungen im steuerlichen, rechtlichen und ordnungspolitischen Klima in Litauen" seien der Grund dafür, dass der US-Multi nun doch die Finger von einem umstrittenen Fracking-Projekt lässt, das in dem baltischen Staat zuletzt immer mehr Gegner fand. Übersetzt: Weil der Widerstand in der Bevölkerung zu groß wurde, will Chevron nun doch nicht nach Schiefergas bohren.
Bing translation
FRACKING looked like a Turbo start. Now the Frackingprojekt of the energy giants blew Chevron in Lithuania - due to local resistanceSTOCKHOLM taz | The decision was a result of climate change, says a spokesman for the energy group Chevron. He thinks but rather as a social climate: "Significant changes in the tax, legal and regulatory climate in Lithuania" were the reason for the US-multi letting now but the finger of a controversial fracking project, which was most recently more and more opponents in the Baltic State. Translated: Because of resistance in the population was too large, Chevron will not drill now but for shale gas. http://www.taz.de/1/archiv/digitaz/artikel/? ressort=wu&dig=2013%2F10%2F16%2Fa0080&cHash=d58fd73ad7a4d3dab90a21a33e93c1d6
Wind farms paid £30 million a year to stand idle - UK
Wind farms are being given around £30million a year in compensation to switch off or slow down their turbines because up to half the electricity they make is not needed.
Last weekend alone, householders handed £3.1million to energy firms for doing absolutely nothing as up to 30 wind farms were paid to switch off. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2388417/Wind-farms-paid-30-million-year-stand-idle-grid-cope- energy-produce.html
Exposed: U.K. Frackers Replicate U.S. FRacking Industry's Lies and Misinformation
But despite the clear and unmistakable warnings — and due to its close ties to the oil and gas industry — the U.K. government is pushing ahead. The recent U.K. Shale Gas Environmental Summit, held last week in London, was the fracking lobby's attempt to elevate the argument that it's both ecologically safe and economically wise to drill for gas through the toxic process known as hydraulic fracturing.
Protesting outside the conference, however, the group Frack Off offered one insight, among many: that the content and contributors to the so-called "Summit" reflect the way U.K. frackers are emulating the American fracking industry's approach. http://www.occupy.com/article/exposed-uk-frackers-replicate-us-fracking-industrys-lies-and- misinformation
111 About 60 People Affected By Evacuation On West 15th Street
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Nine buildings in the Flatiron District were evacuated Tuesday, after a gas leak erupted.
The buildings evacuated around 7 p.m. Tuesday evening were on West 15th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues – a residential block on the cusp of the Flatiron District and Chelsea, Con Edison said.
About 60 people were affected by the evacuation.
It was a wild scene as firefighters went door to door and told people to get out of their homes. As late as 11 p.m., some were still waiting to get back inside. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/10/29/gas-leak-forces-evacuation-of-9-buildings-in-chelsea/
112 Water
Water prices a fracking big deal
For companies using B.C.’s water for fracking, the highest water rental fee paid to the province is $1.10 per 1,000 cubic metres. That’s less than $3 for enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool.
“They’re getting a free ride, absolutely,” said Ben Parfitt, a resource analyst for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “I think that charge is egregiously low, and I think that there is a real opportunity for the government, having taken a significant step in the right direction in introducing this proposed legislation, for it to ... deal with the whole issue of water pricing.”
If B.C. continues to expand LNG production as expected, Parfitt said, it would bring “an unprecedented rush on water,” and make the issue of water price and use all the more vital.
“We need to send the signal now, before that activity ramps up, that ... companies are going to have to pay a reasonable dollar for that water. If we don’t do that, then basically we’re sending the signal that this is a resource that we in British Columbia just take for granted,” he said. http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Water+prices+fracking+deal/9088170/story.html
113 Oil and Pipelines
Thousands Draw the Line Protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline
Thousands of people in hundreds of places across the U.S. joined together on Saturday in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline and dirty tar sands oil. Organized by 350.org, the nationwide action, Draw the Line, sent a strong message to President Obama that Americans want him to reject the Keystone XL.
According to 350.org, 350 Seattle had more than a thousand people draw the line between the Puget Sound and the train tracks that could lead to exporting an inflated fossil fuel dependency. In Texas, folks drew the line against the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline right on TransCanada’s home turf. In New Orleans, a marching band drew the line against continued threats to the Gulf Coast communities. In Nebraska, landowners built a barn on the line of the proposed northern segment of the Keystone XL pipeline. In Detroit, the line was drawn between residents and refineries burning tar sands. http://ecowatch.com/2013/thousands-protesting-keystone-xl-pipeline/
EcoWatch Keystone Pipeline Links http://ecowatch.com/p/energy/keystone-xl-pipeline-2/
TransCanada Whistleblower Evan Vokes Details Lack of Confidence in Keystone XL
Environmental groups have been pressuring President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, a high capacity, high pressure line that would transport diluted bitumen from the Alberta tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico. Tar sands crude is more carbon intensive than conventional crude oil, as well as more corrosive, creating the potential that dilbit will erode pipelines faster. Spills can cause irreparable damage to water supplies, land values and ecosystems.
Vokes, in the pro pipeline camp, has grave reservations about this too. But he is primarily concerned about the pipeline itself, so shoddily built that it may well poison aquifers and harm people's health.
TransCanada was already in trouble with Canada's National Energy Board when Vokes started working for them in 2007. Three court orders had been served compelling the company to comply with pipeline construction regulations they had been caught violating. http://truth-out.org/news/item/19130-transcanada-whistleblower-evan-vokes-details-lack-of-confidence- in-keystone-xl
Oil Shock, Pipelines and Mayflower - dateline Embedded video http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/601747/n/Oil-Shock
Judge quashes Alberta's decision to bar environmentalists from oilsands hearing
EDMONTON -- Alberta's Environment Department has been rebuked by a judge for working behind the scenes to silence groups that question the effects of oilsands operations on the environment.
114
"This is a black mark for the government of Alberta," Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank at the heart of the dispute, said Wednesday.
"Alberta needs to walk the talk and be judged on its actions both in terms of environmental performance of the industry and its actions in terms of the regulatory process." http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/judge-quashes-alberta-s-decision-to-bar-environmentalists-from- oilsands-hearing-1.1480927
Rail car propane leak safely resolved in Saint John
A propane leak from a rail car in east Saint John has been safely resolved, after more than six hours. Emergency crews reopened Highway 1 in both directions at about 6:30 p.m. AT.
The highway was closed between Garden Street and Ashburn Lake Road around noon, shortly after the leak was reported.
The area within about 90 metres of the rail yard near the One Mile interchange overpass was also evacuated. The leaking car was coupled with one carrying crude oil, said fire Chief Kevin Clifford. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/rail-car-propane-leak-safely-resolved-in-saint-john- 1.1876103
Judge hears claims BP lied to US about oil spill in Gulf
The second phase of the BP oil spill trial has begun. It will focus on BP's response to the disaster and will pinpoint how much oil spewed into the Gulf.
NEW ORLEANS — BP lied to the U.S. government and withheld information about the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico after its well blew out in 2010, attorneys told a judge Monday.
But lawyers for the London-based oil giant denied those accusations and said there was no way to prepare for such a unique blowout a mile below the sea floor. http://news.msn.com/us/judge-hears-claims-bp-lied-to-us-about-oil-spill-in-gulf?stay=1
Oklahoma Pipeline Explosion Sparks Large Fire, Prompting Evacuations (VIDEO)
An explosion on a pipeline in northwestern Oklahoma sparked a large and roaring fire on Tuesday night, CBS News reported.
According to News9, firefighters from Oklahoma and Kansas were called to the scene near the town of Rosston. Residents within two miles of the blast were ordered to evacuate. Highway 284 was shut down as a precaution.
115 Engineers were also called in to cut off the natural gas flow to the pipeline, which is owned by Northern Natural Gas of Omaha, and brings gas from Texas to the Upper Midwest. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/09/oklahoma-pipeline-explosion_n_4068377.html
ND pipeline breaks, spews 20,600 barrels of oil
More than 20,000 barrels of crude oil have spewed out of a Tesoro Corp. oil pipeline in a wheat field in northwestern North Dakota, the state Health Department said Thursday.
State environmental geologist Kris Roberts said the 20,600-barrel spill, among the largest recorded in the state, was discovered on Sept. 29 by a farmer harvesting wheat about nine miles north of Tioga.
"The farmer was harvesting his wheat and started smelling oil," Roberts said. "It went from there." http://rapidcityjournal.com/search/?l=&s=&q=ND+pipeline+breaks %2C+spews+20%2C600+barrels+of+oil http://www.nationofchange.org/over-865200-gallons-fracked-oil-spill-nd-public-dark-days-due- government-shutdown-1381586335
TransCanada Ratchets Up Lobbying for Energy East Pipeline
TransCanada Corp.TRP.T +0.77% is ramping up lobbying efforts to win approval for its multi-billion- dollar pipeline to carry crude oil from Alberta to eastern Canada, suggesting the country could miss out on thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue and additional economic growth if the project is blocked. http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2013/09/10/transcanada-ratchets-up-lobbying-for-energy-east- pipeline/
David Suzuki tells U.S. not to trust Harper's Keystone XL promises – Embedded video
Environmental activist David Suzuki was among a group of Canadians in Washington, D.C., today to urge U.S. President Barack Obama's administration to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, telling Americans that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper can’t be trusted when it comes to climate change promises.
Members of the group were in a panel discussion sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council and titled “What happened to Canada?”
Delegation members met Thursday and were also meeting Friday with members of Congress and representatives from the State Department. They voiced opposition to TransCanada's proposed pipeline, which would link Alberta's oilsands to refineries in Texas but is still under review by the U.S. government. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/david-suzuki-tells-u-s-not-to-trust-harper-s-keystone-xl-promises- 1.1991120
116 Group blasts oilsands in U.S. - Lawmakers warned of 'catastrophic' climate change
Five prominent Canadian environmentalists told Washington lawmakers this week that the Keystone XL pipeline will lead to such a huge growth in oilsands' carbon emissions, it will help tip the world into catastrophic climate change. The environmentalists, who included broadcaster and scientist David Suzuki, came to the U.S. capital to counter what they claim is a disinformation campaign waged over the last eight months by Canadian politicians.
The environmentalists met this week to try to persuade a handful of U.S. senators and congressmen, as well as Kerri-Ann Jones, the U.S. State Department assistant secretary in charge of the Keystone file, to stop the pipeline's construction. http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Group+blasts+oilsands/9030528/story.html#ixzz2hWtJ5AOU
Oil pipeline leak cleanup to take years and about $4M
TIOGA, N.D. – The farmer who discovered a pipeline break that spilled 20,600 barrels of Bakken crude said Thursday he hopes the industry learns from the incident and does a better job monitoring for leaks.
Steve Jensen said he’s been told by Tesoro Logistics it will take at least two to three years to clean up his field where he noticed the oil spill while harvesting wheat Sept. 29. “It starts to make a person sick,” said Jensen, who owns both of his parents’ homesteads northeast of Tioga in northwest North Dakota.
Tesoro Logistics estimates the cost of cleanup at about $4 million.North Dakota state officials have promoted pipelines as the safest and most efficient means of transporting crude oil to refineries. http://www.prairiebizmag.com/event/article/id/16343/group/Transportation/
PHOTOS: The Oil Spill North Dakota Tried to Keep Secret
On September 29th, Steve Jensen, a farmer in northwest North Dakota, discovered crude oil "spewing and bubbling 6 inches high" out on his field while he was harvesting wheat. The spewing oil came from a break in Tesoro Corporation's underground pipeline which carries crude oil from Bakken shale formation (fracking for oil) to Columbus, North Dakota. By the time clean up crews made it out to Jensen's field, over 20,000 barrels of oil had spilled, making this one of the largest spills in state history.
It took nearly two weeks after Jensen first reported the spill for the state to finally make the news public, and as you can see from the exclusive Greenpeace photos below, the damage is extensive. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-radford/photos-harvesting-one-of_b_4097110.html
First-Ever Footage of Aging Tar Sands Pipelines Beneath Great Lakes - Embedded Video
The Straits of Mackinac pipelines, owned by Enbridge Energy, are 60-years-old and considered one of the greatest threats to the Great Lakes because of their age, location and the hazardous products they transport—including tar sands derived oil.
117 The footage shows pipelines suspended over the lakebed, some original supports broken away— indicating the presence of corrosion—and some sections of the suspended pipelines covered in large piles of unknown debris. This visual is evidence that our decision makers need to step in and demand a release of information from Enbridge and PHMSA.
Heightening our concern around this pipeline and the company that owns it: despite having cleared our dive work with the U.S. Coast Guard, several Congressional members and Homeland Security, our staff and the dive crew had uncomfortable interactions with Enbridge representatives. As soon as our team set out on the water, we were quickly accompanied by an Enbridge crew that monitored our every move. This monitoring did not stop at the surface: Enbridge also placed a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) into the water to watch our team. http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/footage-of-tar-sands-pipelines-beneath-great-lakes/
Chevron Sues Rainforest Communities It Contaminated
The Gambino crime family. The Chicago outfit. The Latin Kings. You’ve probably heard of these infamous crime families—a.k.a., the mob, the mafia. “Don” Corleone. Capiche?
But have you heard of Hugo Camacho? Or Javier Piaguaje? They’re not exactly household names. Nor gangster names for that matter. And that’s because one is a campesino farmer that makes about $200 a month growing cacao. The other is a leader of the Secoya indigenous people, and both are from the rainforests of Ecuador’s Amazon. Their crime? Suing the second largest oil company for the worst oil- related environmental disaster on the planet. And winning.
But starting today in a lower Manhattan courthouse, they are being accused using the same criminal statute under which the big crime bosses of our time have been prosecuted: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). It’s the latest in Chevron‘s scorched earth campaign to avoid paying a record environmental verdict against the company for massive contamination stemming from its operations in Ecuador’s Amazon between 1964 and 1990. http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/chevron-sues-rainforest-communities-it-contaminated/
Update: Oilsands project faces months of delay
Athabasca stock crashes in wake of court decision on oilsands facility
CALGARY — The Dover oilsands project in northern Alberta could face a year or more of uncertainty due to an appeal court challenge of its approval, says the lawyer for a native band opposing the facility.
Edmonton lawyer Karen Buss, who is working for the Fort McKay First Nation, said the exercise could have wide-ranging implications for the entire industry.
On Friday, a justice of the Alberta Court of Appeal gave the First Nation leave to appeal the Alberta Energy Regulator’s Aug. 6 approval of the 250,000-barrel-per-day thermal oilsands project. http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Natives+allowed+appeal+oilsands+approval/9053374/story.html
118 Edmonton train derailment latest safety setback for CN Rail
CN Rail is defending its safety record after three high-profile derailments involving trains carrying hazardous materials within the space of a month while apologizing for the latest mishap.
Thirteen cars on a CN freight train carrying a cargo of oil and liquefied petroleum gas went off the rails near the tiny hamlet of Gainford, about 80 kilometres west of Edmonton, early Saturday morning.
There were two explosions reported and the community was evacuated as a precaution.
The situation was so volatile that firefighters simply backed off and let the fire burn itself out. They estimated it could take at least 24 hours for that to happen and told a news conference late Saturday that it could be up to 72 hours before residents could return to their homes
'We run a safe railroad, but we do have incidents.'- Jim Vena, CN chief operating officer
Fire officials say they have little choice but to let the fuel burn itself off. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-train-derailment-latest-safety-setback-for-cn-rail- 1.2127244
In pictures: Tanker cars explode after train derailment in Gainford, Alta. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/in-pictures-tanker-cars-explode-after-train-derails-in- gainford-alta/article14947021/
Alberta won't review decision to bar aboriginal groups from oilsands hearings
EDMONTON -- The Alberta government says it won't reconsider recent decisions to bar two aboriginal groups from voicing concerns about oilsands developments on or near their traditional territories.
That refusal comes despite urgings from a Queen's Bench judge to loosen restrictions on who has the right to appear before boards making decisions on how development in the province can proceed.
The government "doesn't see that it's necessary to review those cases," said Nikki Booth, spokeswoman for Alberta Environment.
Earlier this year, the Metis Local 1935 from Fort McMurray and the Fort McKay First Nation filed statements of concern regarding oilsands developments. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/alberta-won-t-review-decision-to-bar-aboriginal-groups-from-oilsands- hearings-1.1505020
Three million pounds of oil found on Louisiana shore three years after BP spill
The amount of oil found on Louisiana’s coast has surged this year, three years after BP PLC’s Macondo spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the state’s Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority said.
119 In the first eight months of this year, about three million pounds of “oily material” were cleaned up on Louisiana’s coast, up from 119,894 pounds in the same period last year, according to a report posted on the website of the state’s Department of Natural Resources. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/three-million- pounds-of-oil-found-on-louisiana-shore-three-years-after-bp-spill/article14934104/
Residents unsettled by excavation around Kinder Morgan pipeline
Excavation around pipelines. 24 hour security. Trucks with "contaminated soil" written on the side. Residents of Abbotsford and Chilliwack are wondering what it all means. http://www.vancouverobserver.com/environment/residents-unsettled-constant-excavation-around- kinder-morgan-pipeline
CNRL bitumen leak has likely contaminated groundwater, report says
Alberta Environment says bitumen leaking on CNRL’s Cold Lake lease has entered aquifers and the company must take immediate steps to minimize its migration into subsurface water and soil. Sticky bitumen, which has oozd to the surface for more than six months, “has entered local non-saline groundwater aquifers, likely contaminating the groundwater,” says the 15-page enforcement order issued by Alberta Environment late Monday. http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/CNRL+bitumen+leak+likely+contaminated+groundwater+r eport+says/9069113/story.html
New Study: Kochs Could Make $100 Billion on Keystone XL Pipeline Deal
A new study released today concludes that Koch Industries and its subsidiaries stand to make as much as $100 billion in profits if the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is given the go-ahead by U.S. President Obama. The report, titled Billionaires' Carbon Bomb, and produced by the think tank International Forum on Globalization(IFG), finds that David and Charles Koch and their privately-owned company, Koch Industries, own more than 2 million acres of land in Northern Alberta, the source of the tar sands oil that will be pumped to the United States via the Keystone XL pipeline. http://www.vancouverobserver.com/world/united-states/new-study-kochs-could-make-100-billion- keystone-xl-pipeline-deal
Burnaby mayor predicts more action against pipeline
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan says more protests are on the way against the Kinder Morgan proposal to twin its pipeline, as many people are losing faith in the federal process and feel unheard. Sixteen Greenpeace protests were joined by locals on Wednesday at a protest staged at the Kinder Morgan site in Burnaby. http://www.burnabynow.com/news/burnaby-mayor-predicts-more-action-against-pipeline-1.663344#
120 Internal Documents Reveal Coverup in North Dakota Oil Spill
Documents from an open records request by Greenpeace have uncovered that Tesoro, a fracking giant based in San Antonio:
Possibly Knew Their Pipeline was Dangerously Weak
Tesoro ran tests on the pipeline that ruptured more than two weeks before the spill was discovered.
A robot, known as a “smart pig,” detected weaknesses in the pipeline on Sept.10 and 11. Tesoro claims that they did not have ample time to digest the data before the spill, but Tesoro employees on the ground tell a different story. Furthermore, once the pipeline spill was discovered, Tesoro dispatched crews to check two other sites on the pipeline for leaks, indicating they were aware of potential fail points in the pipeline. http://ecowatch.com/2013/10/24/documents-reveal-coverup-north-dakota-oil-spill/
Justin Trudeau pitches Keystone to U.S. anti-oilsands crowd
OTTAWA—Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau spoke out in favour of the Keystone XL pipeline on Thursday, in front of a Washington audience largely opposed to the controversial proposal to ship oil from Canada to the United States.
At a conference organized by the Centre for American Progress, which has long been a staunch opponent of Keystone, Trudeau said: “I’m actually supportive of the Keystone pipeline because it’s an extremely important energy infrastructure piece for both of our countries.” http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/10/24/justin_trudeau_pitches_keystone_to_us_antioilsands _crowd.html
Recent Tragedies Highlight Need to Reform Regulations for 500,000 Miles of Oil and Gas Pipelines
As someone who has worked on pipeline safety and associated environmental protection issues since I began serving on a pipeline federal advisory committee in the mid-1990s, I can say confidently that the period from 2010-2013 has had a very large number of serious transmission pipeline tragedies compared to the previous decade (serious in the lay-person’s sense of the term, i.e., not the relatively narrow definition developed by federal pipeline regulators). http://ecowatch.com/2013/10/23/management-nightmare-for-hazardous-pipelines/
Gulf Of Mexico Ecosystem In Crisis 3 Years After BP Oil Spill “We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before…Everything out there is dead.”
Over three million pounds of oiled material have been found in Louisiana this year
“Three and a half years later, BP is spending more money – I want you to hear this – they are spending more money on television commercials than they have on actually restoring the natural resources they
121 impacted.” -Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Three years after well blowout, declining seafood catches and deformities point to an environment in distress.” -Dahr Jamail
Tar and oil is still washing up on beaches, fish and wildlife stocks have plummeted, some are just gone & fishing commerce has ground to near halt. There is no safe way to drill for the toxic waste that is crude oil in ocean ecosystems. Corporate media has turned a blind eye to this ongoing disaster while a major ocean ecosystems depended on financially by mulitiple U.S. gulf states is slowly and surely dying. No signs of recovery in sight. We power our civilization on toxic wastes. Where ever these toxins are extracted, spilled, released or disposed of, death and destruction follows. http://countdowntozerotime.com/2013/10/25/were-seeing-things-weve-never-seen-beforeeverything- out-there-is-dead-gulf-of-mexico-ecosystem-in-crisis-3-years-after-bp-oil-spill/
Silence on spills shows oil’s power in ND - Embedded video
Don Morrison, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, talks with Rachel Maddow about new revelations about an alarming number of oil spills in N.D. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/silence-on-spills-shows-oils-power-in-nd- 57056835775
Canada's slow oil, gas infrastructure development worry Chinese, minister says
China’s state-owned companies are still keen to invest in Canada’s energy sector, but worry about the slow pace of infrastructure development to connect Western oil and gas producers with Asian markets, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says.
Mr. Oliver returned last week from visits to South Korea and China amid concerns that Ottawa’s rules for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have sent negative and confusing signals to Asia’s government- controlled companies whose investment is needed to finance development in the country’s resource sector. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/china- worried-by-canadas-slow-pace-of-energy-sector-development-minister-says/article15111354/
Pipeline safety incident rate doubled in past decade
Pipelines regulated by the federal government — which include some of the longest lines in the country — have experienced a swell in the number of safety-related incidents over the past decade, documents obtained by CBC News suggest.
In recent months, a spate of oil and gas spills both from train derailments and pipelines have raised questions about what mode of transport is the safest.
However, according to figures from a National Energy Board (NEB) data set obtained under access-to- information by CBC, the rate of overall pipeline incidents has doubled since 2000. http://www.cbc.ca/news/pipeline-safety-incident-rate-doubled-in-past-decade-1.2251771
122 Pipeline project: From grainy documents to interactive map
Last August, we submitted an access-to-information request asking for 12 years’ worth of data on pipeline incidents from the National Energy Board (NEB), the federal regulator that oversees pipelines that cross borders.
About five months later, a CD containing the documents arrived at CBC News.
They included page after page of detailed information about each and every pipeline safety incident that companies are required to report.
The incredible wealth of information allowed us to map each one of the 1,047 incidents so that Canadians could see what’s happening in their neighbourhood and across the country. Users can also filter by the type of incident, the substance or even the year. http://www.cbc.ca/news/pipeline-project-from-grainy-documents-to-interactive-map-1.2251803? cmp=rss
Pipeline map: Have there been any incidents near you?
From small to large-scale spills to fires, explosions and worker deaths
Ever wonder whether your community contains any buried pipelines? Or if any issues have arisen with them over the years? Through an access-to-information request, CBC News obtained a data set of every pipeline safety incident reported to the federal regulator in the past 12 years.
The National Energy Board oversees cross-border pipelines. The data doesn’t include smaller pipelines within provincial boundaries.
The documents reveal details about more than 1,000 incidents that have happened across the country since 2000 until late 2012 and suggest the rate of overall incidents has doubled in the past decade. http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/pipeline-incidents/
The other Keystone fight: US landowners vs. Canada oil giant
TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline expansion would stretch over almost 1,700 miles, and many U.S. landowners along its route say they're fighting to get money due them for letting the Canadian oil giant ship crude through their property.
Dave Domina, an attorney in Omaha, Neb., said one landowner received an offer of $100 for a half- mile-long easement. "They were offended by it," Domina said of the property owner, who reportedly got the offer about two years ago, when negotiations for Keystone XL easements were just beginning.
Now, he said, TransCanada is making easement offers of up to $350,000. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101144123
123 Robert Redford launches attack on Alberta’s oilsands (with video)
Movie icon Robert Redford is the latest celebrity to launch a stinging attack on Alberta’s oilsands and the Keystone XL pipeline, releasing a video Monday as part of a new climate change campaign.
In the video, Redford calls the oilsands “the dirtiest oil on the planet.”
“Developing the Canadian tarsands is destroying our great northern forest at a terrifying rate. It is producing enough carbon pollution to wreak havoc with our climate for decades to come. And the pipelines that carry this toxic tarsands fuel are a direct threat to our own drinking water supplies,” he says. http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/alberta/Robert+Redford+launches+attack+Alberta+oilsands+wit h/8918270/story.html
Damage Control: Oil Train Derailment in Alberta and Gas Fracking Protest in New Brunswick
Another oil train derailment and explosion in Canada has sent nearby residents fleeing from their homes in the middle of the night. It happened at 1 a.m. on Saturday, October 19 on a CN Rail line outside the hamlet of Gainford, Alberta, 85 km west of Edmonton. The accident coincides with new steps by the Canadian government to extend oil and other resource extraction into the Arctic.
A portion of a long, mixed-cargo CN Rail train traveling westbound derailed. Nine of the derailed wagons were carrying liquid petroleum gas (propane) and four contained crude oil. Three of the propane wagons exploded into flames. A fourth was breached. The accident closed the adjoining Trans-Canada Highway for days. Fortunately, no lives were lost or serious injuries sustained in the conflagration.
In New Brunswick, the anti-natural gas fracking movement in the province has emerged strengthened following a violent assault against it by the RCMP on October 17. On that day, the federal police force attacked a weeks-long protest against exploratory drilling and seismic testing being conducted by a Houston-based company contracted by the province's Irving Oil conglomerate.
The attack completely backfired. Within hours, large protests in solidarity with the movement erupted across Canada, in the United States and further internationally. Protests actions at the site continued in the days following, and a community-wide consultation on October 20 drew hundreds of people. The exploratory testing has been halted and pressure is now stronger than ever on the Conservative Party government of the province to declare a moratorium. http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/892.php
Koch-owned pipeline spills 17,000 gallons of oil in Texas
An estimated 17,000 gallons of crude oil gushed from a leak in a Texas pipeline this week, fouling a rural area and two livestock ponds near the town of Smithsville. According to the Austin American- Statesman, authorities notified the Koch Pipeline Company on Monday afternoon that one of its pipes near Smithsville had ruptured.
124 The company took the pipeline out of service and began the cleanup process of approximately 400 barrels of oil. KVUE reported that Koch Pipeline released a statement reading, in part, “The proper state and federal agencies have been notified. The cause of the release is currently unknown.”
The spill was detected during a routine aerial inspection of the area. Residents said that the commotion has been constant since Monday with planes flying over and trucks driving in and out. Cleanup workers had to cut a new road through the woods to reach the site of the spill. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/31/koch-owned-pipeline-spills-17000-gallons-of-oil-in-texas/
125 Energy East Pipeline
Energy East Pipeline application delayed until 2014: TransCanada
TransCanada has delayed its goal of filing an application for its proposed Energy East Pipeline with the National Energy Board until next year, the company’s vice-president of eastern business development said Thursday.
Steve Pohlod told an energy conference in Saint John, N.B., that there is too much work to do to be able to meet its initial goal of filing the application for the $12-billion project before the end of this year.
“There is still work we have to do out in the field and environmental work that we still have to undertake,” he said.
“There is work that is required as a result of the changes in scope and the changes in route that we are still contemplating.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/energy-east- pipeline-application-delayed-transcanada/article14676044/
N.B. mayor adds to chorus of dissent against Energy East pipeline plan
The mayor of a small city in northern New Brunswick is using his civic blog to chronicle his and his residents’ opposition to the proposed TransCanada pipeline that could, if approved, see Alberta crude oil flowing through his community.
Under the title, “Not in my backyard,” Edmundston Mayor Cyrille Simard wrote: “For the past several months, the TransCanada pipeline … has been making headlines. It has also been creating headaches for many residents of Edmundston, myself included.” Mr. Simard is threatening to block the proposed $12-billion Energy East project if his concerns are not met
In Ontario, meanwhile, TransCanada is facing tough questions from Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, who wants assurances the Energy East pipeline project will provide economic benefits to his province. In both provinces, environmental groups are stirring up opposition. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/nb-mayor-adds-to-chorus-of-dissent-against-energy- east-pipeline-plan/article14298359/
“Energy East pipeline poses ‘enormous threat’ to environment:” Advocates for renewable energy hold parallel summit
Saint John – Renewable energy will ensure human and environmental health that is currently jeopardized by fracking for gas and transporting western crude oil here through a proposed west-east pipeline, according to a best-selling author, a Maliseet elder and a Halifax-based energy activist, speaking at a summit on energy in Saint John on Oct. 2.
The proposed Energy East pipeline poses “an enormous threat” to the environment, said Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, a citizens’ advocacy organization. “There is
126 no such thing as a pipeline that won’t spill,” added the internationally known activist and author of books on topics such as solutions to the global water crisis. http://nbmediacoop.org/2013/10/14/energy-east-pipeline-poses-enormous-threat-to-environment- advocates-for-renewable-energy-hold-parallel-summit/
Fiery protests halts last day of proposed Ontario pipeline hearings - Embedded video
Sat, Oct 19: Demonstrators are opposed to the project between Sarnia and Montreal. But will they be able to stop it in its tracks altogether? Rob Malcolm reports. http://globalnews.ca/video/912922/fiery-protests-halts-last-day-of-proposed-ontario-pipeline-hearings
Kahsatstenhsera: Indigenous Resistance to Tar Sands Pipelines
Kahsatstenhsera (gah-sad-sdanh-se-ra) is a Kanienkeha:ka (Mohawk) word that means Strength in Unity. This short documentary details contemporary Indigenous resistance to tar sands pipeline expansion, in particular the Line 9 and Energy East pipelines, which threaten the health of our territories in the northeast of Turtle Island. This was a co-production with Amanda Lickers of Reclaim Turtle Island and subMedia.tv http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/kahsatstenhsera_indigenous_resistance_to_tar_sands_pipelines/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXiWcL23sXo&feature=player_embedded
Minister rules out Ontario environmental assessment of Line 9 reversal
Ontario won’t conduct its own environmental assessment of a plan to reverse the flow of the Line 9 oil pipeline that runs through the province, Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said Monday.
Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. wants to reverse Line 9 and increase its capacity to move 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day, up from the current 240,000 barrels.
It has also asked for permission to move different types of oil between Southwestern Ontario and Montreal, including a heavier form of crude.
The proposal has sparked protests by hundreds of demonstrators, who have rallied outside the National Energy Board hearings in Toronto and Montreal. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/minister-rules-out-ontario-environmental-assessment-of- line-9-reversal/article15123937/
TransCanada sued by former land agent for pipeline feedback
Craig Barry was one of 12 land agents who approached residents along a proposed route for the TransCanada Corp. Energy East pipeline.
127 Barry, who came home to New Brunswick from Calgary for the job, was hired by TransCanada subcontractor, Jammin Dowd Land Services.
He worked in the Plaster Rock and Chipman areas asking homeowners if they'd accept $1,000 to let TransCanada survey their land. Some of the people he met were concerned about the pipeline's possible impact on their property, said Barry.
But when he reported that back to TransCanada, the company was, in his words, "perturbed." "They basically said that I was in bed with the citizens of New Brunswick, and all I was doing was simply relaying the findings," said Barry.
"I'm just simply the messenger, I'm the middle man between the citizens and the company, TransCanada Pipleline. Initially I was very much behind this project, but now I'm left like every other Maritimer, wondering whether or not I'm turning around and heading back to Calgary to work."
TransCanada interceded with Jammin Dowd Land Services, to fire him, said Barry. Barry is now suing both companies. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/transcanada-sued-by-former-land-agent-for-pipeline- feedback-1.2288029
128 Mining
Parent company HDI refuse Sisson Brook Mine meetings for Fredericton and Saint Mary's First Nations!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7WTOW4-R3Ps
Northcliff Secures Todd Corporation as Financing Partner for Sisson Tungsten-Molybdenum Project
FREDERICTON, NB, Oct. 3, 2013 /CNW/ - Northcliff Resources Ltd. ("Northcliff" or the "Company") (TSX: NCF) and Todd Minerals Ltd. ("Todd") are pleased to announce that they have entered into agreements for Todd to provide up to $39 million in funding for the Sisson Tungsten-Molybdenum Project (the "Sisson Project") located in central New Brunswick, Canada, in exchange for a direct interest in the Sisson Project and shares in Northcliff. Todd is a subsidiary of the family owned Todd Corporation, one of New Zealand's most successful companies and which has a growing portfolio of mineral investments. http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20131003-905499.html
Calgary-based mining company suing Costa Rica for more than $1 billion - Embedded Video
LA TIGRA, Costa Rica – A billion-dollar showdown is looming in Central America this week as a Calgary-based mining company announced it will sue the country of Costa Rica, infuriating residents who say their sovereignty is being taken away.
Infinito Gold was hoping to operate an open-pit gold mine in the Crucitas region of Costa Rica’s north. On its website, the company says it “…completed all the environmental, social and technical studies and obtained all approvals required under Costa Rican law to develop and operate the Las Crucitas Project.” But the project was held up in court, and after irregularities were found in the approval process the mine’s approval was declared illegal.
In 2011, Costa Rica banned all open-pit metal mining. http://globalnews.ca/news/883756/calgary-based-mining-company-suing-costa-rica-for-more-than-1- billion/
Protests, cyanide concerns may halt Canadian-Romania gold mine project
VANCOUVER – Anti-mining protesters appear to have won their battle against the Romanian government and a Canadian firm planning to build Europe’s largest open-cast gold mine. At least for now.
After more than a week of rallies in the capital city of Bucharest and the country’s second-largest city of Cluj Napoca, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Monday the project likely won’t get approval. http://globalnews.ca/news/831675/protests-cyanide-concerns-may-halt-canadian-romania-gold-mine- project/
129 Craig Leonard on Environmental Impact Assessment Sisson Brook mine -17 Sep 2013 The legacy of an open-pit mine - 17 Sep 2013
“All you have to do is look at the environmental impact assessment filed by the company,” Leonard said in an interview. “It’s hundreds of pages and very well constructed and environmentally progressive. Going through the document, I’m very impressed with the level of work and the level of protection there will be for the environment.” https://www.google.ca/url? sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEEQFjAE&url=https%3A%2F %2Fmoodle.stu.ca%2Fmod%2Fresource%2Fview.php%3Fid %3D6367&ei=CH9VUvWSG9in4AO52oGYAw&usg=AFQjCNHab-8z8gCOFUc0_ULJgJHDYUqK3A
Restart public review period for Sisson mine project: CCNB Action
Fredericton – CCNB Action is asking for the termination of the current public review period for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Sisson mine project. A thorough review of the report by numerous experts concludes that the Assessment report is not complete and therefore must be returned to the proponent for additional information. On September 30, 2013, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) released the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared by Northcliff Resources for their currently proposed Sisson mine project — an open pit mine for tungsten and molybdenum mine located approximately 25km northwest of Stanley. The release of the report triggered a 45 day public comment period, which ends October 14.
CCNB Action, with participant funding from CEAA, has hired 11 experts to review and comment on the baseline environmental conditions, the residual environmental effects, proposed mitigation measures and cumulative impacts of the project. http://nbmediacoop.org/2013/10/11/restart-public-review-period-for-sisson-mine-project-ccnb-action/
Conservation Council - Sisson Brook Mine http://www.conservationcouncil.ca/ccnbaction/sisson-mine-project/
CCNB Action
Expert Review and Comment on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for the Sisson Brook Tungsten and Molybdenum Mine http://www.conservationcouncil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CCNB-SissonEIAReview.pdf
CBC Info Morning Fredericton: Sisson Brook mine
The Sisson Brook mine project clears its first hurdle and runs into more. Terry talks with the Conservation Council about that, and to the company developing the mine.
130 http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2013/10/15/sisson-mine-eia/ Video Links
Chief Arren Sock at the Protest - statement, Treaty Day October 1st 2013 NO TO SHALE GAS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5z7iV58AaI&feature=player_embedded
Elsipogtog: Chief Aaron Sock arrives to blockade site http://youtu.be/o7nsbShZXzI
Elsipogtog Chief and Council Resolution - Eviction Notice http://youtu.be/D-ppYXodbo4
Information Morning - Terry talks with a lawyer who represents First Nations communities. http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/infomornfred_20131002_94090.mp3
Information Morning Mi'kmaq Land - Chief Sock and Willi Nolan Mi'kmaq land
We find out the latest on the stand off between Mi'kmaq leaders and shale gas producers. http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2013/10/02/mikmaq-land/
Charles LeBlanc interviews Chief Arren Sock of Eslipogtog http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GY3nO-d60mY
Parent company HDI refuse Sisson Brook Mine meetings for Fredericton and Saint Mary's First Nations!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7WTOW4-R3Ps
APTN, At the fracking protest front-line - Tempers are flaring again in central New Brunswick. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/02/at-the-fracking-protest-front-line/
Some Places on Earth Should Remain Untouched http://vimeo.com/55277372
131 Graeme Decarie - 2014 Countdown: What the NDP needs to do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mR4NYO5AMc&feature=player_embedded
Chief Sock Elsipogtog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIwytZQMIQo
Externalities par Sustainable Man David Suzuki http://vimeo.com/49953262
Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock in 2nd Day of Talks with Premier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sIVVlOuVrs&feature=player_embedded
Elsipogtog: Unity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DKaM7EGtjY&feature=player_embedded
Fracking protest in Moncton http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2410778423/?page=2
Papantonio & Kennedy on Corporate Corruption and Fraud — Pt. 1/4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MQYgnIEx6oY
Wendell Berry on His Hopes for Humanity - Moyers & Company http://vimeo.com/76120469
Buffy Sainte-Marie On George Stroumboulopoulos show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLiB0TUf6vo&feature=player_embedded
Oklahoma Pipeline Explosion Sparks Large Fire, Prompting Evacuations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjwW8xCdYx4&feature=player_embedded
132 Jessica Ernst speaks at The People's Forum on Fracking
Video recorded at The People's Forum on Fracking hosted by The Port au Port/Bay St. George Fracking Awareness Group in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yDIvpTmeQM&feature=player_embedded
Mark Jacobson interview on David Letterman - October 9, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Ggh3egFKk&feature=player_embedded
Climate Change and History of Mass Extinctions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRGVTK-AAvw&feature=player_embedded
Chief Roger Augustine is confronted by Blogger Charles LeBlanc and Miles Howe http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Gu14NtJQCSk
CTV Atlantic: Fracking stalemate costs company big bucks - Embedded video http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1022520
Protest at Rexton and Support from people in Fredericton, CBC News: Oct 11, 2013 http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/ID/2411696856/
Charles Leblanc at Rexton http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lnYfqu4vazo
Charles Leblanc - Breakdown in Communication last week at the Blockade in Rexton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg6QFTWKTpA&feature=player_embedded
Charles Leblanc - Arriving at the Blockade at Rexton Kent County!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1N0P_w-15Q&feature=player_embedded
Warrior Society Call to Support Elsipogtog Seizure of Fracking Equipment
133 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um_G-iNeXkI&feature=player_embedded Protesters in Balcombe halt shale gas operation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FckxDQE3eE&feature=player_embedded
Anti Shale Protesters are confronted by the Blogger in front of Ombudsman Charles Murray office!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nzGhbTT3uJI
Idle No More Day of Solidarity Houston, Texas October 7, 2013
Delivery of notice of eviction to SWN and protesters at Canadian Consulate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmKemK8thuc&feature=player_embedded
New style of blockade at the Anti Shale Protest in Rexton Kent County http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0D2IqAKRKo&feature=youtu.be&a
Anti Shale Gas Blockade in Rexton Kent County is visited by the Blogger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Bpco0PlZA
Ann Pohl face the media after meeting Ombudsman Charles Murray http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z1Kr5qAX8A
Des Acadiens debat la maniere que les Indiens etaient traiter des annee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_Q-0bucRDA
Warrior sets record straight on native who got burnt in Tee Pee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii_2V-UIFQo
Willi Nolan views on the Anti Shale Protest in Rexton Kent County https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c-QQKFNb2PQ
First-Ever Footage of Aging Tar Sands Pipelines Beneath Great Lakes http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qCMfDDcyRb0
134 R.C.M.P. wouldn't let 81 years old Female Elder drive to Anti Shale Protest in Rexton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qCoxZ8HgK0
Solidarity With Mi'kmaq Nation
Ellen Gabriel on the situation facing the Mi'kmaq in Elsipogtog New Brunswick as RCMP use force of arms against peaceful protesters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWoV0UA4eik&feature=player_embedded
Elsipogtog: Tensions, anger, and courage 17 October https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipp_KC6Hexw&feature=player_embedded
Elsipogtog Frack Off https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmH4irplxqw&feature=player_embedded
Solidarity with Rexton - Spontaneous Anti-Frack Rally Fredericton Oct 18 '13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfAChnxESI8&feature=player_embedded
An interview with the MLA from Irvingland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDOIrCXnD68&feature=player_embedded
Canadian State Waging War Against Mi'kmaw First Nation - PRESS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWorGYMlDBI&feature=youtu.be
St.Mary's Indian Chief Candice Paul views on the raid in Rexton by the RCMP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y6q2zZU6_Y&feature=player_embedded
Caleb Behn - Elsipogtog Solidarity Vancouver Oct 18
Caleb Behn is a Dene warrior from northeastern BC fighting to save his people's land and culture.He is completing his law degree to take on Big Oil & Gas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1A-xzFDJf8&hd=1&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Di1A- xzFDJf8%26hd%3D1&app=desktop
135 Vancouver Solidarity march #1 - Mi'kmaq we got your back ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZid013HCSg
Elsipogtog - Video filmed by Christian Peacemaker Teams- the Aboriginal Justice Team. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzh31enULyk&feature=youtu.be
Canadian Police Use Military Tactics to Disperse Indigenous Anti-Fracking Blockade http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cMhNUpDOUNk
The last 48 hours tell us a lot about the next 2 years in Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mr7rPxVjZl0
Showdown at highway 134 - Embedded video http://www.submedia.tv/stimulator/2013/10/20/showdown-at-highway-134/
Frackdown Day: Worldwide protest to end shale gas extraction
The British woman in question mentions her solidarity with the Mik'maq people of New Brunswick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGe2NzaF9Hc&feature=player_embedded subMedia.tv and Miles Howe visit SWN HQ in Moncton - Embedded video http://vimeo.com/77512031
Listuguj Mi'gmaq Chief Dean Vicaire views on the Anti Shale conflict http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgTN7Tyi2b4&feature=youtu.be
Elsi Strong! Forgive?....maybe. Forget....Never. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8fKGjdnyHk&feature=player_embedded
OpFrackOff in Elsipogtog - by Anonymous http://vimeo.com/77409237
136 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QIxA4jCY7M Interview with Jim Emberger at Route 134 Camp - Premier refuses to to talk to CBC http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/ID/2413742421/
Mi’kmaq warriors in court after RCMP crackdown - Embedded video http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2013/10/23/mikmaq-warriors-court-rcmp-crackdown/
Frack Off: Politics Behind #Elsipogtog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVHKwuNJNPs
New Brunswick Natives to built a Longhouse across from the New Brunswick Legislature!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LjGXAnG6mgI
David Suzuki's Carbon Manifesto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWPblU8VUyM&feature=player_embedded
Silence on spills shows oil’s power in ND - Embedded video
Don Morrison, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, talks with Rachel Maddow about new revelations about an alarming number of oil spills in N.D. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/silence-on-spills-shows-oils-power-in-nd- 57056835775
Local Penobsquis resident talks about fracking nightmare in Penobsquis New Brunswick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOiiPzUlAuc&feature=player_embedded
Penobsquis - N.B. residents upset over sinkholes http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JzBgVoiNaus
Bronson Acquin-Mandisodza from St.Mery's First Nation is interviewed by CBC http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TDAi1-wCy2A
137 Final Vote to Ban Fracking on Hawaii Island http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e__Mz2Wn9qI
PÉTROLE ET SCHISTE : ALERTE AUX VIVANTS ! Pictures and music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgnJJ926Ofs&feature=player_embedded
Elsipogtog Resistance to Shale Gas Development Report by Sam Koplinka Loehr Christian Peacemaker Team https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjbUBT65oZY&feature=player_embedded
The Intersection Between Hydraulic Fracturing and Climate Change http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o78j77I7XUw
Fundamental Chemical Toxicology with Exposure Related to Shale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhkswtBom4s
How Economic Hitmen Enslave Nations For Generations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvAL5w9JCPQ&feature=player_embedded
Dominic Cardy on Fracking Moratorium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzRAvGfyPuM&feature=player_embedded
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