Fracking concerns linger after ExxonMobil speech
Posted Oct 6, 2011 10:23:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A spokesperson for ExxonMobil stressed that the hydraulic fracking process it uses to extract natural gas is safe and that most of the chemicals used in the process can be found in household items, such as soap and ice cream.
Technical advisor Michael Parker told members of the Core All Energy Conference that most of the chemicals it uses to fracture shale are listed on its website frackfocus.org.
But some are not.
“Now there is an element of trade secret which we need to respect,” Parker told reporters following his speech at the Cunard Centre, Thursday. “A lot of these companies have a large investment in some of these technologies. So they have intellectual capital as well as financial capital. So they need to be in a position where that investment is protected.”
The Liberal energy critic said the problem lies in those industrial chemicals which are not being disclosed.
“It’s those industrial chemicals that everybody wants to know about and everybody wants to monitor, but nobody will tell us what they are,” Andrew Younger told News 95.7.
The Liberals called for a moratorium on fracking until more research can be done. The bill was not passed but the province is conducting research while the process continues in Nova Scotia.
