Ecology Action Centre criticizes N.S.’s bill to lift bans on fracking, uranium exploration

The province’s move to lift the ban on fracking and uranium exploration is being criticized by the Ecology Action Centre.

Earlier this week, the Nova Scotia government introduced a bill that would remove blanket bans on uranium exploration and hydraulic fracking of fossil fuels in the province.

If passed it would allow for research about the presence and distribution of uranium in Nova Scotia. It would also make changes to the Petroleum Resources Act to “create the potential” for hydraulic fracking to access onshore natural gas.

The Ecology Action Centre expressed shock at the decision, warning of what it calls unacceptable risks to Nova Scotia’s fresh water, community health, key industries, and the climate.

According to the organization, removing safeguards could allow leftover tailings to seep into groundwater, potentially contaminating the environment with toxins. These toxins, the centre warns, could cause a range of health issues, from rashes and burns to elevated rates of cancer and birth defects.

“Trapping toxic effluent from fracking underground or in a tailings pond without any impact on our drinking water is just a complete fantasy,” Thomas Arnason McNeil, a senior energy coordinator with the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre, told The Canadian Press.

“In terms of their ability to do this sustainably or safely, there is no way,” he said in an interview Tuesday. In terms of fracking, “we’re talking about a potential explosion of emissions that will completely derail our targets,” Arnason McNeil said, adding that fracking can result in the leaking of methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas.

The centre has also criticized the Houston government for its actions, calling them undemocratic, as the government did not campaign on removing safeguards related to resource extraction.

Both resources “are being mined safely in other jurisdictions within Canada,” Houston said.

“It could be done safely here as well. It’s time for us to be adults about that.”

Fishers previously raised concerns

In late January, Richard d’Entremont, president of Acadian Fish Processors Ltd. in Lower West Pubnico, N.S., said that reversing the ban on drilling would curtail the fishing grounds and would be a potential disaster for fishers because of the risk of a spill.

“It’s the last thing I want to see because all our quotas are there. We fish there year around and I’m afraid if they put an exclusive zone around these oil rigs, we’ll lose a lot of territory where we’ll no longer be able to fish,” he said.

“Georges Bank has been a saviour for our fishing area for years here,” said d’Entremont, 75, whose company fishes the area for haddock and pollock.

The bank is situated at the edge of the Atlantic continental shelf between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia and is shared with the United States, with an internationally agreed upon boundary.

With files from The Canadian Press.