Canadian studies endorsing fracking highly flawed — critics

Canadian studies endorsing fracking highly flawed — critics

Anti-fracking demonstration held in Halifax, May 2014.

Critics are bashing two Canadian studies released Tuesday that concluded fracking doesn’t pose serious risks to the Eastern province of Nova Scotia’s groundwater supply.

The two documents released Tuesday by a panel led by Cape Breton University president David Wheeler, suggest the debated extraction process just needs to be closely monitored and properly regulated, Canadian Press reported.

The experts also said the province’s reasonably stable geology would make contamination of drinking water wells less likely than in other areas. But opponents such as Jennifer Wes, a spokeswoman for the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre, are claiming the studies are flawed, as they don’t include any references or peer-review papers in any of them.

She added that Nova Scotia doesn’t have a good scientific grasp of its groundwater resources, which means it is not in a position to offer them much protection.

Fracking activities in the Atlantic province have been on hold for almost two years. Last August, Energy Minister Charlie Parker commissioned the studies released Tuesday, aiming to obtain an independent review of the effects of the extractive practice, which will include public consultations.

About 40% of the province’s population gets its drinking water from sources other than municipal water systems, and the vast majority of these people rely on deep, groundwater wells.

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