Editor, The Times:
One of the big reasons for fracking in the US of A’s shale gas was that it would give the Americans energy self-sufficiency.
True, it might make some areas of the land resemble the dystrophic vision of Ridley Scott’s “Bladerunner” but, if that was the price of getting rid of dependence on foreign energy sources, so be it.
David Hughes, one of Canada’s top energy analysts and one who has studied energy resources in Canada for four decades, points out the startling depletion rates for high-cost unconventional shale and tight oil wells.
Not only that but areas like North Dakota’s Bakken produce a product golden in color but so full of sulphur dioxide, so polluted, that it eats through tanker cars and pipelines and workers detest handling it.
However, that’s just an aside. Here in Canada the number of gas producing wells has reached an all time high of 230,000.
Actual gas production has been in decline since 2006. Don’t forget how ‘cute little’ Christy Clark’s Liberal government has staked all on this shaky throw of the shale gas dice.
As David Hughes has pointed out, the province will have to nearly quadruple gas production just to satisfy the demands of five LNG terminals — 12 have been proposed.
So the hydraulic fracturing locusts will sweep through the land, drilling and fracking everything in sight. In the frenzy of leasing and drilling there will be a boom of probably no more than five years.
As decline sets in more wells will have to be drilled to offset decline. They say that flying over North Dakota at night gives one the impression of being on top of a huge birthday cake with thousands of gas wells flaming off at once.
Then what – groundwater pollution, poisoned air, high water consumption methane leakage not to mention property devaluation.
The Campbell-Clark government doesn’t care! You should.
Dennis Peacock
Clearwater, B.C.
