Natural gas fracking reviews launched

The federal government is launching two reviews of a controversial natural gas drilling practice known as fracking, to address concerns it may be damaging to the environment.

Fracking releases natural gas from shale deposits deep underground by blasting large volumes of fresh water, sand, and chemicals into the rocks at high pressure.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent has asked Environment Canada and a panel of independent scientists with the Council of Canadian Academies to conduct two parallel studies of its environmental impacts.

"We also need to know a great deal more...about this. What I'm trying to do now is accumulate the best scientific information about [it] to make sound decisions," said Kent.

Concerns aboutfracking's impact on the environment and ground water supplies have led to bans on the practice in Quebec, New York and France.

But in northern B.C. fracking for shale gas is a booming, billion-dollar industry that's growing rapidly with the full support of Premier Christy Clark.

"Fracking is safely regulated in British Columbia," Clark said earlier this September during an oil and gas announcement.

Kent says he's also confident fracking is beingpracticed responsibly in British Columbia and there is no reason for the federal government to step in and ban fracking now.

Critics of fracking, like Ben Parfitt of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, are welcoming news of an official federal review of the controversial drilling practice.

"Any scrutiny by federal or provincial bodies is welcome news. We need to see, I think, greater attention paid to the potential for water resources to be degraded. Anything that happens by way of shedding light on what industry is doing is very important," said Parfitt.

Provinces take different approaches

B.C. Independent MLA Vicki Huntington said she welcomed the news of the two federal reviews, but questioned why the provincial government had not made a similar move, since natural resources are a provincial responsibility.

"B.C. should have led the way by announcing its own, independent examination of the environmental issues surrounding fracking," said Huntington.

"Instead, we now face a situation where the federal government may step into the scientifically-based policy and regulatory void vacated by the B.C. government.And so they should, if B.C. continues to avoid that responsibility," she said.

Critics in B.C. have also raised concerns that the B.C. government is allowing a natural gas company to draw water from a northern BC Hydro reservoir for fracking.

The practice has also generated protests and controversy in New Brunswick. This past June the government announced that it will require the disclosure of chemicals used in the contentious process, mandatory water testing and a security bond to compensate landowners if there are any accidents.

The New Brunswick government is also planning to set up a system that allows communities to tap into some of the natural gas companies profits.

In March the Quebec government said it would respect the findings of a report by the province's environmental-impact assessment bureau, commonly known as the BAPE, which recommended a halt to hydraulic fracturing until a study into its environmental impact is complete.

A panel of 11 experts has been mandated to undertake a strategic environmental assessment expected to take between two and three years. In the meantime, the province has cancelled exploration permits without compensation and issued a new set of regulations to govern shale gas development.