I Just Don't Give A Frack
- afternoonpint
- Jul 16
- 4 min read
We've learned a lot on our podcast about the Atlantic Canadian Economy and on how we need to produce more. This year, we featured a guest who endorsed fracking, as one of many solutions, which of course is controversial. Below is an opinion piece submitted by Shawn Rosvold on how fracking is currently effecting the state that he resides in today.
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By Shawn Rosvold
Full disclosure. I was born in Canada. My family's roots in Nova Scotia go back to the 1750s when the New England Planters arrived here. I am retired and live in both Nova Scotia and Colorado.
I am not an expert on anything, including the oil and gas industry. So everything I am going to tell you is based on what I have gleaned by reading, watching, listening, and absorbing the oil and gas industry in Colorado. I will do my best to be factual in my observations. I will provide a full list of sources for you to peruse at the end. And, in case it's not clear where I stand, I oppose the oil and gas industry in general and fracking in particular.
One thing I won't get into here is mineral rights. In the US, many landowners own the space below and above their property. But in many places, that is not true. And many housing developers have retained the mineral rights to properties they sell without clearly telling homeowners. They then sell those rights to fracking companies.
Another thing to investigate is horizontal fracking. A company can buy the mineral rights to a property and then horizontally drill under your property without telling you or paying you for those rights.
If fracking is going to go ahead in Nova Scotia, and it seems likely at this point, I would recommend that each company has to put up a substantial bond (multi-millions, not the thousands that Colorado requires) to cover any cleanup and other costs. In the event of a bankruptcy, there should be heavy liens against the company and principals to make sure they can't walk away like they do In Colorado.
Because of the power and money in the oil and gas industry, regulations were, and still are lax. So many companies in Colorado took what they could and declared bankruptcy, leaving an environmental and financial mess for the taxpayers to clean up.
Colorado taxpayers face significant financial exposure due to bankrupt fracking operations, with state cleanup costs estimated at $8 billion and federal public land cleanup costs potentially reaching $17.7 billion.
Hydraulic fracturing uses between 1.2 and 3.5 million US gallons (sorry, don't have this in litres) of water per well, with large projects using up to 5 million US gallons. Additional water is used when wells are refractured. An average well requires 3 to 8 million US gallons of water over its lifetime.
Colorado has 122,908 total oil and gas wells, according to the FracTracker Alliance dataset from March 2024.
Hydraulic fracturing became a regular technique in Colorado during oil and gas drilling beginning in the 1970s, with large-scale operations occurring in the Wattenberg Gas Field starting in 1973.
Methane leakage is one hazard associated with hydraulic fracturing natural gas. Methane is a prominent greenhouse gas. Over a twenty-year period, it is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
The industry says, "Hydraulic fracturing fluid, or “fracking fluid,” is 99.5 percent water and sand. The remaining percentage is made up of chemicals commonly found in everyday products, such as toothpaste, detergent, and even ice cream, that often can be purchased at your grocery store."
One of the most common types of pollutants released into the air from fracking is methylene chloride, thought to be one of the most concerning due to its potentially severe impact on neurological functioning.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons released into the air from fracking have been linked to potential reproductive problems. A study conducted by the Colorado Department of Environmental and Occupational Health found that "Mothers who live near fracking sites are 30 percent more likely to have babies with congenital heart defects."
Many particulates and chemicals can be released into the atmosphere during the process of hydraulic fracturing, such as sulfuric oxide, nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOC), benzene, toluene, diesel fuel, and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), all of which can have serious health implications.
While gas drilling companies are reluctant to reveal the proprietary substances in the fluid, the list of additives for hydraulic fracturing includes kerosene, benzene, toluene, xylene, and formaldehyde.
A 2012 study out of Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine by Robert Oswald suggests that hydraulic fracturing is sickening and killing cows, horses, goats, llamas, chickens, dogs, cats, fish and other wildlife, as well as humans in Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. The case studies include reports of sick animals, stunted growth, and dead animals after exposure to hydraulic fracturing spills from dumping of the fluid into streams and from workers slitting the lining of a wastewater impoundment (evaporation ponds) so that it would drain and be able to accept more waste.
The Houston government is promising the usual unicorn farts and glittering rainbows by selling us to the highest bidder. Follow the money and try to understand who is going to benefit from destroying our environment. How many times does this have to happen in Nova Scotia? I guess we'll never learn.
Sources:
Canada
USA
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