Fracking in Gros Morne National Park received international attention when UNESCO raised 
concerns about how fracking would affect the National Park and the potential for fracking to jeopardize its World Heritage Site status.
Shoal Point Energy submitted a proposal to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) in September 2012 to perform onshore-to-offshore fracking for oil exploration in three sites along the West Coast of Newfoundland including Sally’s Cove (an enclave in Gros Morne National Park), Lark Harbour (Bay of Islands) and Shoal Point (Port au Port).
Opposition has been growing since Shoal Point made its submission and in the summer of 2013, NL Fracking Awareness Network a non-partisan network of organizations and individuals, formed to raise concerns about the potential risks of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) used in oil & gas exploration and development in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Council of Canadians made a submission to the C-NLOPB raising concerns about the impacts on water sources, climate change, public health and sustainable employment.
The submission states: “Unlike the energy sector, sustainable tourism offers better long term employment opportunities for people closer to their homes. While fracking companies tout employment opportunities, they are vulnerable to fluctuations in national and global energy markets and corporate decisions that value shareholders before employees. U.S. organization Food and Water Watch produced reports that demonstratethat the estimate of new jobs created by development of the Marcellus Shale is overblown and misleading. Sustainable tourism celebrates the land and culture of local inhabitants and enables more peoples to benefit from rural employment.”
To read the Council’s submission, click here.
