CBC reports, “(New Brunswick premier David) Alward government’s shale gas rules are coming under fresh scrutiny after environmentalists discovered a mining company (SWN Resources Canada) has been given a permit to conduct seismic testing in wetlands. Tina Beers, a Kent County resident, was fishing in the Harcourt area (about 200 kilometres north-east of Saint John) recently when she found seismic testing equipment stuck in a wetland, located in the Richibucto River system. She took pictures of the equipment and forwarded those images to Stephanie Merrill of the Conservation Council, who asked the Department of Environment for the company’s permit. The provincial government released a permit that gives SWN Resources Canada the right to test in a wide area. ‘The company is allowed to go into wetlands and buffers of watercourses in eight counties across the province. So I think that was a bit of a shock, even to me’, Merrill said.” The full article is at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/07/17/nb-shale-gas-wetlands-632.html.
