The Telegraph-Journal reports that, “A new environmental review process that will require government approval at nearly every stage of a project’s development will become the standard for oil and gas exploration ventures in New Brunswick. The approach, known as a phased environmental impact assessment, will mean companies looking for underground resources will trigger the environmental review process much sooner than they would have in the past.”
“The (New Brunswick Department of Environment) began considering the new review process earlier this year after citizens expressed concern over certain shale gas exploration practices.”
“Current environmental assessment rules in New Brunswick only require a company to register for a review once they are set to commercially extract gases or minerals… By then, however, companies have already built a well pad, drilled the bore hole and performed tests to determine how much of the resource is there. …A phased EIA approach will ensure proper planning is applied during these early stages of a project…”
“It will be applied for the first time in the gas sector to Corridor Resources Inc. and Apache Canada’s shale gas project near Elgin. …The firm, a subsidiary of Houston’s Apache Corp., was brought into New Brunswick in a farm-out agreement with Halifax-based Corridor Resources, which has rights to explore and develop oil and gas in a swathe of land equal to one-seventh of the province. Apache drilled two wells in the Elgin area this summer and began the process of hydraulic fracturing earlier this month. The company says the Moncton shale rock basin holds significant potential for natural gas and optimistic projections would see them decide in 2013 to develop the resource, drilling as many as 32 wells per year for up to 30 years. …Representatives with Apache could not be reached for comment on Thursday.”
In late-March it was first reported that US-owned Apache Canada Ltd. and Halifax-based Corridor Resources Inc. would begin drilling and exploration work for natural gas in the Elgin area of southern New Brunswick in June, and that this natural gas in the Frederick Brook formation would require hydraulic fracturing – or ‘fracking’ – to access. More on that at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3160. In October, news reports indicated that the City of Moncton had been selling its drinking water for $1.58 a cubic metre to Apache Canada for their testing in the Frederick Brook formation. By November, those water sales had been stopped. More on that at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=5380.
Today’s Telegraph-Journal article is at http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/1325006.
