CBC reports, “Shoal Point Energy, which has drawn public criticism for a fracking proposal near Gros Morne National Park in western Newfoundland, is losing an exploration licence and the $1-million deposit that went with it. Shoal Point said the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board rejected the company’s request to extend an exploration licence for hydraulic fracturing by one year, to January 2015. The company disclosed the decision to investors after the close of business on Thursday. The C-NLOPB’s decision was made Dec. 5, it said.”
The Council of Canadians
We are a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Fracking Awareness Network, a non-partisan network of organizations and individuals who have serious concerns about the potential risks of hydraulic fracturing.
On May 17, we first raised our concerns about fracking near Gros Morne in a campaign blog.
On May 24, we issued a media release to express solidarity with communities who are fighting proposals to frack on the West Coast of Newfoundland, including near the boundaries of Gros Morne National Park. Ken Kavanagh of the Council of Canadians’ St. John’s chapter said, “We are alarmed that these companies have plans to frack within kilometres of Gros Morne National Park.”
On September 22, Maude Barlow provided a pre-recorded video introduction for the ‘People’s Forum on Fracking in Newfoundland’ that took place in Stephenville, Newfoundland.
On September 26, we made a submission to the C-NLOPB raising concerns about the impacts on water sources, climate change, public health and sustainable employment. We asked them to: 1) Refrain from giving authorizations to projects currently submitted in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including Corridor Resources’ Old Harry Project and Shoal Point Energy and Black Spruce Exploration’s Western Newfoundland Drilling Project, 2) Cancel the call for bids issued on May 16th, 2013 for four parcels in the Newfoundland offshore area, and 3) Defer the issuing of any new exploration licenses in the Newfoundland offshore area.
And on November 6, we celebrated and noted the implications of the moratorium on fracking announced by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
We do take this caution though. The CBC article notes, “Shoal Point also said that in its application it was willing to surrender much of the 499,000 acres in its licence area, including the area that sparked the most controversy, near Gros Morne National Park. Instead, Shoal Point wanted to focus its exploration efforts on another area, south of the park. It said it was also willing to pay an extra $250,000 to extend its licence for the year. …Shoal Point’s two other exploration licences on the west coast of Newfoundland were not affected.”
As Kavanagh noted last May, “It’s not just about Gros Morne. Communities all along the West Coast are getting informed and organizing to stop the proposed fracking projects from moving forward.”
