Environmental Impacts Of Shale Gas Extraction In Canada

This report comes at the request of Environment Canada, which asked the Council to assemble a multidisciplinary expert panel to consider the state of knowledge of potential environmental impacts from the exploration, extraction, and development of Canada’s shale gas resources. The Council’s report presents a comprehensive examination of shale gas development in Canada. It does not, however, determine the safety, nor the economic benefits, of development. It reviews the use of new and conventional technologies in shale gas extraction, and examines several issues of concern including potential impacts on surface water and groundwater, greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative land disturbance, and human health. The report also outlines approaches for monitoring and research, as well as mitigation and management strategies.

Shale gas is natural gas that is tightly locked within low permeability sedimentary rock. Recent technological advances are making shale gas reserves increasingly accessible and their recovery more economically feasible. This resource is already being exploited in South Africa, China, the United States and Canada. Shale gas is being produced in large volumes, and will likely be developed in coming years on every continent except Antarctica. Depending on factors such as future natural gas prices and government regulations, further development of shale gas resources could potentially span many decades and involve the drilling of tens of thousands of hydraulically fractured horizontal wells. This development is changing long-held expectations about oil and gas resource availability; several observers have characterized it as a game changer. Abundant, close to major markets, and relatively inexpensive to produce, shale gas represents a major new source of fossil energy. However, the rapid expansion of shale gas development over the past decade has occurred without a corresponding investment in monitoring and research addressing the impacts on the environment, public health, and communities. The primary concerns are the degradation of the quality of groundwater and surface water (including the safe disposal of large volumes of wastewater); the risk of increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (including fugitive methane emissions during and after production), thus exacerbating anthropogenic climate change; disruptive effects on communities and land; and adverse effects on to human health. Other concerns include the local release of air contaminants and the potential for triggering small- to moderate-sized earthquakes in seismically active areas. These concerns will vary by region. The shale gas regions can be found near urban areas, presenting a large diversity in their geology, hydrology, land uses, and population density. The phrase environmental impacts from shale gas development masks many regional differences that are essential to understanding these impacts.

Shale gas is to New Brunswick today what the Free Trade Agreement with the United States was to Canada a quarter century ago: a deeply controversial, highly polarizing issue over which tempers quickly flare up. As was the case with the free trade debate, the public discourse on shale gas has degenerated into a war of words, with most citizens left in the middle with very little information they can trust to secure a better understanding of what is at stake. This study aims to fill part of the wide information gap on shale gas in New Brunswick. While substantial knowledge has been built in recent years on the impact—both positive and negative—of shale gas on communities where it is actively being exploited, much less is available for New Brunswick. Yet, as this document makes clear, no two shales are alike. In order to understand the economic, environmental, social, and other consequences of shale gas, we cannot rely exclusively on other jurisdictions: we also need to investigate New Brunswick’s specific context. Virtually all of the contributors to this study—well-established, credible authorities in their respective fields—are associated with New Brunswick universities in one way or another.

Current and proposed Canadian onshore oil and gas drilling and production activities are reviewed with respect to their potential for environmental effects. Canadian petroleum geology and related hydrogeology are described to provide a framework for discussion of the impact of oil and gas drilling and recovery operations, including tar sands development, and waste disposal practices. Environmental legislation applicable to oil and gas industry activities is also reviewed. Major environmental concerns identified include the potential for soil and groundwater contamination by drilling fluids, solid wastes, chemical additives, oils and brines, produced sands, and liquid wastes. The potential for contamination depends on handling and disposal practices and the geologic and hydrogeologic characteristics of the drilling and production site. Although fairly comprehensive legislation is in place, its effectiveness in the long-term has not been assessed, and no specific legislation exists for in situ tar sands development. Areas where knowledge is lacking and research is required have been identified.

Onshore unconventional gas operations, in most jurisdictions, operate on the legal principle that all activities during exploration and extraction are ‘temporary’ in nature. The concept that the onshore unconventional gas industry has a temporary effect on the land on which it operates creates a regulatory paradox. On one hand, unconventional gas activities create energy security, national wealth and a bourgeoning export industry. On the other, agricultural land and agriculturalists may be significantly disadvantaged by unconventional gas activities potentially producing permanent damage to non-renewable fertile soils and spoiling the underground water tables. Thus, threatening future food security and food sovereignty. This book explores the socio-regulatory dimensions of coexistence between agricultural and onshore unconventional gas land uses in the jurisdictions with the highest concentration of proven unconventional gas reserves – Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK, France, Poland and China. In exploring the differing regulatory standpoints of unconventional gas land uses on productive farming land in the chosen jurisdictions, this book provides an original three-part categorisation of regulatory approaches addressing the coexistence of agricultural land and unconventional gas namely: adaptive management, precautionary and, finally, statism. It offers a timely and topical approach to socio-legal natural resource governance theory based on the participation, transparency and empowerment for agricultural landholders, examining how differing frameworks such as the collective bargaining framework can create equitable and sustainable contractual arrangements with unconventional gas companies.

Shale Gas: Exploration and Environmental and Economic Impacts explores the shale gas exploration and production activities that are increasing globally, also presenting a basic understanding on the geological, geochemical, and geophysical aspects. The book is a key reference that is useful for researchers, the oil and gas industry, and policymakers in gas producing and prospective countries. Users will find chapters on hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling, as well as the environmental and economic impacts of these activities. Further chapters include case studies on the shale gas revolution in the United States and other producing countries around the world. Provides wide-ranging coverage of both the environmental and economic impacts of shale gas exploration Includes case studies that describe the prolific and potential shale gas systems from both producing and prospective countries Appeals to both those in academia and those in the unconventional gas exploration industry