By Gordon Hoekstra, Postmedia News, September 29, 2011
VANCOUVER — B.C.'s energy regulator says it will investigate a link between hydraulic fracturing and new earthquake activity in the extreme northeastern corner of B.C.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a controversial natural gas extraction-technique where the rock is literally fractured by forcing water and chemicals underground at high pressure.
B.C. Oil and Gas Commission spokesman Hardy Friedrich said a recent examination of seismic survey data in northeastern B.C. showed the Horn River Basin area near Fort Nelson warranted a closer look.
Since 2009, there have been 31 earthquakes in the Horn River Basin, an active natural gas extraction area. Before 2009, the area had not experienced any recorded earthquake activity, said Friedrich.
The earthquakes ranged in size from 2.5 to 3.5 on the Richter scale, which typically means they can be felt but rarely cause damage.
Three of the earthquakes took place as hydraulic fracturing was underway, said Friedrich.
"There hasn't been a link between the hydraulic fracturing and anomalous seismic activity, but we wanted to take a proactive approach," Friedrich said Thursday.
The plan is for the oil and gas commission to work with the Pacific Geoscience Centre, which monitors and researches earthquakes.
However, Friedrich could not provide any details on the scope of the study, or say when it would start or when it would be completed.
The Pacific Geoscience Centre, located in Victoria, could not provide any comment on Thursday afternoon.
The concern over whether hydraulic fracturing can trigger earthquake activity is part of a larger concern with the technique, which also include the use of large volumes of water and some toxic material.
In some cases, this waste is forced back under pressure into empty reservoirs.
Concerns focus on groundwater contamination and the migration of gases to the surface.
No harm to groundwater has been reported in B.C., but the practice has been banned already in the state of New York and in France. Moratoriums have also been placed on fracking in Quebec and New Jersey.
Simon Fraser University geologist John Clague said he believes the earthquakes in northeastern B.C. are clearly related to the natural gas activity in the region.
It's either happening through fracking or high-pressure fluid injections, Clague said in an email.
While the oil and gas commission's survey of seismic activity only found a concern in the Horn River basin area, 300 kilometres south, residents in the Halfway River area have also been experiencing new, small earthquakes.
Deryl Simpson lived for decades in the Halfway River area; she started feeling small earthquakes about 2007.
It's also an area of active natural gas exploration and drilling.
The small quakes would happen as often as four times a month, although some months there were none, said Simpson.
On one occasion, there were two in one day, said Simpson, who moved from the area two years ago but knows from people that still live there the tremors continue.
"It was really quite alarming," she said.
She said she tried to get the province's attention, but there appeared to be little interest.
The fracking issue recently caught B.C. Premier Christy Clark's attention.
Earlier this month, she introduced new rules that will allow the public to see where hydraulic fracturing is taking place, and to examine details about the practices and the nature of the liquids injected underground as part of the gas-recovery process.
But Independent MLA Bob Simpson said Thursday until a wider and more thorough investigation of fracking is taken place, the questions of its safety and impacts on health will continue.
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