Monday, June 25, 2012

Access to Frack Fluid Ingredients provided by Private Citizen at NB Govt.'s Public Meeting on Shale Gas in Bouctouche


Friday evening June 22nd in Bouctouche the government of New Brunswick held another one in its series of Public Consultation Meetings on Shale Gas atl'ecole Clément-Cormier.These meetings have ostensibly been employed by government as a way to hear from the people of the province and the questions came fast and furious right out of the starting gate.
As has been the case at previous meetings, the public has broached the topic time and time again on the subject of "frack fluid ingredients".The government's proud response to these queries has been that the New Brunswick government, unlike governments in other jurisdictions, will force Industry to reveal- via full disclosure - the ingredients of the frack fluids to the public. However nearly two years into the Industry's presence in the province, government Hydro-geologist Annie Daigle, had to admit the ingredient' list for fracking fluids had not been released to the public.
While the government has repeatedly held the promise of 'disclosure' up as evidence of their transparency to the public and their "hard line with the Industry" - it simply doesn't wash with this public, and they are getting tired of this 'well-worn' promise, yet unfulfilled.
The weariness showed itself yet again Friday night at Bouctouche when a question related to the frack fluid ingredients was asked by a member of the audience:"Will the pre-testing of nearby drinking water wells include tests of the fracking fluid ingredients for comparison purposes post-fracking?". While the govt. panel hedged their responses, the audience was clearly not satisfied.
A rejoinder on that same topic came a few minutes later when a member of the audience holding up a two-inch binder stated that she had 30 material safety data sheets that she had downloaded from internet containing 30 chemical cocktails and single ingredients of "fracking fluid. " If I can download them so easily why is it that the government has not provided them to New Brunswickers?" she inquired. If the govt. is not going to provide the information and no one else will provide this information, then I will," she stated, as she proceeded to recite an email address for audience contact.
At this point Annie Daigle was forced to jump in with damage control - finally revealing to the audience the name of a website where the audience could view a list of frack fluids, insisting that there was no need to 'spam this lady's email'.
Could it be that the possibility that people in the audience could use this opportunity to make further connections and solidify relationships over this common bond of anti-shale sentiment distressed Ms Daigle to the point where she had no other choice but to resort to helpfulness? It seemed a trifle odd that Ms Daigle had not offered this vital information prior to this time in the proceedings.
Her insinuation that the audience would be "spamming" a total stranger was a Public Relations faux pas that underestimated her audience's knowledge on the topic.This tech savvy audience knew enough to know that "an outright" and public invitation to an email box can in no way be construed as 'spamming' - maybe a magnanimous offer, but not spamming. 
No doubt, steering the audience away from the generously 'offered email' and toward the Frac Focus site was Ms Daigle's best chance of extricating herself from the "non-disclosure" corner into which she had painted herself.
As for the website Frac Focus that was revealed by Ms Daigle - the site gives a laundry list of complicated and unpronounceable chemical names to be sure, but provides no information whatsoever as to the toxicity or human permissible exposure limits (PEL's) of these chemicals.The site is industry-run and chemicals used by industry tend to be shrouded in secrecy.The Frac Focus site does an excellent job of perpetuating that secrecy. After all, the real focus on the Frac Focus site is on Fracking not on public health.
Ms Daigle may think she pulled the Alward government's reputation for transparency 'out of the fire' by providing the Frac Focus website to the audience.However, New Brunswickers - being a very discerning public - don't like to be trifled with - and by this time, many, if not most of her audiencehave logged onto Frac Focus only to discover that the transparency that this government so proudly displays on its sleeve is simply another diversionary tactic intended to delay full disclosure and obscure the truth from public view.
In fact, rather than satisfying the public's appetite for greater disclosure, Ms Daigle has led the public down the garden path to a dead end, and in so doing, she has simply re-enforced the belief by the voters of New Brunswick that their government cannot be trusted.
But one nagging question will continue to linger in the minds of New Brunswickers (who are only two years away from a provincial election): Why was it necessary for a member of the public to threaten disclosure of frack fluid chemical ingredients before Ms. Daigle would provide a source document?Why indeed?
If this is an example of the "full disclosure" that the Alward government intends for the public regarding 'fracking' - then it's a little late in coming because the Govt.'s Johnny-Come-Lately attitude about frack fluid disclosure has revealed the cracks in this government's facade concerning "full disclosure" and New Brunswickers are way ahead of the 'game' leaving their government once again, behind in their dust.

Parents Against Everyday Poisons (P.A.E.P.)
NOTE:Fracking Chemicals can cause liver, kidney and lung damage, blindness and coma.The best way for the public to gain meaningful information about the chemicals in fracking fluid is to consult the Material Safety Data Sheets.These documents contain information on toxicity, permissible exposure limits (P.E.L.'s) by the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (U.S.), dangers posed to aquatic life, first aid measures, physician advice and fire fighting protocols.
Thirty of the MSD Sheets can be viewed at:
http://public.bakerhughes.com/shalegas/additives.html?placeValuesBeforeTB_=savedValues&TB_iframe=true&height=450&width=850
Alternatively, the public can attach the words "Material Safety Data Sheet" to any chemical name they find and just"google" for the results.

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