FREDERICTON NB ---- A march and two rallies at the Provincial Legislature will take
place on November 19th and November 23rd to protest unconventional shale gas
development in New Brunswick.
Citizens and community groups from throughout New Brunswick will converge on Fredericton
on Saturday, November 19th and at the opening session of the New Brunswick Legislature on
Wednesday, November 23rd with their message to the Alward Government that the exploration
and extraction of natural gas from shale using horizontal drilling in combination with slick
water hydraulic fracturing will not be tolerated.
New Brunswickers from all over the province denounce the development of an unconventional
shale gas industry. The process used to extract unconventional shale gas is less than 20 years
old. It is the undisputed cause of ecological damage and long-term economic net debt,
earthquakes, air and noise pollution, infrastructure degradation and the profligate use and
irreversible poisoning of trillions of litres of fresh water. It leaves deleterious impacts on the
lives and health of humans and other animals in its wake.
“The civic duty of New Brunswick residents does not require that they be guinea pigs in
anyone's science experiments”, states Jim Emberger, spokesperson for the Taymouth
Community Association.
The promise of large-scale job creation appears over-exaggerated. In a recent presentation at
the University of New Brunswick on October 22, 2011, Mr. Calvin Tillman, former mayor of
Dish, Texas mentioned that since this industry requires highly skilled workers, most will be
imported from outside the province to enable the industry to be more competitive at a time
when stock market prices for natural gas are low.
Events on Saturday, November 19th will begin at 7:00 am with a Sunrise Ceremony at the Old
Burial Grounds at 51 Woodstock Road. At 10:00 am there will be a benefit concert at the Old
Burial Grounds for the people of Penobsquis. A march to the Provincial Legislature will begin
after the concert, starting at 11:00 am.
Sixty residents in Penobsquis have lost their well water and have experienced ground
subsidence allegedly from the industrialization of their rural community. Some who want to
move away have been unable to sell their homes. We ask, where is justice for the people of
Penobsquis? Will regulations serve anyone when more things go wrong? A point made
clear in the recent documentary by Rob Turgeon, ‘Be… Without Water’.
(www.youtube.com/user/robfturgeon#p/a/u/1/aK0NMTMXHSw)
Events on Wednesday, November 23rd are scheduled to begin at the Provincial Legislature at
12:00 noon. A program with music and speakers will begin at 1:00 pm.
