AN IMPORTANT new fracking study commissioned by the Canadian government says gas leaks are an “unresolved problem” and they can have devastating negative effects.
The study, by the scientific Council of Canadian Academies, found that “gas leakage from improperly formed, damaged or deteriorated cement seals is a long-recognised yet unresolved problem... Even existing best practices cannot assure long-term prevention.”
The insidious nature of this pollution exacerbates the situation, the study says. Some of the possible environmental and health effects of shale gas development “may take decades to become apparent. These include the creation of sub-surface pathways between the fractured shale and fresh groundwater, gas seepage along abandoned wells and cumulative effects on the land and communities.”
Even where leakage does not take place, fracking is invasive, the study warns. It requires extensive infrastructure including roads, well pads, compressor stations and pipeline corridors “imposing substantial impacts on communities and ecosystems”. The degree to which fracked land can be rehabilitated is not clear. For this reason alone “consideration should be given to risks and financial liability that arise”, the study says. “Land impacts may include destruction and fragmentation of wildlife habitat and adverse effects on existing land uses such as agriculture and tourism.”
Together with this warning one might bracket the particular, widely recognised sensitivity of our Karoo landscape in terms of ability to recover after clearing of natural veld. Oh, and the overwhelming reliance of Karoo towns and communities on groundwater.
Meantime, NMMU has undertaken a study, led by eminent geologist Prof Maarten de Wit, to establish the existing “baseline” situation in the proposed fracking zone in the Karoo in environmental and socio-economic terms.
There has been some concern in anti-fracking circles that De Wit has already pronounced himself in favour of this technology and its deployment in the Karoo dating back to the October 2012 2nd Karoo Development Conference in Beaufort West. Also, this study is being funded by the government and it (most lately the president in his state of the nation address) has stated repeatedly that “fracking is going ahead”.
So if this NMMU study is going to have value, in my view, De Wit and his team have to robustly establish their independence. They could achieve that by broadening their focus to include two key sub-studies.
First, a cradle-to-grave cost-benefit analysis of fracking, if it proceeds, including the emissions from all the trucking and the methane (a greenhouse gas 20 times stronger than carbon dioxide as a driver of climate change) that regularly escapes around the well heads (check the interview with the American rig foreman in the documentary, Unearthed).
Second, an exploration of alternatives.
Pierrelouis Lemercier, of Renewable Energy Centre and Transition Network PE, argues that there is indeed a vibrant development alternative possible for the Karoo and it centres on “localisation”. The first step would be grassroots consultation (as opposed to the top-down approach guiding the fracking) to understand the needs of residents and the available assets.
Based on this bottom-up approach, local renewable energy led by solar would be established to supply electricity to local residents and development, before selling any surplus to the national grid. A resilient new local economy would be activated and ramped up. Farming, tourism, crafts, permaculture and a range of other enterprises would source goods and services from this local economy and market them through it, integrating and empowering each link in the chain.
A good way to understand what bad news fracking could be for the Karoo is simply to watch Unearthed. Young Karoo-born director Jolynn Minnaar started out believing frackingit might be a good way of helping the Karoo’s poor communities to uplift themselves, but what she discovered through her research here and in the US changed her mind completely.
There are many parts of the film which cut to the heart of the matter: the short-term nature of the fracking harvest before the well runs dry and another must be drilled, the destruction of the landscape and people’s health and quality of life, and the repeated assertions by the South African authorities that there has globally never been an instance of fracking contaminating a water resource.
This last assertion despite Minnaar’s own findings which are screened for all to see and despite The Herald’s front page story three years ago exposing how Shell contaminated groundwater on a Pennsylvania farm.
If fracking does go ahead it will delay the transition to true sustainability which we need to make to avert catastrophic climate change. Renewables need our full attention and budget. Wind farms with giant turbines seem to be causing serious problems, not least extensive bird and bat kills. We need to assess, reconfigure and move forward in a sustainable, positive way, not lock ourselves into another fossil fuel trap. - Guy Rogers, The Elephant’s Ear