BC Hydro insists there are no safety concerns with fracking, despite internal emails
Posted August 16, 2016 7:54 am.
Last Updated August 16, 2016 12:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – BC Hydro is apparently worried earthquakes caused by a controversial gas-extraction method used in the mining industry, known better as fracking, may put the province’s largest hydroelectric dams at risk.
The concerns, which were first raised in 2009, are found in emails obtained through an access-to-information request by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
One email from Hydro Safety Officer Ray Stewart, dated December 2009, says the utility believes fracking poses immediate and future potential risks to the crown corporation’s reservoir, dam and power generation infrastructure near the Peace Canyon Dam, southwest of Hudson’s Hope.
However, Hydro Deputy Executive Chris O’Riley says dams are designed to withstand ground motions much larger and longer than those associated with fracking and new restrictions keep fracking operations at least five kilometres from Hydro facilities.
The utility insists there is no safety issue. It claims any damage caused by extracting natural gas through fracking would mean extra maintenance or repair costs, but not put lives at risk. “The dams are safe and the people that live downstream of the dam should know our highest responsibility is public safety and the safety of our dams. And we take that very seriously,” adds O’Riley.
In a Tweet, Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald says dams can withstand more powerful shocks than brought by a fracking-caused earthquake.
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Analyst Ben Parfitt says those restrictions are little more than a gentleman’s agreement and he wants firm rules on frack-free zones.
Fracking involves injecting high-pressure fluid deep underground to extract either natural gas or coal-bed methane but critics say the practice is poorly understood, contaminates nearby aquifers and increases seismic activity.
