Mungall's all in on fracking review, but not moratorium

During a break from answering questions in the legislature about Site C this week, Energy Minister Michelle Mungall faced down a call for a full blown public inquiry and possible moratorium on fracking in the natural gas sector.

Published on: November 22, 2017

B.C. Energy Minister Michelle Mungall, left, chats with police officers outside of her Nelson-Creston riding office. MARK YUEN / PNG FILES

VICTORIA — During a break from answering questions in the legislature about Site C this week, Energy Minister Michelle Mungall faced down a call for a full blown public inquiry and possible moratorium on fracking in the natural gas sector.

The call for the inquiry came from a coalition of environmental, community and First Nations organizations, concerned about the impact of fracking on water quality, public health and safety. In the past, there have been calls for a moratorium on the practice as well.

Mungall reiterated the NDP’s intention, set out in the party election platform, to conduct a more modest scientific review of the process of hydraulic fracturing, whereby the natural gas resource is extracted from shale rock via injections of water.

But she ruled out a moratorium on the practice in no uncertain terms, saying it would mean a complete shutdown of the natural gas sector and could lead to the defeat of the NDP in the next election.

The full exchange unfolded during debate Monday afternoon on the budget for Mungall’s ministry. It started with B.C. Liberal MLA Mike Bernier asking about allegations of well water contamination through fracking.

“Over (all) the years, then, that we’ve been doing hydraulic fracturing in B.C., with the thousands and thousands of wells that have been drilled, can the minister tell me how many times there’s been a water aquifer contaminated by hydraulic fracturing?”

“A very short answer to the member’s question is zero, and we want to keep it that way,” replied Mungall.

 “Do we want to keep it at zero? Absolutely,” returned Bernier. “But the whole point is making sure that we get that message out there. People out there are saying that hydraulic fracturing is bad, that it’s contaminating water, when actually, because of our strict regulations that we’ve had, it has never happened. I’m glad the minister acknowledged this.”

Nevertheless Mungall will proceed with the scientific review panel promised in the platform.

“Now, I know that there is a lot of conversation, especially on the internet, about hydraulic fracturing,” she quickly added. “We want to weed out some of the misinformation that might be out there and we want to get down to the brass tacks, to the facts of what’s going on.”

On that basis, she believes the industry would welcome the review.

“They see this as a learning opportunity on how they can improve their operations to ensure that we have good water quality.”

The panel would also be looking at ways to reduce “induced seismicity,” meaning the earthquakes associated with fracking.

“I’ve got to hand it to the industry,” the minister continued. “I spoke with, met with — oh, goodness — about seven or nine different companies who are currently active in the Montney region in northeast B.C. Every single one of them recycles their water that they use for hydraulic fracturing.

“They recycle 90 per cent of it, and they’re using it hundreds and hundreds of times, right? So they’re already doing a lot of work to reduce their impact on the water table.”

Still she believes there is room for improvement.

“We’re just putting the panel (together) now. We’re talking to potential panel members about their availability, and we anticipate to get the panel started in early 2018. Our hope is that we would have their work completed by late fall, maybe early winter, in the same calendar year.”

As to possible outcomes, that brought a pointed question from B.C. Liberal MLA Ellis Ross, himself a strong defender of the development of an industry based on the export of natural gas in liquefied form.

“What I want to know,” he challenged, “is will a moratorium on fracking be a valid option when it comes to the end of your scientific review?”

“A moratorium?” returned Mungall. “Let’s think about what the consequences for that would be.”

For starters, “hydraulic fracturing has been going on in British Columbia since 1950. Today, very, very close to 100 per cent of all natural gas is derived from what’s called unconventional wells — which is hydraulic fracturing.”

Thus a moratorium would mean shutting down the entire industry. Plus there would be the impact on natural gas consumers here in B.C.

“My home is heated by natural gas,” said Mungall. “I would be surprised if the home of the member opposite wasn’t heated by natural gas. Most of our homes are heated by natural gas in B.C.

“That natural gas comes from the northeast, for the most part, and it is pulled up from the ground using hydraulic fracturing,” she continued, addressing critics of fracking outside the house as much as the MLAs within.

“The idea that suddenly in B.C. we would turn off the switch to the way in which we heat our homes …. Who would do that, right? Who would do that?”

Then, answering her own question: “No government that wants to get re-elected would ever do that.

“No government that believes in being responsible and being representative of the public would do that,” she emphasized, continuing her journey from activist and opposition critic to cabinet minister fully seized by the reality of governing.

So, to recap what the NDP energy minister assured the legislature this week, the scientific review of fracking is being undertaken “so that we can learn best practices, so that we’re protecting the environment.” But a moratorium? Not on this government’s watch.