Oil & Gas News – Nova Scotia
The Nova Scotia government allowed test wells to be drilled in Kennetcook (2008?) and then put a moratorium in place pending the completion of the investigation by the Nova Scotia Hydraulic Fracturing Independent Review Panel.
SPECIFIC ISSUES:
Bay of Fundy (WIP)
Shubenacadie River – Alton Gas
Alton Gas has proposed storing natural gas in (3) three [up to possibly (20) twenty] underground salt caverns near Stewiacke, Nova Scotia
Opponents cite environmental concerns re: the release of salty brine (resulting from drilling into the underground caverns) into the Shubenacadie River system, ultimately affecting Cobequid Bay, Minas Basin and Bay of Fundy. The Alton Gas Application states that the total need for salt brine solution for Nova Scotia highways for an entire year amounts to one day of output. (facebook page)
First Nations state that they have not been adequately consulted.
As described by Sakura Saunders in a FundRazr campaign email, “Alton Gas has a hugely destructive plan to create salt caverns in which to store natural gas, by dumping the equivalent of 3,000 tons of hard salt into the Shubenacadie river every day. This massive 50-year project would seriously harm the river ecosystem and put the health, livelihoods and rights of the Mi’kmaq people at risk. It is also in contravention of the Fisheries Act, which prohibits the deposit of “deleterious substances” into water frequented by fish. This project does not meet the minimal requirements of consultation of local Indigenous communities. In January 2017, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled that Sipekne’katik First Nation was not properly consulted during the environmental assessment process.”
Update (facebook Stop Alton Gas!)
The provincial Environment Department issued an industrial approval on Jan. 20, 2016, to Alton Gas, a subsidiary of AltaGas, to operate a brine storage pond at the Shubenacadie River estuary site near Fort Ellis, Colchester County. The approval provided for the company to lease submerged Crown land to complete a discharge channel and an agreement to construct a dike on Crown lands. Six groups, including the Sipekne’katik band, who primarily reside in nearby Indian Brook, appealed the permit decision.
The Environment Department denied all six appeals three months later. The Sipekne’katik First Nation then took the department’s denial of the appeal to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and in January 2017, Justice Suzanne Hood released a decision overturning the denial of the appeal.
More than two years later, then Environment Minister Margaret Miller in April again upheld the department’s industrial approval for the Alton Gas project. “The consultations with Sipekne’katik on this industrial approval have been sufficient,” Miller said in denying the band’s appeal of the permit approval for the second time. “The terms and conditions in the approval are sufficient to protect the environment.”
The appeal will be heard Nov. 18-20, 2019 in the Supreme Court.
“The whole case is quite an interesting case about the duty of the Crown to consult in a serious way with a First Nation when they are affected.” Raymond Larkin, co-counsel for Sipekne’katik
Update: October 25, 2021
Victory for Mi’kmaq as Nova Scotia’s Alton Gas Project Cancelled by Steve MacLellan … Seven years after local Mi’kmaq Elders first moved to block a project that would have left salt caverns along Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie River full of natural gas, and the river itself dangerously saline, the company in charge of the project has pulled the plug. (article)
News – Alton Gas
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Date |
Source |
Title |
Comment |
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2021-10-25 |
savethebayoffundy.ca |
Victory for Mi’kmaq as Nova Scotia’s Alton Gas Project Cancelled |
Steve MacLellan |
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2019-04-14 |
CBC News |
Residents raise concerns about high salinity of brine from Alton Gas project |
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2019-04-11 |
Nova Scotia Advance |
Media release: Alton Gas brine release six times above what is considered deleterious to fish |
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2019-04-08 |
Iheartradio.ca |
Environment Minister Says Consultations for Alton Gas Project were “Sufficient” |
James Faulkner |
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2019-03-26 |
National Observer |
Lindsay Jones |
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2019-03-18 |
Comment |
Nova Scotia Supreme Court will announce decision re: injunction against water protectors |
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2018-08-05 |
CBC News |
Slow-motion showdown continues on banks of Shubenacadie River |
Michael MacDonald |
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2018-04-12 |
Herald News |
Francis Campbell |
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2018-03-29 |
CBC News |
Underground work on track to begin at Nova Scotia natural gas project |
Nina Corfu |
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2017-12-19 |
CBC News |
Audio: Alton Gas protesters' plan to over-winter on site (12 mins) |
- Dale Andrew Poulette - Lori MacLean, Alton Gas |
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2017-12-19 |
CBC News |
Protesters build permanent structure, plan to overwinter at Alton Gas site |
Nina Corfu |
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2017-11-29 |
Chronicle Herald News |
Francis Campbell |
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2017-10-13 |
Chronicle Herald News |
Francis Campbell |
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2016-10-22 |
CBC News |
David Irish - manufactured natural gas storage caverns |
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2016-09-09 |
CBC News |
Alton Gas protesters to conduct their own Shubenacadie River research |
Shaina Luck |
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2016-07-04 |
CBC News |
Alton natural gas storage project to resume construction near Stewiacke |
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2016-02-17 |
CBC News |
Sipekne'katik First Nation to appeal Alton natural gas storage project |
Lisa Blackburn |
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2016-01-21 |
CBC News |
Alton natural gas storage facility gets green light from Nova Scotia |
Paul Withers |
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2014-11-30 |
Chronicle Herald News |
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2014-10-29 |
CBC News |
$100 million Alton gas project delayed over Mi'kmaq concerns |
Paul Withers |
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2014-10-03 |
CBC News |
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2014-09-23 |
CBC News |
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See also:
Louisiana sinkholes - resulting from engineering issues with salt caverns
News – Nova Scotia (General)
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Date |
Source |
Title |
Comment |
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2018-11-19 |
NSAdvocate.org |
Newfoundland’s offshore oil spill is a warning for Nova Scotia |
Robert Devet - Husky Energy spill |
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2018-06-26 |
CBC News |
Mi'kmaq want answers from BP Canada after drilling mud spill off Nova Scotia coast |
Nic Meloney |
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2018-06-22 |
Halifax Examiner |
BREAKING: lubricant spill reported at BP’s Scotia Shelf drill site |
Tim Bousquet |
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2018-04-14 |
CBC News |
Pieridae Energy files to build natural gas liquefaction plant in Goldboro |
Paul Withers “Pieridae wants to bring cheap shale gas from across North America for export, primarily to Europe.” |
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2018-04-10 |
Desmog Canada |
BP Offshore Rig Moves to Nova Scotia Coast Before Drill Permits Granted |
James Wilt |
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2018-02-03 |
TheNarwhal.ca (formerly DeSmog Blog) |
‘We’re Under Assault’: Feds Quietly Approve Deepwater Oil Drilling Off Nova Scotia |
James Wilt |
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2018-01-15 |
TheNarwhal.ca (formerly DeSmog Blog) |
BP Wants to Drill Underwater Wells Twice the Depth of Deepwater Horizon in Canada |
James Wilt |
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2017-12-20 |
Council of Canadians |
Andrea Harden-Donahue |
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2015-08-31 |
CBC |
Gas shortage in Nova Scotia leads to 'complete insanity' for station owners |
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2015-08-05 |
CBC |
Shell given OK to take 21 days to cap a deep well oil blowout off N.S. coast |
Zak Markan |
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2015-07-16 |
MetroNews.ca |
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2015-06-16 |
OntarioHerald.com / The Chronicle Herald |
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2015-03-22 |
SaveTheBayOfFundy.ca |
Steve MacLellan |
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2014-12-23 |
Metro News |
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2014-12-10 |
CBC News |
Carrying 90,000 tonnes of crude oil |
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2014-10-30 |
Chronicle Herald |
Aaron Beswick Truro Bureau abeswick@herald.ca / @CH_ABeswick |
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2014-10-30 |
CBC News |
Dieppe is in New Brunswick |
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2014-10-28 |
Metro News |
The Canadian Press - 5 million litres (167 truckloads) |
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2014-10-23 |
Metro News |
The Canadian Press - 2 million litres - evaporation is a viable means of disposal (used as coolant in kiln at Lafarge after filtering) - where did the filtered radioactive residue go? |
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2014-09-09 |
Huffington Post |
Mark Milke |
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2014-09-05 |
Chronicle Herald |
Opinion: Taylor: Grits must make up for chill of fracking ban in Nova Scotia |
Roger Taylor |
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2014-09-03 |
Global News |
The Canadian Press |
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2014-09-03 |
MSN News |
"The resources belong to the people of Nova Scotia and they get to decide how they are harnessed." Andrew Younger, Nova Scotia’s Energy Minister |
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2014-08-28 |
Nova Scotia Department of Energy |
Independent review of the effects of hydraulic fracturing, led by Dr. David Wheeler, President of Cape Breton University |
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2014-08-06 |
Press |
Irving Oil using Bay of Fundy as its refinery toxic waste dumping site. |
Paul W. Kincaid |
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2014-08-03 |
Metro News |
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press |
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2014-07-24 |
MSN News |
Michael McDonald, The Canadian Press |
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2014-07-02 |
Metro News / The Canadian Press |
Alison Auld |
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2014-06-27 |
Metro News / The Canadian Press |
Impact of fracking on communities unclear, says Nova Scotia report |
Michael McDonald, The Canadian Press - Kennetcook experimental drilling in 2008 |
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2014-06-17 |
Metro News / The Canadian Press |
Michael McDonald, The Canadian Press |
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2014-06-04 |
Chronicle Herald |
Mary Ellen MacIntyre - Duncan Keppie |
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2014-06-03 |
News Ontario |
Michael McDonald, The Canadian Press |
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2014-04-16 |
News Ontario |
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2014-04-16 |
Fracking and Health |
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2014-01-01 |
Cape Breton University / Nova Scotia Dept. of Energy |
[Work in progress 28-Jun-2014] |
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2013-10-30 |
Cape Breton University |
The Nova Scotia Dept. of Energy commissions the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment to conduct an independent review and public consultation to explore the social, economic, environmental, and health implications of hydraulic fracturing practices and their associated wastewater streams. |
Dr. David Wheeler, President and Vice-Chancellor, Cape Breton University, will convene and Chair a Nova Scotia Expert Panel on Hydraulic Fracturing (Expert Panel) to oversee the process. |
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2013-06-06 |
Chronicle Herald |
Ian Austen, NY Times Petcoke |
More Information:
Link to AWARE-Ontario Oil & Gas News
Return to AWARE-Ontario.ca Home Page
List of Ontario’s Issues
Disclaimer: This information has been compiled through private amateur research for the purpose of allowing the reader to make an informed and educated decision. However, while the information is believed to be reliable, accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
APPENDICES
https://awareontario.nfshost.com/AWARE-Ontario/Issues/Oilgas_Provinces/Oilgas_Province_NovaScotia.htm