With both Quebec and New York State declaring a 2 year moratorium on shale gas exploration and development, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick wants Premier David Alward to do the same.Spokesperson Stephanie Merrill tells CHSJ News the fact that two other jurisdictions are putting on the breaks to evaluate environmental and safety concerns says a lot with studies done in other jurisdictions show that shale gas exploration can have negative effects such as groundwater contamination and toxic emissions.
She says the Conservation Council has been calling for a moratorium since last November. The province is in the first year of a 3 year-exploration for oil and natural gas.
Testing suggests there is trillions of cubic metres of shale gas in the province but Merrill warns while the provincial government is under pressure to find ways to pay off huge debt, we could end up paying a bigger price down the road due by damaging the environment.
