Tuesday April 27, Jessica Ernst of Rosebud, Alberta, filed a lawsuit valued over $33 million dollars. It accuses EnCana, Alberta Environment, and the Energy Resources Conservation Board of Negligence and Unlawful Activities.
In 2005 Ernst noticed her well water was changing.
At first, her dogs wouldn’t drink it. Then, she saw it was fizzing as if it was carbonated. In December, she couldn’t turn her taps off: there was so much gas in her water, it raised the pressure and forced its way through her pipes.
She also discovered she could light it on fire. When lit, a huge blue flame burns on the surface of the water, before turning orange and escaping upward like a flare. “It still scares me,” she says. “You never know what the water is going to do.”
Those new to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can read more about it in this Layman's Guide posted earlier on Daily Kos.
Tests on her water revealed high levels of methane, ethane and several other fossil fuels. It also showed signs of heavy hydrocarbons, like the ones used in drilling fluids. A story detailing some of the background to this situation was published by fast forward weekly in 2008.
Jessica Ernst lives near the village of Rosebud, AB, an area rich in agriculture and shale. Ernst holds a Masters Degree in Science from the Univ. of Guelph's Veterinary College. She does environmental consultation for the oil and gas industry and has 25 yrs of experience with that work in the western Canadian provinces and territories.
The village of Rosebud sits among poplar trees in a lush valley, an oasis on the endless plains east of Calgary. Best known for its performing arts college and brightly painted frontier buildings, the community of 100 people is surrounded by EnCana’s wells, and the loud, buzzing noise of well maintenance is a common sound.
Jessica Ernst lives on an acreage a five-minute walk from town. The environmental consultant was working for EnCana in the summer of 2003 when the company built a compressor station on the bluffs less than a kilometre from her house. The station, which takes gas from the ground and compresses it into a liquid that can be easily shipped, emits loud, grinding, mechanical noises that keep Ernst up at night.
She unsuccessfully pressured the company to stop the noise. She also pushed it to consult with the community. By her account, EnCana’s agent showed her a legal agreement it hoped to get landowners to sign, which would release the company from liability. “If we can get them to sign this, we don’t need to consult,” he said. Ernst quit the company
The lawsuit claims that, among 9 items, ...
EnCana drilling activities contaminated her well water with methane and other chemicals and that it broke several laws, regulations, and requirements intended to protect drinking water supplies.
The Alberta Government repeatedly assured rural Albertans that its regulations protect underground freshwater supplies.
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) is responsible for regulating all aspects of the oil and gas industry. The EUB has repeatedly reassured rural Albertans that it is regulating drilling in a manner that protects underground freshwater supplies.
These agencies consistently failed to enforce regulations designed to protect the safety of groundwater. Their failure to act, despite frequent promises to protect the public, has in fact served as a governmental cover-up of contamination caused by the oil and gas industry.
A previous Kos diary revealed a 'leak' of UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE MINORITY STAFF on the CHEMICALS USED IN HYDRAULIC FRACTURING From the summary page of the report...
Between 2005 and 2009, the 14 oil and gas service companies used more than 2,500
hydraulic fracturing products containing 750 chemicals and other components. Overall, these companies used 780 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing products – not including water added at the well site – between 2005 and 2009.
Some of the components used in the hydraulic fracturing products were common and
generally harmless, such as salt and citric acid. Some were unexpected, such as instant coffee and walnut hulls. And some were extremely toxic, such as benzene and lead. Appendix A lists each of the 750 chemicals and other components used in hydraulic fracturing products between 2005 and 2009.
The most widely used chemical in hydraulic fracturing during this time period, as measured by the number of compounds containing the chemical, was methanol. Methanol, which was used in 342 hydraulic fracturing products, is a hazardous air pollutant and is on the candidate list for potential regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Some of the other most widely used chemicals were isopropyl alcohol (used in 274 products), 2-butoxyethanol (used in 126 products), and ethylene glycol (used in 119 products).