NRDC, the U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council, is a nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. An article on their site titled Fish and wildlife: entire populations at risk even with small fracking spills describes what happened after fracking wastewater spill in Kentucky in 2007. It says
State and federal scientists found that the toxic fracking waste “killed virtually all aquatic wildlife in a significant portion of the fork.” The dead and distressed fish had developed gill lesions and suffered liver and spleen damage.
The lead USGS scientist in the investigation stated: “Our study is a precautionary tale of how entire populations could be put at risk even with small-scale fluid spills.”
A spill is an accident, of course, but we have already had an accident here in Nova Scotia, and we certainly wouldn’t like to see any more of them. And then there was a lot of it that was put through the Windsor sewer system that was deemed safe, but not tested for radioactivity.
Don Beatty, Windsor’s Director of Public Works, told CBC News in an email that more than seven million litres of the water went through the town’s sewage treatment plant between March 2010 and August 2011.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have documented the decline of two types of mussels, and although it offers several causes it says hydrofracking, spills of untreated fracking flowback water, and development of infrastructure associated with natural gas extraction has been one of the main causes.
We are aware there are numerous health concerns with fracking and wastewater. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment in 2001 summed it up quite nicely. Their research found that:
- 75% of the chemicals could affect the skin, eyes, and other sensory organs, and the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems
- 40–50% could affect the brain/nervous system, immune and cardiovascular systems, and the kidneys
- 37% could affect the endocrine system
- 25% could cause cancer and mutations
Besides human consumption of sick fish and disease moving up the food chain, the air-born toxins can also have an effect on birds and wildlife. The Alton Gas project could also be responsible for the development of bass and salmon that are even more susceptible to disease. With the waterways in Shubenacadie and Stewiacke being choked with the salt in the brine being pumped into the rivers, it can promote algae bloom, that sucks the oxygen out of the water, so the spawning fish that survive are more susceptible to sickness.
When you mix these conditions together, and add the chemicals passing through the sewer systems and the chemicals mixed into the biosolids from Old Barns that are leeching into the waterways you have…
Sick fish, Eutrophication & Dead Zones
Watch the video below, produced by National Geographic, that shows the effects of this:
https://youtu.be/0JnKkit5ocI
Although the video doesn’t mention fracking wastewater as part of the cause, it’s part of the mix that creates the acidification of the water, along with the extra brine, biosolid nutrients, and the chemicals that pass through the sewer systems. Looking at those sick and infected Striped Bass is horrifying.
The realism is shocking! How can this possible be allowed? Especially when the the Nova Scotia Environment Act, section 2(a) (ii) states:
“The precautionary principle will be used in decision-making so that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.”
Who can be held responsible? The Nova Scotia Environment Act also states in section 2:
- the polluter-pay principle confirming the responsibility of anyone who creates an adverse effect on the environment that is not de minimis (not trival) to take remedial action and pay for the costs of that action;
- taking remedial action and providing for rehabilitation to restore an adversely affected area to a beneficial use;
- Government having a catalyst role in the areas of environmental education, environmental management, environmental emergencies, environmental research and the development of policies, standards, objectives and guidelines and other measures to protect the environment;
Mark this event on your calendar! If AIS goes ahead with processing the wastewater through the Debert sewer system they can be held accountable, as well as the companies associated with Alton Gas, and maybe even the government. Randy Delorey‘s special panel to study this topic hardly qualifies as a “catalyst role” and their continued absence with any further input isn’t doing anything to protect the environment.
