Ban Fracking in Grey County: Petition

Please support a petition to ban fracking in the Owen Sound area –

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and transportation of natural gas releases methane into the atmosphere and contributes to the problem of global warming.

Additionally, fracking:

• uses millions of litres of fresh water and contributes to the depletion of local fresh water resources
• involves the use of large quantities of chemicals, some of which pose significant environmental and health risks
• has been scientifically linked to unsafe levels of contamination of well water with methane and other contaminates
• well pads emit carcinogenic & toxic air pollutants during natural gas extraction and production

It is for these reasons that we call upon the Council of Grey County to enact a ban on hydraulic fracturing in Grey County, Ontario.

We’ll be delivering this petition to Grey County Council in person in April 2015.

 

October 21st – Chat Café in Guelph

A chat at the Sapphire Café and Lounge – 17 Macdonell St. – at 7:30 pm to discuss fracking, elections, and pipelines. Grab a coffee and expand your knowledge by sharing thoughts face to face, that quaint old-fashioned way of engaging in political discourse.

This is a cellphone-free event.

Rules:
1. Be respectful in tone.
2. Heed the moderator.
3. Share the floor.
4. Cell phones off. This means you.

Organized by the Guelph chapter of the Council of Canadians

Small Victory for No Line 9 Campaign

The National Energy Board denies Enbridge’s request to start pipeline

On Monday, October 6, the National Energy Board (NEB) released a letter temporarily denying Enbridge’s “Leave to Open” submission on Line 9 based on the inadequacy of the valve safety standards on the pipeline. The NEB is requiring that Enbridge install valves on both sides of all Major Water Crossings and other significant areas in order to “limit damage from accidental discharge” and provide “automatic blockage of the pipeline”.

Last month, the NEB rejected Enbridge’s petition to cancel over 100 “Integrity Digs” on Line 9, requiring Enbridge to complete at least one additional dig. In its application, Enbridge had cited concerns of running behind schedule on their integrity dig program. Over the past two years activists have blockaded a number of integrity digs, causing significant delays to Line 9 reversal plans. Enbridge has also come under intense public pressure along the route of Line 9, and the NEB’s oversight of the project is currently subject to two separate lawsuits. One is an appeal of the NEB’s approval of Line 9 put forward by the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation based on the lack of consultation with the community on the project. (To support this case, please sign the petition: http://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/demand-the-neb-respect-indigenous-rights-sign-to-support-chippewas-of-the-thames-first-nation)

Frackdown – Council of Canadians Windsor Essex

Fracking not worth the risks

A letter to the editor of the London Free Press

In light of all the recent information on fracking, it is apparent that we are hitting rock bottom (literally) in our quest for energy. Fracking is clearly unsafe and according to a recent EKOS poll done by the Council of Canadians, 70% of Canadians are opposed to it.

There is a lack of scientific research on wells that might leak and the hundreds of chemicals that are used in the process. Why would we put our water, the most precious resource of humankind, to that kind of risk?

Each gas well requires an average of 400 tanker trucks to carry water and supplies to and from the fracking site. There are up to 600 chemicals used in the process, some of them known carcinogens and toxins. The fracking sites leach methane gas and toxic chemicals out from the system and contaminate ground water. Water wells near fracking operations have methane concentrations 17 times higher than normal wells. The waste water from the fracking is left in open pits to evaporate, contaminating the air, soil and water. This affects eco-systems, watersheds, our lakes and rivers and our children.

It does not seem to be worth the risk. In a time when we should be dramatically cutting back any kind of emissions that could advance the warming of the planet, this makes absolutely no sense. Say no to fracking!

Julie Picken-Cooper

London

Ithaca book launch in Waterloo – October 18th

Saturday October 18, 2014: Ithaca Book Launch in Waterloo, Ontario
2-4 pm, Waterloo Public Library
Refreshments, reading, book sales and signing, all are welcome

Author Susan Fish releases Ithaca, a novel about an unlikely environmental activist

For 39 years, Daisy Turner has been a professor’s wife, typing his notes and helping out. The centerpiece of her life is a weekly community dinner she hosts—one that always features soup. And then, one day, her husband drops dead. Daisy has nothing to hold onto—except, perhaps, the soup. Then, suddenly, Daisy finds herself entangled with a man whose wife is disabled, mothering a young activist-farmer, and swept into the controversy about fracking that has begun to concern their small Ivy League town.

Ithaca (October 1, 2014, Storywell, $14.99) explores what happens when a quiet, almost sedimentary life meets the high-pressure forces of small town life. How do you rebuild after life as you know it is suddenly turned upside down—or is fracked?

Niagara frackdown – October 11th

On Saturday, October 11, 2014, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
At the central St. Catharines Library, 54 Church Street, in the Rotary Room
St. Catharines, Ontario

The South Niagara Chapter of the Council of Canadians marks the third annual GLOBAL FRACKDOWN day by inviting you to an information session on fracking. We’ll be screening Josh Fox’s award-winning documentary, GASLAND, followed by discussion and a presentation by Toban Black, co-editor of the newly published collection, A Line in the Tar Sands: Struggles for Environmental Justice.

http://www.facebook.com/events/1530152093888733/

Windsor frackdown – October 11th

Join us as we Frack next to the Detroit river on October 11th in Windsor, Ontario.

We will start Fracking at 2:00 pm at the foot of Ouellette Avenue in Dieppe Park.

Wear work clothes (coveralls if you have some and a hard hat) as we may strike oil or natural gas.
Also be prepared for an oil spill or escaping methane.

Don’t ask about the chemicals we will be using as it is none of your business.

If you wish to try and protect the water of the river and ground water bring protest signs.

http://www.facebook.com/events/289487527907092/

Has fracking been approved in Ontario? Contact the government to find out

If you would like to know whether or not fracking has begun in Ontario, we encourage you to contact the following ministries, which regulate gas extraction in the province –

The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change can be e-mailed by selecting the “contact us” button on this page, and they can be contacted by phone at 1-800-565-4923 (or 416-325-4000).

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry can be e-mailed by clicking the “contact us” button on this page, and they can be contacted by phone at 1-800-667-1940.

Please contact these ministries to ask them whether a fracking project has been approved in Ontario.  And please encourage others to do the same.

Join the global frackdown on October 11th!

The frackdown is a global day of action against fracking. This year’s frackdown is on October 11th!

This day of action is an opportunity for us to build more momentum against the threat of fracking in Ontario.  Everyone is encouraged to host local events around October 11th (if not on that day).

Sign up to host a local event. 

All of the registered events are shown here, and any Ontario events will be listed on this Stop Fracking web site as well. We also can post copies of any photos you may have.

If you are looking for help with preparing Ontario-specific flyers or presentation materials, please send an e-mail.