Fracking danger awareness above Laws

Michael Laws is my new muse.

In response to an invitation to attend a Fracking Info Evening, Cr Laws replied: "Only the seriously demented believe that 'fracking' is an issue worthy of any policy pursuance. Two councils - the Taranaki Regional Council and the [Hawkes Bay] Regional Council have investigated the issue ...

They have reached the same conclusion - backed by solid scientific evidence from overseas. There is NO problem: this is just another greenie tenet of faith based on bad science and a belief that all technological progress is harmful to humanity. Today's Green is yesterday's Luddite."

Well, that was all the inspiration I needed to write this column.

I would like to assure Mr Laws and others that fracking is an issue worth pursuing - and it is being pursued with remarkable gusto in this country.

At the time of writing, four councils have already called on the Government for a moratorium and independent inquiry into fracking. Last week the Hawkes Bay Regional Council voted unanimously for an inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and this week two Community Boards - including one in Taranaki, voted unanimously to declare themselves Frack-Free Zones.

Either we have a serious dementia pandemic, or fracking is a cause to be concerned about.

Briefly explained, fracking, or "hydraulic fracturing", is a process used to extract oil and/or gas from underground, where a mixture of fresh water, sand and a cocktail of chemicals is injected into rock at high pressure, fracturing it to release trapped oil/gas. Once the petroleum is extracted, the huge quantities of now toxic wastewater must then be stored or dispersed somewhere. That toxic waste may be rattling past your place in the near future if fracking begins in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.

Understandably, residents don't want it dumped on their fertile soil, but TRC isn't as concerned. So the companies are planning for the toxic waste to be trucked via Whanganui and dumped somewhere in rural Taranaki.

Empirical studies abroad have established clear links between fracking and the contamination of surface and ground water.

TRC has also conducted some investigation into fracking, but the findings have left Stratford resident Sarah Roberts alarmed. Six months after questioning the safety of her drinking water and requesting it be tested, TRC gave it the all-clear. TRC's report, however, contained results from only five of the eight investigated sites. Omitted were the three sites surrounding Tag Oil's Cheal B well, near the tributary to the Ngaere stream which supplies water to Ms Roberts' family and farm - the sites she was most concerned about.

The report's conclusions are, nevertheless, being flaunted by Energy Minister Phil Heatley as "proof" of the safety of fracking in Taranaki - as he oversees its rapid expansion.

Mr Laws may have declined my invite, but Sarah Roberts did accept and will be speaking at this Saturday's Fracking Info Evening - Film & Forum alongside former Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons and Nga Ruahine spokesperson Daisy Noble. 7:30pm, Saturday, March 17 at the Whanganui Environment Base, 256 Wicksteed St.

Helen Marie O'Connell is an independent researcher and self-confessed fractivist.