Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

In recent months two commercial drilling firms have received permission to begin drilling for gas and oil on leases within the Blood Reserve in Southern Alberta. Conventional drilling and exploration have taken place there in the past. However, a different technique using hydraulic fracking is planned for drilling the proposed wells, which may have potential to yield large amounts of gas and oil previously not reachable by conventional means. While several locations in the surrounding area of Lethbridge may have seen hydraulic fracking being used to drill for gas and oil, many people in Alberta and North America have already raised concerns about the technology of hydraulic fracking and its potential threat to the water and environment. Known dangerous chemicals and large amount of water applied under extreme pressure appears to be necessary in the process of fracturing shale or coal seams deep underground. What is hydraulic fracking and do we really need to be concerned about our only water supplies, the