B.C. residents question oil, gas health risk study
A long-awaited provincial government-commissioned study on the health effects of oil and gas activity in northeast B.C. suggests health risks are low.
The study released Thursday afternoon also included a review of regulations and concluded they are “extensive and broadly protective of health.”
But some northeast B.C. residents are questioning the findings of the study or reserving judgment until they can have a closer look at the data. The West Moberly First Nation is calling for an independent review of the study.
The $1-million study by consulting firm Intrinsik recommends some rules be tightened, including that firms be required to find the baseline quality of groundwater before hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, takes place.
The province agreed to the study in 2011 after residents in the northeast and officials with Northern Health raised concerns about the health effects of oil and gas activity.
In the first phase of the study, carried out by the Fraser Basin Council, residents identified concerns such as asthma, bronchitis, sinus issues and cancer they believed were linked to oil and gas activities.
The second phase, conducted by Intrinsik, reviewed scientific literature, conducted computer modelling to determine estimated concentrations of pollution emissions from oil and gas activities and analyzed their short-term and long-term effect on human health, including on food and water.
B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake said the province will implement all 14 recommendations from Intrinsik, which has carried out consulting work for governments and the oil and gas industry.
The recommendations also include tightening up emergency planning zones and clarifying regulations and policies on venting, fugitive emissions and flaring.
However, West Moberly Nation chief Roland Wilson said he didn’t trust the study because he doesn’t believe the information it relied on is robust enough.
Bart Koppe, who led the study for Intrinsik, said the computer modelling of pollution included emissions from gas plants and compressor stations, but did not include emissions from drill sites or the flaring from those sites.
“You might as well throw that study in the garbage. ... They are not going to do anything that is going to interfere with their LNG plans,” Wilson said.
He was referring to the B.C. Liberal government’s plans to create a new gas export sector to tap into growing energy demands in Asia.
Fort St. John resident Rick Koechl said he is reserving judgment on the study until he can examine it in more detail. Koechl resigned recently as chair of the Northeast Oil and Gas Health Advisory Committee over concerns about the delay of the release of the report, which was completed last fall.
Calvin Sandborn, legal director for the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre, said he wondered how the study came to its conclusion when a recent federal-commissioned study found not enough is known about the potential impact of fracking on people and the environment.
You might as well throw that study in the garbage. ... They are not going to do anything that is going to interfere with their LNG plans.