I live in Heaven, but I work in Hell…

My family and I moved away from Alberta last September in order to have a better life. We chose a place that was near my wife’s hometown in New Brunswick. A place where the speed of life is slower and more manageable. Now we find out this area is targeted for oil and gas development.

I don’t want fracking in my hometown.

Here’s Why: It starts with surveying, then drilling, frac’ing, followed by completions and pipe lining. The surveyors are quiet usually.

But then, the construction crew rolls in with their heavy haul trucks, dozers and excavators. For the next two weeks the noise will be heard for miles, all day and night. Nature will never look the same again. Ever.

Now come the rig movers. Heavy haul trucks travel for a week or so…oversize loads with tired drivers negotiating back roads gets challenging. The roads will be damaged all the way to the road base.

Next a drilling crew will come in for a period of 4 weeks to 6 months depending on how well things go. The frackers will be brought in to bring the well to production. This could be 3- 45 days depending on the well program. This creates steady truck traffic hauling on the highways 24 hrs a day. Any combination of fluids and sand will be used, some of it hazardous material. None if it is identified. Truckers do not know exactly what chemicals they are hauling on board.

Finally, you have completions and pipeliners.

Drilling takes place day and night. When they drill through the water table it is normal to have what they call “losses”. This means they lost drilling fluid into the water table. This happens because the cement cracks or flakes – just like your home’s foundation. Add to this the dangers of pressurized gas.

The culture is one of disregard and ridicule for the environment. If a safety issue is too expensive they will find another way. Companies disregard environmental precautions because fines are cheaper than the cost of adhering to the rules. Workers who report damage or spills know they will lose their jobs. These shortcuts usually affect the environment or worker safety.

When we lived in Beaverlodge, there was a rig blow out that burned the drilling rig to the ground. It burned for 3 days. Our house was forty km away and the flames looked as if a 4-story building across the street was burning. The site engineer said they encountered greater pressure than expected. The contamination from the drilling fluid pushed out of the well with natural gas behind it causing a slick coating to rain down for a radius of .5-1 km surrounding the rig site.

You must be asking why I still work there. I’m an addict to oil and gas for my vehicles and my wages. But, I am slowly breaking away and the first step was to remove my family from Alberta to a safe place like New Brunswick. If Oil and Gas are allowed to run amok here like they do in Alberta, we will be moving again.

COMMENTS FROM THE WIFE OF AN OIL AND GAS WORKER