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Given the price of natural gas in the North American market, the level of fees in place and the inclusion of carbon costs, the context is "not conducive to the development " of shale gas in Quebec concluded the Committee on strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) on this energy sector .
This is one of the findings in a report of almost 300 pages released late Monday afternoon by the Ministry of the Environment , on the eve of the start of consultations on the draft law prohibiting certain activities for to search for or exploit natural gas in the shale .
The paper dated January 2014 will also warn that exploitation " scale " of the energy system could " significantly affect " the balance of Quebec's air quality and " jeopardize the achievement of reduction targets " greenhouse gas emissions (GHG ) .
"This is a report warning that establishes scientific facts not as disturbing as what we wanted to believe , but highlights the fact that social acceptability is not there ," summarized the Minister of Sustainable Development , Environment , Wildlife and Parks, Yves -François Blanchet interview Monday night.
The report, which paints a synthesis of 73 studies , also notes that "generally , the compounds most commonly used in hydraulic fracturing were found for relatively nontoxic most ", but three chemical additives nevertheless have "a potential both for persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity . "
In the current context , the substantive issue is hydraulic fracturing - technique used not only for the extraction of shale gas, but also for the oil shale , such as the Marois government hopes to find in the basement of Anticosti Island - according to André Bélisle, president of the Quebec Association against atmospheric pollution. "Beyond shale gas , which we do not need because they can produce gas all kinds of ways , the important question is what we know about this technique ," explained M . Bélisle . " We recognize that there are problems, but we try to minimize them, he has denounced . We are told that everything is fine, everything is fine , well not. We can provide you many more reports show that there are problems . Fracking poisons the water . "
The issue of governance of the industry has also been studied in the context of SEA, and some findings give ammunition to people who denounced his sometimes cavalier attitude . "In terms of responsible practices , the shale gas industry lags behind the net leading companies in the mining , oil and chemical sectors," reads the document. " Managed in secret individual contracts in many cases undermined social cohesion and even divided communities , but also reduces the level of confidence among the people involved," also concluded the authors .
The filing of this report paves the way for holding a second public consultation BAPE on the environment on shale gas , which must be set in motion March 31, 2014 .
