Open letter to the legislative select committee on the benefits and risks of fracking:
I am writing you on behalf of Yukoners Concerned About Oil and Gas Exploration to inform you that our group will be submitting to the fall legislative assembly a petition of approximately 6,000 Yukoners who have signed to ban liquefied natural gas and fracking in the Yukon.
When going door to door with our petition the fundamental point for most Yukoners was the complete destruction of our fresh water. Many Yukoners saw no benefit to drill for oil/gas by fracking if our most precious resource, water, is destroyed forever.
The fact that there is little baseline data on our water, geology, wildlife, permafrost, impacts on roadways, air quality, and potential health issues were very strong points raised by many Yukoners at the door.
It was also stated by many Yukoners that the Yukon Energy conversion from diesel back up generators to LNG generators was nothing but a demonstration by government to set up a potential market to frack in the Yukon. As you well know the geology of the Yukon is over 90 per cent shale and to extract any oil/gas will require fracking.
We state once again that approximately 6,000 Yukoners are telling the Yukon government to ban LNG and fracking in the Yukon.
Please do the right thing.
Donald Roberts
Whitehorse