DUTCH ANTI-FRACKING ACTIVISTS VISIT THE KAROO
Shell to be held accountable in The Netherlands for its plans to frack in South Africa
Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Thursday 14 August 2014 – Of concern are the recent amendments regarding fracking in the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) no.28 of 2002 passed by parliament – yet to be signed by the President – as the Department of Environmental Affairs’ (DEA) authority will largely be handed over to the Department of Minerals Resources (DMR), giving the less environmentally-skilled authority jurisdiction over the implementation of environmental regulations in fracking. With Royal Dutch Shell being the main fracking proponent, Dutch environmental justice activists from Milieudefensie [1] are visiting South Africa to hold Shell accountable in The Netherlands at the company’s AGM, public pressure and if necessary take legal action against the company for their operations in South Africa.
A report commissioned by local NGOs groundWork [2] and the Southern African Land Committee (SCLC) [3], together with Milieudefensie, answers questions related to how fracking will change the Karoo socially, economically and environmentally, regulation of industry and government’s role, and what the present situation is in South Africa and the proposed way forward [4].
On Monday, 18 August 2014, media are invited to attend the following events:
- Researcher, David Fig presenting the report on Monday, 18 August 2014 at 11h00 at La Mer Lodge (24 Driftsand Drive, Humewood).
- Thereafter, discussions by other organisations, including groundWork, SCLC and Milieudefensie will take place at the same venue.
- A showing of the 2014 film Unearthed [5] and discussion with Director, Jolynn Minnaar at 17h30 at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
With the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) previously being established to regulate the issuing of different kinds of licenses to mining and fracking but increasingly promoting the industry, parliament has seen it fit to give the regulatory function to the regional offices of the DMR, a problematic situation because it dilutes the body of expertise; stronger with a central regulator.
The proposed amendments mean the DMR will have a period of 18 months in which it will remain the competent authority, and then it needs to negotiate a phasing in of the DEA as competent authority. Only then will the situation for mining, oil and gas become like other industries. Until decision is taken by the president, for now, the fracking industry does not have to answer in any capacity to the DEA in terms of any environmental assessments.
In his State of the Nation Address in June, the President stated that fracking "is recognised as a game changer for our economy". Amongst other issues, the exact amount of shale gas underground, however, is unknown by both the government and proponent companies.
The report finds fracking problematic for the following reasons:
- People locally will not see a decrease in unemployment. Since there is no one with fracking experience in South Africa, the drilling teams will be brought in from other countries, under sub-contracts. It is likely that the menial service jobs will remain to locals. When Shell commissioned the Econometrix consultancy to estimate job creation, they came up with figures ranging from 300 000 to 700 000. These jobs would not be in the Karoo, but other in areas of the economy that would boom if shale gas was viable. Some economists have criticized the logic of Econometrix’s estimates saying that these have been highly exaggerated due to the use of inappropriate economic modelling and overoptimistic pricing of the gas.
- People will lose their livelihoods. If farming and tourism are made difficult by fracking, jobs will be lost in those sectors. Farm workers who lose their jobs will also lose their accommodation. Farmer’s will lose their land.
- People’s health will be compromised. In the United States, people in shale gas areas have reported a number of illnesses and water contamination on their properties which they attribute to the activities of the shale gas industry.
- People’s access to water will be threatened. The Karoo is a water scarce region, with 94% of the Karoo municipalities depend wholly or partially on underground water for survival. An estimated 2500 truckloads of water are needed each time a well is fracked.
- People’s water access to clean water will be jeopardised. The waste water which returns to the surface after fracking will need to be disposed of as hazardous and radioactive waste. Currently the provinces are responsible for this, but their budgets and expertise do not allow for extra burdens.
- People’s long-term safety will be impacted upon by increasing climate change results. The major constituent in the extracted gas is methane, a greenhouse gas, both dangerous for people’s health immediately and helping to hasten climate change. Approximately 8% of the fugitive methane from fracking will enter the atmosphere.
The main concerns of the above three organisations is that the DMR hand over primary responsibility for environmental oversight of the fracking industry to the DEA, and that there should be independent public monitoring of any steps taken to initiate fracking.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Milieudefensie has 80 local member groups, with the organisation’s vision being one of ensuring an environment that is clean and healthy for people to live in. One of their campaigns is actively supporting activists in Nigeria resisting Shell, in particular taking the company to court in The Netherlands for destruction of people’s environments. Milieudefensie is the Netherlands member of Friends of the Earth International - see: https://milieudefensie.nl/, also: https://www.foeeurope.org/netherlands
[2] groundWork is an environmental justice organisation working with community people from around South Africa, and increasingly Southern Africa, on environmental justice and human rights issues focusing on Coal, Climate and Energy Justice, Waste and Environmental Health. groundWork is the South African member of Friends of the Earth International.
[3] The Southern Cape Land Committee works with excluded rural women, men and youth in the Southern Cape and western regions of the Eastern Cape towards agrarian transformation. SCLC’s vision is for a vibrant, sustainable and vibrant countryside where there is no poverty, people are living lives of dignity, family values and community culture are upheld, the environment is protected and there is a more equitable access to and control over natural resources and opportunities http://sclc.co.za/
[4] You can download the full report here.
[5] Unearthed, an independent South African feature documentary, investigates fracking in the
United States – the technology’s place of origin – in order to understand what this new method of gas extraction could mean for the semi-arid Karoo and other countries who are considering its implementation http://www.un-earthed.com/
groundWork (Friends of the Earth South Africa)
Southern Cape Land Committee
Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth The Netherlands)
CONTACTS
groundWork:
Megan Lewis
Media, Information and Publications Officer
Mobile: 083 450 5541
Email: megan@groundwork.org.za
(Interviews with the Dutch activists can be organised with Megan)
Bobby Peek
Director
Mobile: 082 464 1383
Email: bobby@groundwork.org.za
Southern Cape Land Committee:
Angela Conway
Director
Mobile: 082 295 7760
Email: angela_conway@telkomsa.net
Phumelelo Booysen
Programme Manager
Mobile: 078 559 7226
Email: phumi_booysen@telkomsa.net
The term “fracking” is shorthand for “hydraulic fracturing” and usually refers to the technique used for extracting shale gas from deep under the earth’s surface. The technique involves high-pressure drilling, firstly vertically, for up to 4km underground. The drill then travels horizontally for around 1km into the rock. Shale gas is a hydrocarbon, trapped in sedimentary rock up to 4 km underground. Shale gas is often referred to as being an unconventional gas or a tight gas. About a fifth of South Africa’s land surface has been set aside for the purpose of shale gas. Most of the shale gas is said to be found in the Karoo basin, particularly in the Great Karoo, but also in the provinces of the Free State and KwaZulu Natal, and the Kalahari Desert.