DIEPPE, NEW BRUNSWICK - Yesterday, Upriver Environment Watch called a press conference at the Super 8 motel in Dieppe, New Brunswick. Attended by about 50 people, including 4 representatives from the media, the anti-shale gas action group from Kent County hosted a panel of speakers with a variety of expertise and experience.

 

"Impunity is the word we're working with today," said Anne Pohl, host of the press conference. 

 

Pohl had, on July 19th, sent an open letter to New Brunswick Premier David Alward. The letter was at once an invitation to Alward to attend the press conference (neither he nor any member of his caucus attended) as well as a point by point description of the experienced hardships that those continuing to call for a moratorium on shale gas exploration in New Brunswick have experienced in their dealings with the RCMP, SWN Resources Canada as well as their elected government representatives.

 

If there was a continuous thread to the press conference, it was a general sense of frustration.

 

"We feel it is time for your government to stop directing the RCMP to harass us and to throw us in jail," read the open letter to Premier Alward from the Upriver Environment Watch.

 

"It is time for your government to start talking with us. We have been trying to communicate with you for a long time. We have tried petitions, letters, requests for meetings, protests and everything else we could think of to get your attention. Your avoidance of us has been complete. We are extremely disappointed in your government's failure to respond and acknowledge our concerns. We ask for you to respect and recognize the legitimacy of our concerns."

 

Chris Sabas, one of two members of the Christian Peacemakers Team that has been invited to document the anti-shale actions by Elsipogtog War Chief John Levi, was the first presenter. Her information focused on her recent excursions visiting post-testing areas along 'Line 5', the backwoods seismic testing line that has for weeks now been the focus of SWN Resources Canada's testing efforts.

 

Sabas' had photographic evidence of unplugged 'shot holes', as well as disturbing photographs of animal tracks that she noted appeared in large numbers around post-explosion zones. 

 

Willi Nolan, a long-time resident of Kent County, as well as a member of Upriver Environment Watch, focused her presentation on the dangers of the chemicals already being used in SWN's exploration processes.

 

Nolan noted that while information was not readily available, SWN was most likely using a TNT explosive to detonate it's shot holes. Having already detonated dozens of shot holes throughout the backwoods along 'Line 5', Nolan noted that there was no evidence of independent monitors looking after post-testing zones.

 

Celianne Cormier, another lifelong resident of Kent County, recounted her personal story of being bullied by SWN and Stantec Engineering when it came time for her water to be tested leading up to testing in 2011.

 

Cormier related a situation where it did not appear that Stantec, ostensibly a third party independent water testing company, was acting at an arm's length from SWN, the company required to do the water testing. In fact, every time a "water tester" called the Cormier residence, she noted that they claimed to be calling on behalf of SWN. Cormier felt increasingly skeptical when water testers consistently refused to produce identification that they were in fact Stantec employees.

 

"Why were the callers introducing themselves as calling from SWN and why was SWN calling the shots if the testing was being done by an independent or third party?" asked Cormier. "I lost all confidence in the process, I felt violated and bullied because I felt I was not asking for anything special. In fact I felt I was only insisting on the world class safe ans secure practices as promised by our provincial government."

 

Ann Pohl spoke about the difficulty of having the concerns of the citizens of New Brunswick properly heard and represented by a mainstream media almost completely controlled by the powerful Irving empire. Pohl noted that Irving, who stands to benefit from shale gas extraction  in any number of ways; from trucking, to shipping, to processing, and on, was knowingly marginalizing the message of those opposed to shale gas extraction, often framing it as a 'Native issue'.

 

After fielding questions from the media, the press conference then turned into an open forum, with various concerned citizens from around the province voicing their concerns about the increasingly obvious signs of industrial hostility, whether in disregard for the natural environment, complicity with law enforcement bodies, both public and private, and lack of concern from elected officials. 

 

As if on cue, as one woman was describing the difficulties of trying to continue to live alongside a pot ash mine in Penobsquis, it became apparent that two undercover RCMP officers had been taking notes throughout the entire press conference. When asked what they were doing, constable Dave Matthews noted that he was taking notes on "the mood" of the press conference. When cameras were trained on the officers, they quickly fled the conference.

 

 

It may well be that the blatant disrespect of laying seismic testing equipment immediately adjacent to a cemetery where family members and war veterans lie has begun to galvanize Rogersville's Acadian population into action.

 

Today, only two days after the RCMP lied to activists attempting to park on parish land adjacent to their cemetery, telling those attempting to gather that it was private property, an emboldened crowd of about 60 Acadians, Anglophones and Indigenous people - united in their purpose - gathered in the pouring rain next to an active testing line. 

 

Fearless of the potential danger of un-exploded ordinance, a number of people ventured southward down the active testing line, heading away from Pleasant Ridge Road towards Salmon River Road. With the constant hum of a helicopter transporting bagged geophones as a backdrop, activists wandered the freshly cut seismic line. Many noticed the presence of traditionally used medicinal plants growing directly next to un-detonated shot holes.

 

While most people exited the seismic test line by nightfall, as of press time an unknown number of individuals remain in the woods near the ordinance.