Norton reverses seismic testing ban

Some residents of a southern New Brunswick community are upset the village council is reversing an earlier decision to block seismic testing for natural gas in the area.

Windsor Energy is conducting the tests to look for natural gas deposits in Norton. Initially, the village council had voted to prohibit the testing.

Shirley Teakles lives on a road where the testing is taking place, a practice that she had earlier opposed.

Teakles said she has watched what has happened in the community of Penobsquis, where local residents blame similar tests for causing their wells to dry up.

"They keep saying it's perfectly safe and all that," Teakles said.

"It may be, but why take the chance if you don't have to?"

Teakles and her neighbours brought a petition to the village council and council voted not to allow testing on the road.

Three weeks later, the council reversed its decision in a special meeting, after Windsor Energy asked it to reconsider the prohibition on seismic testing.

The company could have asked the provincial government for access to privately-owned land, which would have allowed it to test almost anywhere.

'Lesser of two evils'

Norton Mayor Wendy Alcorn said by allowing the company to test in specific areas, Windsor Energy will not be testing close to people's backyards:

"Council really felt that they were protecting the residents more so than if we did not allow them on the road. And I think council really felt we were taking the lesser of two evils," Alcorn said.

Residents of Teakles Road, where the testing is being undertaken, say they didn't know about the special meeting where the seismic testing restrictions were lifted.

Alcorn said there were posters in town advertising the meeting but the mayor said no one from the public showed up.

The mayor said many people who live around the test sites are concerned about the safety of their wells.

The village has also put in place provisions that would force the company to pay for any damage testing may cause, according to the mayor.

"These houses will be protected, and their wells. The biggest concern for people in the area is their wells, and there's strict regulations that Windsor Energy follows, and which we have also put in the agreements that they follow those regulations," Alcorn said.