��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ hosts special SACPA session on fracking

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:10:24 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will host a special session of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs Thursday night, 7 p.m. in PE264.

Should a Moratorium and a Full Scale Environmental Assessment Precede Any Further Development Using Hydraulic Fracturing? That is the question that guest speaker Jessica Ernst will debate.

Ernst is an environmental scientist with 30 years of oil patch experience. Her career and personal experience make her uniquely qualified to talk about drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Ernst must haul water from outside sources because her well has been poisoned by unnatural and dangerous concentrations of methane gas and other industrial toxins.

She filed legal action against EnCana (a large oil and gas company), the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) which approves energy projects in Alberta and the Alberta Government for their responsibility. In May, 2011 Ernst was invited to New York to present her case and to make recommendations to governments at the United Nations 19th Commission on Sustainable Development. On October 1, 2011, UNANIMA International, a UN Economic and Social Council NGO, presented Ernst with its annual "Woman of Courage" award in New York, at the Church Center of United Nations.

Much of the general public know little or nothing about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), an increasingly popular, but controversial technique of drilling for oil and natural gas. Fracking involves vertical and sometimes horizontal drilling into coal bed, or shale rock using extreme pressure for the fracture treatments. Anywhere from 200,000 to 1500,000 liters of water and various stimulation and fracturing fluids, and from 75,000 to 320,000 pounds of propellant are consumed during a typical hydraulic fracture of a single well.

Fracturing fluids can contain chemicals toxic to humans and wildlife, chemicals that are known to cause cancer. These include diesel fuel, which contains benzene, which in very small quantities can cause cancer and are capable of contaminating millions of gallons of water. Drilling chemicals can be more toxic than fracturing chemicals. The speaker will relate her experiences with fracking in her community of Rosebud, Alberta and her fight to bring the many issues associated with drilling and fracking to the public.

Sports Stadium proves a challenge

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:33:07 +0000

There is no denying that construction of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's new Regional Sports Stadium and Field Complex has been trying. Weather conditions have played havoc with the various phases of the project, delaying work crews and subsequently pushing back completion dates.

So, it is hardly surprising to learn that the highest profile phase of the entire project, the installation of the artificial turf field, has been deemed epically difficult by the installer himself.

"We've installed fields worldwide for the last 20 years and this would be the third most difficult, one of the toughest I've been through because of the winds," says Ivan Couto of Ontario-based IC Improvements.

"Normally, we won't install a field at this time of year because of wind but with all the delays we've had, this was our only opportunity."

Laying the roughly 120,000 square foot turf field is essentially like putting down a massive carpet. The rolls are obviously much bigger but the basic concept is the same as any house installation. What complicates matters is wind getting underneath the panels and shifting them after they've been laid, throwing off exacting measurements. Couto and his crew dealt with such problems on a daily basis.

Once the panels are down and stitched together, weather again plays a role. The crew needs a stretch of days without precipitation to apply the unique U of L logos. Again, rain delayed this stage and added more time to the project.

The next stage in the process is giving the field its bounce. As it is, the field is rock hard because it simply rests on a base of hard-packed gravel. The sponginess comes from nearly 400,000 pounds of cryogenically frozen rubber pellets that are worked into the polyethelene turf fibres.

Couto describes a process that uses recycled tires flushed through a nitrogen tank then frozen to -180 C. They are then processed through a cracker mill, shattering the tires to pellet size, after which all metal and extra fibres are extracted, leaving pure rubber.

"The nitrogen changes the density of the rubber so it becomes heavier," Couto explains. "Our fields, when it rains or players are running, don't give you that splash of pellets because of their density."

The fracturing of the rubber also creates uneven edges on the pellets so that when they are installed (to a depth of an inch and ¾) they lock onto each other and remain in place.

"That also makes the whole field consistent, there are no soft or hard spots," he says. "The advantage with the cryogenic process is that in our winters, the pellets don't freeze. It can be -50 C outside and if you play on it, it'll still be soft."

GET THE FACTS

• The installation process of the turf field averages 10 to 14 days, but the U of L installation topped three weeks

• The field is not glued or fastened down in any manner, relying on the nearly 400,000 pounds of rubber infill to keep it in place

• Maintenance of the field includes a yearly visit by IC Improvements where they brush and wash the turf. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will regularly groom the field with a sweeper that fluffs up the fibres and removes any debris

• The lifespan of the turf field is 15 to 20 years

UNews - Fracturing

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ hosts special SACPA session on fracking

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Sports Stadium proves a challenge

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��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ hosts special SACPA session on fracking