Second Level Assessment- Current Impacts
Mining Practices
Mining Practices
Oil and Natural Gas lease rights with North River watershed upstream of Fawcett Hill are currently registered SWN Resources Inc. (Government of New Brunswick 2024). SWN is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwestern Energy Company in the US (SWN 2015). Below Fawcett Hill, around the Village of Petitcodiac, is leased to Headwater Exploration Inc (Government of New Brunswick 2024). Headwater Exploration is a Canadian company that operates in Alberta and New Brunswick.
In 2013 seismic testing by SWN in New Brunswick on Mi’kmaq traditional lands north of Moncton was halted following protests that became violent and attracted national media attention. On March 17th, 2015, SWN received an extension on its licenses which were due to expire (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 2015). The former Liberal Provincial government enacted a moratorium on expansion (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 2014), however the new Conservative Government led by Blaine Higgs has announced its intention to put an end to the moratorium and renew fracking in New Brunswick (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 2018). If wells are eventually drilled in the North River watershed, impacts will include freshwater extraction from streams, habitat destruction and sedimentation during road building, and the potential for wastewater spills contaminating surface waters.
