Alberta fracking case could go to Supreme Court

Edmonton, AB, Canada / 630 CHED

A legal fight over contaminated water and hydraulic fracturing could wind up before the Supreme Court.

Jessica Ernst has lost an appeal to sue the Alberta energy regulator over fracking on her property northeast of Calgary. But she still says her charter rights have been violated, and she plans to take that fight to the Supreme Court. She says all Canadians should be concerned about this.

“It is our water and it is the big picture that’s being violated, it is the public interest that the fracking companies are harming,” says Ernst. “The health care costs of treating the workers alone that are getting sick will be massive, never mind the families.”

Last fall an Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench judge ruled that Ernst can’t sue the energy regulator because it is immune from private legal claims. On Monday, the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld that ruling.

Ernst says her water is so contaminated that it burns skin. She plans to continue her lawsuit against the province and Encana, claiming they are responsible for chemicals getting into her water supply, because of fracking.

“I wouldn’t be doing this lawsuit if it was just my water well,” says Ernst. “That would be a total waste of time because our legal system is so against an ordinary person with a lawsuit in this country. I’m doing it because people’s drinking water is being contaminated everywhere they’re fracking. My case isn’t the only one.”

Ernst has 60 days to file for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. Her lawyers have told her maybe one in ten cases are actually heard by the Supreme Court, but she wants to go ahead. (The Canadian Press, bd)

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