A3

Benjamin Shingler
Telegraph-Journal

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FREDERICTON - A group of Kings County residents are worried a prospective natural gas underground storage facility will contaminate their drinking water and render the area unsafe.

Enlarge Photo

David Smith

From left, Nancy Craft, Audrey Rogers and Connie Hanlin were among about 50 people protesting the storage of natural gas in salt caverns in the Kings County area on Thursday on the front lawn of the legislature.

The protesters gathered outside the legislature building Thursday to ask the government to ban exploration for salt caverns near their homes, where the natural gas would be stored.

"We came here to get the attention of the government," said Otty Forgrave, a spokesman for the group called the Quality of Life Initiative. "We want to get our message across that we are concerned about our environment."

Corridor Resources, a Halifax-based exploration company, is considering creating salt caverns along a 1,500-hectare tract stretching from Cassidy Lake to the French Village area. The company has an exploration licence for salt caverns for the whole parcel of land.

Minister of Natural Resources Wally Stiles met the protesters in front of the legislature to assuage their concerns.

"If that plan does come forward - it may or not - there would have to be a full-blown environmental assessment done," he said.

Following the protest, Stiles held talks with several members of the Quality of Life Initiative, and committed to ongoing discussions with the group.

Tory MLA Bruce Northrup, critic for natural resources, said that residents are clearly against such a plan, and that the minister should not allow the company to continue exploration in the area.

"If you talk to these people, they're very worried - seven days a week, 24 hours a day," he said. "The biggest concern is quality of life. If you live out there, you live out there for the rural type of life, and you depend on your own water."

Last week, company president Norm Miller held a press conference in Saint John to address concerns from residents. Miller promised the company would not damage the potable water supply for the local area, and would not be involved in a project that isn't safe. Salt caverns provide an ideal storage space because salt provides a near-impermeable seal, Miller said. The caverns would be located about 550 metres underground.

Miller also said last week they were considering exploring the Petitcodiac area to store the natural gas.

Hazel Douthwright, a Penobsquis resident, was also at Thursday's protest. About 50 homes in Penobsquis have been without potable water since 2004.

"I don't want the same to happen in Cassidy Lake that happened in Penobsquis," she said.

Many Penobsquis residents blame the trouble on water from the nearby potash mine, owned by Saskatchewan-based PotashCorp.

Douthwright said living without drinking water source has been "hell," and they've had to get water delivered twice a week.

The Quality of Life Initiative is meeting with the exploration company Dec. 19 to relay their concerns.