The Supreme Court of Canada says an Alberta woman cannot sue the province’s energy regulator as part of her claim that hydraulic fracturing so badly contaminated her well that the water can be set on fire.
Jessica Ernst began legal action against the regulator and Calgary-based energy company Encana in 2007 and later amended her statement of claim to include Alberta Environment.
She alleges that fracking on her land northeast of Calgary released hazardous amounts of methane and other chemicals into her well and that her concerns were not properly investigated.
Ernst claims the regulator breached her constitutional right to free speech.
The Alberta courts turned down a provincial attempt to be struck from the case but exempted Alberta’s energy regulator, citing immunity provisions in provincial law.
The Supreme Court agreed last year to hear Ernst’s plea to include the regulator, but ruled against her Friday.
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