Anti-fracking protesters block SWN Resources workers, equipment in central N.B.

Protesters fighting against shale-gas exploration in New
Brunswick say they are resorting to drastic measures to stop seismic
testing near their communities.

About 40 people formed a blockade on a dirt road running
between Stanley and Boiestown – north of the capital, Fredericton – at around noon Tuesday, halting 12 Southwestern Natural Resources workers and five trucks belonging to Geokinetics, a third
party contractor.

Demonstrators like Milda Titford say it was a necessary step
to protect their land and water and stop hydraulic fracturing, also known as
fracking, the controversial method used to extract shale gas.  

The company says it is not conducting hydraulic fracturing
at the moment; it’s only testing for potential sites.

But it’s the possibility that extraction (using chemical-laden water to blast cracks into gas-rich shale rock formations) could
threaten water tables, that has many people up in arms.

“This is our water, air, quality of life industrialized
in the most horrific way,” Titford says.

“It’s very demeaning to be here and do this”
Titford says, “and be threatened by RCMP, but this is simply the last
straw.”

Mike Rhodes, a geophysical operations manager with SWN
Resources, says the company “had no choice but to call the RCMP”

“We’re taking the safety and security of both the 
public and our workers seriously,” Rhodes says.

Mounties brought a pickup truck to clear the road, but managed to mediate with the group, which included
people from Stanley, Penniac, Taymouth and members of First Nations
communities.

Among them, Titford says, were university professors,
teachers, farmers and business owners.

The blockade slowed down SWN Resources work for the day, but
it’s not going to stop the project, Rhodes says

SWN Resources, he affirms, has all of the permits and
permissions it needs and it aims to complete this phase of the project this
summer.

Demonstrators say they’re not going anywhere until the government addresses their concerns.

Environmental groups and grassroots activists have ramped up
their anti-fracking efforts in recent weeks.

Some opponents in Durham Bridge began pulling out
survey stakes in the area last month, in an attempt to thwart seismic testing,
while SWN Resources said in late July protesters damaged its equipment at a
site near Chipman.

Just last week, hundreds of demonstrators, including
politicians, marched through downtown Fredericton in a New Brunswick Day
anti-fracking protest.