Comox Valley Naturalists Society

January

Sunday, January 20, 2008
7:00 p.m. at the Florence Filberg Centre
Coalbed Methane Extraction: Environmental Effects

The regular Monthly Meeting of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society will be held Jan. 20 2008, at 7:00 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Avenue, Courtenay. The featured speaker will be Mr. Arthur Caldicott.

Coal bed methane is natural gas that forms in coal, coal beds occur from Campbell River to Nanaimo, and the provincial government and companies are interested in exploiting this resource. While the major environmental problem with CBM is "produced water" which is usually saline, unpotable, and often contains other toxic substances, the large volume of water will also have inevitable hydrological and environmental impacts including impacts on salmon habitat. The hundreds of wells required in a relatively confined area, plus the roads, pipelines, power lines, compressors, etc., will industrialize the landscape, and will drive down real estate prices.

Arthur Caldicott has a keen interest in energy and environmental issues. He is a founding director of the GSX (Georgia Strait Crossing) Concerned Citizens Coalition (which resulted in the cancellation of the GSX Pipeline and the Duke Point Power plant), remains engaged with several other Vancouver Island energy issues, and maintains the website www.sqwalk.com. Arthur continues to research, write, and interact with communities on a broad range of energy issues such as coaled methane (CBM), liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipelines, small hydro, and ocean energy.

Arthur's presentation is a coal bed methane primer - what it is, how it is produced, what the issues are, and how Vancouver Island communities should respond. Please come and join us to become better informed on this important issue.

Click on a link below to view descriptions of previous guest speakers.