Slick Water launches in Rosebud

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Award-winning author Andrew Nikiforuk will launch his newest book, Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider’s Stand Against the World’s Most Powerful Industry, in Rosebud, Sept. 12. Nikiforuk will speak and answer questions about issues related to fracking – formally known as hydraulic fracturing – and its impact on fresh water supply.
Nikiforuk is starting his book tour in tiny Rosebud, explained Shauna Murphy, the event’s emcee and a long-time Rosebud resident, because the book centers on the story of Jessica Ernst, who lives on the edge of the hamlet. Ernst became concerned about her well water, according to a prepared statement, when her dogs refused to drink it, and it gave her caustic burns. Ernst, a former consultant for the oil and gas industry, believes her family’s water was ruined by fracking.
In 2008, Ernst began a lawsuit against Encana, the company responsible for fracking the community’s drinking water aquifers, as well as against various Alberta government bodies. The lawsuit is ongoing, and Ernst recently earned the right to have her appeal heard in the Supreme Court.
“Fracking is all around us, and also all over the place,” Murphy said. “This issue has grown, even since Jessica began to sound the alarm.”
She hopes to see a large, diverse crowd at the event, but that it’ll do much more than sell the book.
She wants people to use it as an opportunity to learn about fracking, and have their questions answered.
“My hope is that … if there’s some people that don’t believe or whatever, that they’ll come too,” she said. “(Nikiforuk) will maybe prove (the concern) to some doubters in the crowd … I’m really hoping for a unifying event. Can we all see?”
“I kind of hope for a fresh start,” Murphy said. “This is maybe the beginning of just a community getting to know what’s really going on.”
Encana and government representatives will be personally invited, and Murphy emphasized that she hopes they’ll come too.
“We have to work together to solve any of it,” Murphy said. “I think there’s a better way.”
The book launch takes place at the Rosebud Community Hall, Saturday, Sept. 12. The doors open at 6 p.m. Book sales and signing begin at 6:30 p.m., and at 7:30 p.m., Nikiforuk will give a book talk and answer audience questions. Rosebud Centre of the Arts will provide refreshments.