Jessica Ernst – Witnessing fracking first hand
Jessica Ernst – Public Meeting
Tomorrow night (Thursday 7th March) there is a meeting where we are going to have the chance to learn from the first hand experience of Jessica Ernst.
Jessica has worked in the oil and gas industry for 30 years and has direct experience of the real impacts of fracking.
After Encana fracked in central Alberta, Jessica Ernst reported so much methane flowing from her kitchen tap that it whistled like a freight train and could be set on fire. Bathing burned her skin.
She is currently suing the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), the Alberta Environment and Encana for contaminating her water well with methane and other chemicals
Her lawsuit, the first of its kind in Canada, has given Ernst, a shy and private researcher, folk hero status throughout rural communities in Ireland, New York, Michigan, New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Western Canada.
Jessica will tell us what it is like living in a fracking area, how the companies try to buy off the communities and how those communities are hoodwinked into believing that fracking is safe. She will explain how her own well became contaminated during the fracking process. There is plenty of information about her on the web, such as this You Tube clip:
Jessica is only speaking at two venues in England, one in St Annes and the other in Sussex, so we feel very privileged to host her. Jessica is currently in Ireland where she has been visiting potential fracking areas and talking to local communities. Feedback from the meeting in Leitrim was very positive, with one person saying:
“Standing room only for Jessica Ernst last night in Leitrim Village Community Centre, a standing ovation for five minutes, people in shock, a lady in tears. What an honest, brave, funny and terrifying presentation. We salute Jessica Ernst.”
Venue: United Reformed Church, St George’s Rd. St Anne’s FY8 2AE. Thursday 7 March at 19:00
Admission is free, but this meeting is attracting considerable press attention and space is limited – Please arrive early to ensure that you get a place.
All of us in the local groups look forward to welcoming you tomorrow night.
