Natural Resources committee  Certainly. The detection equipment we use is very, very cool. It's infrared cameras, effectively, so you can see plumes of methane emissions. You can readily detect any kinds of very small amounts of emissions and work them into your maintenance schedule. Yes, some really neat work has been done to minimize emissions.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, I guess they would have some sort of—

Natural Resources committee  That's a good question. I would say certainly in terms of what you measure, you manage. I would say it's certainly there, that aspect of measuring fugitives. Also, on the regulatory front, more and more attention has been paid to ensuring that, for example, the amount of gas that's flared is minimized and that best practices are built around managing flared volumes.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly you would see the types of chemicals we use and the purpose. We're pumping large volumes of water and sand, principally, in fracturing operations. In doing so, you want to minimize the energy required to do that. So you put in, for example, trace amounts of chemicals that are friction reducers that will slick up the water.

Natural Resources committee  The short answer to that is yes. Disclosure is mandatory in both British Columbia and Alberta. British Columbia was brought in, in 2012, and Alberta was brought in, I believe, on January 1 of this year. So in all cases, the answer is yes.

Natural Resources committee  Absolutely. Certainly, public awareness of hydraulic fracturing operations has in part led to industry's commitment to disclose. The websites that enable us to disclose were pulled together, I would say, roughly about a year before the reporting was made mandatory. Industry adopted disclosure at that time on a voluntary basis and, as I say, worked with regulators to recommend that the regulations be put in place to reinforce that and give the public assurance.

Natural Resources committee  Good afternoon. I'm Richard Dunn, vice-president of government relations for Encana. I appreciate the opportunity to be here and talk to you on what innovation means to the natural gas industry in Canada. As you know, this is a significant industry that accounts for some 500,000 jobs.

Environment committee  Yes. Again looking at the Fort Nelson First Nation area, where we have the Horn River, certainly as we go forward to do our development, we consult extensively in terms of understanding first nations' concerns. If there are any sensitive areas that we need to avoid, for example, areas that are important to first nations, be they spiritual sites and such, we integrate their traditional knowledge into the development.

Environment committee  That's a good question. While we hydraulically fracture the well, we produce the water back into a secure containment. That water is then recirculated and pumped back into that same reservoir in a slightly different location, an 800-metre-deep reservoir. So we dispose of the water that comes back from our hydraulic fracturing operation back down into that same-source reservoir.

Environment committee  Certainly I think all eleven companies were very supportive of the opportunity and recognized the advantages of effective planning. The single road, the single pipe that was mentioned a few minutes ago, or the need for that planning not just to deliver minimized land disturbance but also to enhance the economics of the project by sharing facilities, roads, pipe....

Environment committee  There was, very much. I think they're very supportive of the producer group, and I would suggest that's the way they look at doing business with us now. For example, we have monthly meetings, oftentimes in the area, but oftentimes in Calgary as well, to which representatives of the community and first nations are able to video-conference in and talk to the company representatives who sit in the producer group and gain an understanding of what's going on and express their concerns.

Environment committee  It's definitely area-specific, but we're certainly investigating. It's not unique in any sense. For example, in the Dawson Creek area there's another large unconventional gas play called Montney. It's a very prolific play. We're currently looking at subsurface aquifers there as well, roughly in the same kind of depth.

Environment committee  I appreciate the question. You bring up a good point in terms of doing the work responsibly. My opinion is that, yes, both resources can be developed in a responsible manner. Again, there are effective regulations that we operate under that ensure that the work is done responsibly.

Environment committee  Yes, we're used to regulations that address where water is used and the amount. For example, in British Columbia the Ministry of Environment, in their environmental assessment office, has thresholds of water extraction projects that are subject to environmental assessments. For example, the Debolt project that I mentioned, which provides our source water for hydraulic fracturing in Horn River, was subject to the B.C. environmental assessment process.

Environment committee  Definitely looking for alternatives is one of the strategies, but certainly there's also reuse and recycling, utilizing it in other areas to minimize the amount of fresh water we use. Shell, for example, has a very innovative project where they utilize waste water from the city of Dawson Creek as some of their source water for their hydraulic fracturing operations.