Request to the UN to Address Human Rights Impacts of Fracking

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This letter, signed by 512 concerned individuals, organizations and coalitions, was sent to the United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises on January 20th, 2016: [download the letter in PDF]

January 20, 2016

 

TO: United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises

CC:
Inter-American Human Rights Commission
UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment
UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples
UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation
UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Dear Members of the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises:

We and the 511 undersigned individuals, organizations and coalitions from around the world, contact you with a growing global human rights concern due to the evolution of a socially and environmentally high-risk corporate activity called hydraulic fracturing.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a recent but rapidly evolving industrial process carried out by the oil and gas industry. It consists of drilling into the ground, injecting water, silica, and toxic chemicals deep into layers of shale rock at very high pressure, opening joints and cracks in the shale, that in turn mobilize oil and gas trapped in this source rock.

Unlike conventional oil and gas operations, fracking shale formations employs voluminous quantities of fresh water, typically over 20,000,000 litres for each well. It also generates large quantities of liquid toxic waste for which there are no adequate safe disposal facilities. This liquid fracking waste is usually disposed of in underground industrial waste injection wells, can be radioactive, and can also leak into groundwater. Such wells have also been shown to induced seismicity. Fracking waste water is also sometimes flushed into surface water through wastewater treatment plants incapable of handling such waste. Solid fracking waste, which can also be radioactive, is simply buried into the ground at fracking sites or at landfills. All of these processes generate large-scale human and environmental safety risks.

Since concern over fracking operations began to surface around the world over the past decade, over 600 peer-reviewed scientific studies^[1] and thousands of journalistic reports have shown that fracking causes significant adverse social and environmental impacts. These include numerous environmental impacts such as water contamination, air pollution, earthquakes, deforestation, contamination of surface and groundwater by fracking chemicals, hydrocarbons, petroleum waste products and radioactive waste, as well as land scarring, and impacts to wildlife areas. Fracking is also responsible for significant social impacts including noise pollution, property value decreases, increased traffic accidents and deaths, rapid industrialization of residential areas, negative boomtown effects and community fragmentation. Most worrisome are the human health related impacts of fracking, which include impacts such as respiratory illness, nausea, skin irritations and birth defects.

At the local level, people living near fracking areas report a broad range of adverse health impacts attributable to exposure to fracking chemicals, hydrocarbon and other emissions from fracking drill sites and infrastructure. Fracking chemicals in particular can harm and impair every human system.^[2] The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and independent scientists have identified over 1,000 chemical ingredients utilized as fracking fluids, which are injected into the ground.^[3] The EPA notes the risks of fracking to health due to potential contamination of waterways, citing “specific instances where one or more mechanisms led to impacts on drinking water resources, including contamination of drinking water wells.”

The most notorious documented fracking studies come from the oil and gas industry itself, showing for example, that failed underground casings and cement sheaths, which allow fracking fluids and hydrocarbons to contaminate underground sources of drinking water and vent methane directly into the atmosphere, happen at staggering rates. About five percent of all oil and gas wells leak immediately upon drilling and nearly 60% leak after a 30-year period, according to one well-known oil and gas company’s study of leakage. A presentation sponsored by Petroleum Engineers declared that about 35% of all oil and gas wells in the world are currently leaking.^[4]

Fracking operations rarely engage stakeholders in decisions regarding land-use or expansion of operations, including into indigenous lands. In some cases, fracking investment decisions are made under secretive negotiations and communities face brutal police repression when trying to engage governments and companies on investment decisions.

Globally, the cumulative impact of fracking is also profound. Despite industry claims that fracked natural gas will help to address climate change by replacing other CO₂ emitting energies with a more climate-friendly alternative, the inadequacy of technology currently employed in fracking operations results in in the release of large quantities of fugitive methane into the atmosphere. Considering that methane gas is approximately 72-100 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO₂, fracking is exacerbating climate change, not mitigating it.

Evidently, fracking impacts place virtually all human rights at risk, including the right to health, the right to water, food, land, property, a healthy environment, self-determination, work, a decent standard of living, and access to information, access to justice, as well as to freedom of expression and participation. Even the most essential and basic human right, the right to life, is at risk from hydraulic fracturing.

In view of these risks, many governments, including in the states and provinces of Texas, New York, Colorado, Maryland, Vermont, and New Brunswick and Quebec, as well as countries like France, Bulgaria and Germany, have taken a cautious approach to the industry. After lengthy consideration and numerous studies, they have either banned or decided to suspend fracking operations until further information on the social and environmental risks and impacts is available.

Despite risks, other governments have cut corners in developing their energy policy, plans, and investments, failing to consult with stakeholders, including denying consultative and participatory rights to indigenous peoples, while companies have failed in their due diligence procedures to identify, assess and address the human rights dimensions of this industrial activity.

Request to the Working Group:

The purpose of this letter is to bring the issue of hydraulic fracturing to the attention of the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, and to call on the Working Group to engage its focus on the potential human rights violations caused by business practices conducting hydraulic fracturing operations. We would like to stress that the types of impacts caused by hydraulic fracturing are of paramount significance to the mandate of the Working Group, given its profound implications to the realization of human rights, including in relation to the State duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and the rights of victims to access effective remedy for human rights violations they face in these practices.

Fracking operations, including exploration, extraction, processing, storage, and transportation activities, are on the rise across the globe. As this practice evolves, human rights issues will continue to be at the center of local conflict and debate about its evolution. For this reason, now is the time for the Working Group to engage, to acquire knowledge about the practice and its human rights implications, to understand the risks it poses to human rights, and most importantly, to help guide society to address these impacts before they materialize and to remediate them once they have occurred.

 

We encourage the Working Group to:

• Adopt a precautionary approach to hydraulic fracturing, and given the already widely available and documented information regarding health and environmental impacts caused by hydraulic fracturing, issue a statement of concern over the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing operations to human rights;
• Engage with States, academics, the oil and gas sector, human rights organizations and with other interested stakeholder groups, to scope out the relevant human rights issues involved in hydraulic fracturing operations;
• Engage with like-minded partners and seek assistance to develop a white paper on the human rights implications, risks and impacts of hydraulic fracturing;
• Engage with specialists to develop guidance materials for States and for oil and gas companies, to adequately consider human rights impacts and conduct assessments before, during and after any intended or ongoing hydraulic fracturing operations;
• Invite information from stakeholder groups, including alleged individual and community victims of hydraulic fracturing operations to inform the working group as to their concerns over actual, potential or alleged human rights risks and impacts caused to them by hydraulic fracturing operations;

We stand ready to assist you in this endeavor.

Yours Sincerely,

 

Josh Fox                                      Jorge Daniel Taillant                                Paloma Munoz Quick
Film Director of Gasland      Executive Director, CHRE/CEDHA       Human Rights and Business Advisor

SIGNING INVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Individuals

1. Adrienne Wong
2. Anthony R. Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering Emeritus at Cornell University
3. Bethany Yarrow, Musician, Organizer
4. Bill McKibben, 350.org
5. Bridget Shields, Outreach director/Marcellus Protest-Shalefield Stories
6. Damien Gillis, Director and Producer of Fractured Land
7. Dorothea Tachler, Musician
8. Benjamin R. Barber, Senior Research Scholar, The City University of New York
9. Nicola Charwat, Director of Master of Business Law, Monash University, Australia
10. Dra Nila Heredia, ALAMES Bolivia, Ex-Minister of Health of Bolivia
11. Eleanor Walton, Filmmaker
12. Enrique Julián Gasteazoro, Social Entrepreneur, Business and Human Rights Advisor
13. Eugenio Vergara, lawyer
14. Fiona Rayher, Directors and Producers of Fractured Land
15. Gerard V McGorian, Chairman, The McGorian Group, S.A.
16. Hans-Josef Fell, German MP 1998-2013, President of the Energy Watch Group
17. Jan Pemberton
18. Johannes Förster
19. Janene Yazzie, Sixth World Solutions and the Little Colorado River Watershed Chapters
20. Jeremy Leggett, Social entrepreneur and writer
21. John Fenton, Affected Resident, Pavillion Wyoming
22. Jon Bowermaster, Filmmaker
23. José Luis Simón Gómez, Professor of Geology, Zaragoza Universidad
24. Kathleen Chalfant, Actor
25. Katrine Lauritsen, Communications Advisor at Amnesty International, Denmark
26. Keith M Ross
27. Kevin Bone, Director, Institute for Sustainable Design, The Cooper Union
28. Louise Morand
29. Lucy R.Waletzky MD
30. Mark Ruffalo, Actor, Founder, Water Defense
31. Marshal Gaddis
32. Martin Schwarz
33. Max Gleason
34. Myles B. Hoenig
35. Nani Jansen, Lawyer
36. Natalie Merchant, Musician
37. Omar Metwally, Actor
38. Owen Silverman Andrews, Educator and Activist
39. Patricia J. Popple
40. Peter Yarrow, Musician, Organizer, Songwriter Peter, Paul and Mary
41. Rebecca Roter, PA Shalegas Refugee and Chairperson, Breathe Easy Susquehanna County
42. Robert Estrin
43. Robert Meitus, Prof. of Law, IU Maurer School of Law, Citizen’s Climate Lobby
44. Robert W. Howarth, Professor of Ecology & Environmental Biology at Cornell University
45. Ronald L. Kuby, Civil Rights Lawyer
46. Rufus Capadoccia, Musician, Organizer
47. Salvador Herencia Carrasco, Director of Human Rights Clinic, University of Ottawa
48. Sandra Steingraber, New Yorkers Against Fracking, Author
49. Gaston Côté, PhD environmental history
50. Sara Schultz
51. Soledad Sánchez-Cañamares Ríos, Corporate Social Responsibility Advisor
52. Stéphane Brousseau, Coalition Eau Secours
53. Steven Schultz
54. Tim DeChristopher, Climate Disobedience Center
55. Tomás Dinges, Journalist
56. Tonya L. Putnam, Associate Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
57. Veronica Zubía Pinto, Lawyer
58. Veronica Zubía Pinto, Lawyer
59. Vicki Lynn Garrett
60. Yoko Ono

 

Organizations

 

61. org
62. org Brazil
63. org Loudoun
64. Abgefrackt Bündnis Weidener Becken gegen Fracking
65. Action Oriented, Rebecca Sobel, Executive Director
66. Agenda LGBT (Estado de México)
67. Aktionsbündnis No Moor Fracking
68. Alianza Sierra Madre (Chihuahua, Mexico)
69. Aldershot and District Against Mining
70. Adelaide Hills Climate Action group
71. Alerte Pétrole Rive-Sud
72. Alternativa, Peru
73. Amazon Watch, Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director
74. Amigos del Río San Rodrigo
75. ANC (Asociacion Nacional de Centros)
76. Andy Gheorghiu Consulting
77. Apoyo para la Paz, Rocío Silva Santisteban Manrique, Ayacucho, Perú
78. Arid Lands Environment Centre
79. Armidale Action on Coal Seam Gas
80. Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
81. Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos (DF, Mexico)
82. Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad en Colombia
83. Asociación ARARIWA, Peru
84. Asociación Jalisciense de Apoyo a los Grupos Indígenas (Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico);
85. Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH)
86. Asociación Servicios Educativos Rurales, Peru
87. Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA)
88. Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN)
89. Australians for Animals.
90. Baffle Creek Protection Group
91. Ballina Environment Society
92. Bartolomé de Las Casas (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis, Mexico)
93. Beechmont Community Network.
94. Bentley Group Against Gas
95. Berks Gas Truth, Karen Feridun, Founder
96. Beyond Extreme Energy, Ted Glick, Co-founder
97. Beyond Zero Emissions
98. BI lebenswertes Korbach e.V.
99. Bimblebox Nature Refuge
100. Bimboola Group
101. Bisbee & Cochise County People and Environmental Rights
102. Blicks River Guardians
103. Blue Mountains Conservation Society
104. Borislav Sandov, Campaign Coordinator, Foundation for Environment and Agriculture.
105. Boonah Organisation for a Sustainable Shire
106. Branxholme Against Gasfields.
107. Briget Shields, Outreach director/Marcellus Protest-Shalefield Stories
108. Bungawalbyn Landcare.
109. Business and Human Rights (BHR), Maria Prandi, Executive Director
110. Bürgerinitiative gegen CO2-Endlager e.V., Germany
111. Byaduk Community Action Group
112. Byron Community Centre.
113. Byron Environment Centre Inc.
114. Byron Farmers Market.
115. Bürgerinitiative gegen atomare Anlagen Weiden-Neustadt/WN
116. CAFFA- Central Australia Frack Free Alliance
117. Caldera Environment Centre, Murwillumbah
118. Casa del Migrante Saltillo (Saltillo, Coah., Mexico)
119. Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (DF, Mexico)
120. Capertee Valley Alliance Inc.
121. Caroona Coal Action Group.
122. Casino Environment Centre.
123. Catskil Citizens for Safe Energy
124. Centro “Fray Julián Garcés” Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Local, (Tlaxcala, Tlax, Mexico)
125. Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador (CAT)
126. Centro de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa, A.C (Tonalá, Chis., Mexico)
127. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Francisco de Vitoria O.P.” (DF, Mexico)
128. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez”, (DF, Mexico)
129. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Don Sergio” (Jiutepec, Mor., Mexico)
130. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Fray Matías de Córdova”, (Tapachula, Chis., Mexico)
131. Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña, Tlachinollan, (Tlapa, Gro., Mexico)
132. Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres (Chihuahua, Mexico)
133. Centro de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos del Sur de Veracruz “Bety Cariño”
134. Centro de Derechos Humanos “Juan Gerardi, (Torreón, Coah, Mexico)
135. Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte (Cd. Juárez, Chih, Mexico)
136. Centro de Derechos Humanos Victoria Diez, (León, Gto., Mexico)
137. Centro de Derechos Indígenas “Flor y Canto”, (Oaxaca, Oax., Mexico)
138. Centro de Derechos Humanos Toaltepeyolo (Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico)
139. Centro de Derechos Indígenas A. C. (Bachajón, Chis., Mexico)
140. Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (DF, Mexico)
141. Centro de Justicia para la Paz y el Desarrollo, (CEPAD) (Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico)
142. Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL-DF) (DF, Mexico)
143. Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL-Guadalajara, Mexico)
144. Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos “Fray Juan de Larios”
145. Centro Juvenil Generando Dignidad (Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico)
146. Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA)
147. Centro Mujeres (La Paz, BCS.)
148. Centro Prodh
149. Centro Regional de Defensa de DDHH José María Morelos y Pavón, (Chilapa, Gro., Mexico)
150. Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “Bartolomé Carrasco”, A.C. (BARCA) (Oaxaca, Mexico)
151. Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church Environmental Justice Ministry
152. Central Australia Frack Free Alliance
153. Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo SJ” (CSMM)
154. Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Participación (CEDEP), Peru
155. Centro Ecuménico de Promoción y Acción Social (CEDEPAS) Norte, Peru
156. Centro de Estudios Para el Desarrollo Regional (CEDER), Peru
157. Centro de Estudios y Promoción del Desarrollo (DESCO), Peru
158. Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos “Bartolomé de Las Casas” (CBC), Peru
159. Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado, (CIPCA), Peru
160. Centro Peruano de Estudios Sociales, CEPES, Peru
161. Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos “Bartolomé Carrasco Briseño”
162. Cervantes Action Group
163. Ciencia Social Alternativa, A.C. KOOKAY (Mérida, Yuc., Mexico)
164. Ciudadanía Lagunera por los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (CILADHAC) (Torreón, Coah., Mexico)
165. Citizens for Clean Water, Vera Scroggins, Director
166. Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia Inc (CORENA)
167. Clarence Environment Centre
168. Clarence Valley Against Coal Seam Gas
169. Clarence Valley – No CSG
170. Climate Action Central Coast
171. Climate Action Newcastle
172. Climate Action Newtown
173. Climate Change Australia – Clarence Branch
174. Climate Disobedience Center
175. Climate Emergency Institute, Peter Carter
176. CMAVI (Collectif Moratoire Alternatives Vigilance Intervention)
177. Climate Change Australia Incorporated
178. Coal Free Wide Bay Burnett & Beyond Inc
179. Coal and CSG Free Mirboo North
180. Coalition Eau Secours! Martine Chatelain, President
181. Collectif Citoyen Val-de-Travers Non aux forages d’hydrocarbures
182. COESUS – No Fracking Brazil Coalition
183. Coloradans Against Fracking as a Steering Committee Member
184. Coordinación Regional Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo (PIDHDD)
185. Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Jorge Bracamonte Allaín, Peru
186. Coffs Catchment Coalition
187. Colectivo Educación para la Paz y los Derechos Humanos (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chis.)
188. Colectivo contra la Tortura y la Impunidad (CCTI) (DF, Mexico)
189. Colectivo Educación para la Paz y los Derechos Humanos A.C. (CEPAZDH)
190. Colette Pichon Battle, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, Regional- (FL, LA, TX, MS, AL)
191. Colorado People’s Alliance (COPA)
192. Community Environment Network Inc
193. Community Law Resource Group
194. Comité Cerezo (Distrito Federal)
195. Comité Cristiano de Solidaridad Monseñor Romero (DF, Mexico)
196. Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos “Hasta Encontrarlos” (DF, Mexico)
197. Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Laborales del Valle de Tehuacán, (Tehuacán, Pue., Mexico)
198. Comisión de Solidaridad y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico)
199. Comisión Independiente de Derechos Humanos de Morelos (Cuernavaca, Mor., Mexico)
200. Comisión Regional de Derechos Humanos “Mahatma Gandhi” (Tuxtepec, Oax., Mexico)
201. Comité Defensa Integral de Derechos Humanos Gobixha (CODIGODH) (Oaxaca, Oax., Mexico)
202. Comité de Defensa de las Libertades Indígenas (Palenque, Chis., Mexico)
203. Comité de Derechos Humanos Ajusco (Distrito Federal)
204. Comité de Derechos Humanos “Fr. Pedro Lorenzo de la Nada” (Ocosingo, Chis, Mexico)
205. Comité de Derechos Humanos “Sierra Norte de Veracruz” (Huayacocotla, Ver., Mexico)
206. Comité de Derechos Humanos de Colima, (Colima, Col.)
207. Comité de Derechos Humanos de Comalcalco, (CODEHUCO) (Comalcalco, Tab, Mexico)
208. Comité de Derechos Humanos de Tabasco, (CODEHUTAB) (Villahermosa, Tab, Mexico)
209. Comité de Derechos Humanos y Orientación Miguel Hidalgo, (Dolores Hidalgo, Gto.)
210. Comité Sergio Méndez Arceo Pro Derechos Humanos de Tulancingo, Hgo A.C.
211. Complete It Cuomo, Albany NY, Christine Macpherson
212. Concerned Citizens Ohio, Mary Greer
213. Conservation Council ACT
214. Conservation Council of Western Australia
215. Conservation SA
216. Coonabarabran Residents Against CSG
217. Cooloola Community Action Group
218. Coopers Creek Protection Society
219. Cooperlivre Arayara Foundation
220. CSG Free Ballina
221. CSG Free Byron Shire
222. CSG Free NQ Cairns.
223. CSG Free NQ Douglas
224. CSG Free Ingleburn.
225. CSG Free Maffra & districts.
226. CSG Free Poowong.
227. CSG Free Shoalhaven
228. CSG Rescue NSW
229. CSG Free Western Sydney
230. Cumbernauld (HUGE)
231. Darkes Forest Residents
232. Defenders of our Land Water and Future – Balmain
233. Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Tracy Carluccio
234. Democratic Labor Party – NSW Branch
235. Don’t Frack Katherine
236. Don’t Frack the Cox
237. Dooda (NO) Fracking, Kimberly Howe
238. Drake group (aka West of the Range Gas Information Group (WORGIG).
239. Drillham Action Group
240. Dryden (NY/USA) Resource Awareness Coalition
241. Durwood Zaelke, President, Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development
242. Earth Ethics, Inc. Mary Gutierrez, Executive Director
243. Earth Care, Bianca Sopoci-Belknap, Director
244. Earthrace Conservation Australia
245. Earthworks, Jennifer Krill, Executive Director
246. East End Mine Action Group Inc (EEMAG)
247. East Kent Against Fracking, Rosemary Rechter, Chairperson
248. Ecologistas en Acción, Samuel Martín-Sosa, International Coordinator, Spain
249. El Caracol, A.C (Distrito Federal)
250. Energy Watch Group
251. Environment and Human Rights Advisory, Tom Kern
252. Estancia del Migrante González y Martínez, A.C. (Querétaro, Mexico.)
253. Equitable Origin
254. Fair Food Brisbane
255. Fairmont, Minnesota Peace Group, Judi Poulson, Chair
256. FANMex – Red Mexicana de Acción por el Agua
257. Food & Water Watch
258. Food Connect Foundation
259. Foster Community Association
260. Frac Sand Sentinel, Concerned Chippewa Citizens–Chippewa Falls
261. Frack Free Wales
262. Frack Free Alliance NT
263. Frack Free Boulder (Colorado, USA)
264. Frack Free East Gippsland
265. Frack Free Gascoyne
266. Frack Free Geraldton.
267. Frack Free Grovedale.
268. Frack Free Kimberley
269. Frack Free Kimberley Community
270. Frack Free NT.
271. Frack Free Tas.
272. Fracking Action Network, Athens County, Ohio, USA
273. Franciscans International, Francesca Restifo, International Advocacy Director
274. Franciscan Response to Fracking, Jackie Schramm, Director
275. Frente Cívico Sinaloense. Secretaría de Derechos Humanos (Culiacán, Sin., Mexico)
276. Fresh Water Accountability Project, Lea Harper, Managing Director
277. Friends of the Earth, La Rioja
278. Friends of the Earth Ibiza
279. Friends of the Earth, Mallorca,
280. Friends of the Earth, Spain
281. Friends of Felton.
282. Friends of the Bungawalbyn
283. Friends of the Pilliga
284. Friends of the Earth
285. Friends of Willunga Basin
286. Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho (DF, Mexico)
287. Fundacja Strefa Zieleni (Green Zone Foundation), Poland
288. Fundar, Centro de Análisis e Investigación A.C.
289. Grassroots Environmental Education, Patricia Wood, Executive Director
290. Green Environmental Coalition, Vickie Hennessy, President
291. Galilee Basin Alliance
292. Gasfield Free Bairnsdale
293. Gasfield Free Drumborg
294. Gasfield Free Glenelg.
295. Gasfield Free Mountain Districts
296. Gasfield Free Northern Rivers
297. Gas Free Seneca. Yvonne Taylor, Vice President
298. Gasfield Free Torquay
299. Gasfield Free Wollombi Valley
300. Gecko – Gold Coast and Hinterland Environment Council
301. Geelong Environment
302. Gegen Gasbohren, Germany
303. Get the Frack Out Of Maryborough.
304. GIRAM
305. Girls Against Gas
306. Glasshouse Mountains Advancement Network.
307. Glenugie Guardians.
308. Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE)
309. Gloucester Environment Group
310. Gloucester Residents in Partnership (GRIP)
311. Great Artesian Basin Protection Group Inc.
312. Green Party group on Mendip District Council, Somerset, England, Shane Collins, Leader
313. Groundswell Gloucester
314. Group Against Gas Kyogle (GAG Kyogle)
315. Guardians of Rocky Creek Dam
316. Guernsey County Citizens Support on Drilling Issues, Greg Pace, Organizer
317. Gympie Water, Air & Soil Protection Group (Gympie WASP).
318. Greater Wollombi Communities Alliance (GWCA).
319. Hands Off Our Coast
320. Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE) Inc.
321. Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
322. Human Rights Consortium, University of London
323. Hunter Community Environment Centre.
324. Hunter Valley Protection Alliance.
325. Idle No More SF Bay, Pennie Opal Plant, USA
326. Illawarra Residents for Responsible Mining
327. Ironstone Community Action Group Inc.
328. Indignación, A. C. Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Merida, Yuc., Mexico)
329. Iniciativas para la Identidad y la Inclusión A.C. (INICIA) (San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico)
330. Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, Durwood Zaelke, President
331. Instituto Chaikuni, Ecuador
332. Instituto de Derechos Humanos Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J. Universidad Iberoamericana
333. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP), Peru
334. Instituto Guerrerense de Derechos Humanos, (Chilpancingo, Gro., Mexico);
335. Instituto Mexicano de Derechos Humanos y Democracia (DF, Mexico);
336. Instituto Mexicano para el Desarrollo Comunitario, (IMDEC) (Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico)
337. Instituto Tecnológico y Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Prgma Institucional de Derechos Humanos y Paz (Guadalajara, Mexico)
338. InterAmerican Clean Energy Institute, Heather Rosmarin, Executive Director
339. Jews Against Hydrofracking, Dr. Mirele B. Goldsmith,
340. Just Say No 2 CSG Alliance
341. Jurien Action Group
342. Kairos: The Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice
343. Keep the Scenic Rim Scenic
344. Keerrong Gas Squad
345. Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group
346. Knitting Nannas Against Gas
347. Knitting Nanas Balcombe
348. Kyogle Group Against Gas
349. La Alianza Mexicana contra el Fracking
350. Lake Macquarie Frog and Reptile Observation Group
351. Lane Cove Land Water Future Group
352. Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO), Kjell Kühne, Founder
353. Leeuwin Environment
354. Life Out Of Plastic – L.O.O.P., Irene Hofmeijer, Director
355. Limestone Coast Protection Alliance
356. Lock Gippsland Gates to CSG
357. Lock the Gate – Sydney, Australia
358. Lock the Lake
359. Lock the Mid North Coast
360. Lock the Nambucca Valley
361. Lock The Tweed
362. Lovedale Chamber of Commerce
363. Lower Belford Residents Alliance
364. Lue Action Group
365. Mackay Community Garden Inc.
366. Mackay Conservation Group
367. Maitland Greens
368. Manly Land Water Future Group
369. Manning Clean Water Action Group
370. Manning Valley Produce Co-operative
371. Marcellus Outreach Butler, Diane Sipe
372. Maules Creek Community Council Inc.
373. Medical Mission Sisters
374. Merriwa Healthy Environment Group
375. Middle Clarence Group Against Gas
376. Mid Western Community Action Network
377. Milkwood Permaculture
378. Mirboo North Against CSG
379. Moorabool Environment Group
380. Mullaley Gas & Pipeline Accord Inc.
381. Mujeres Indígenas por la Conservación, Investigación y Aprovechamiento de los Recursos Naturales (Oaxaca, Mexico)
382. My Environment Inc.
383. Nacional Democrático del SNTE, Antonio Ávila Rosas, Member of Executive Committee
384. Namoi Community Hub
385. National Toxics Network Inc., Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith
386. Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales
387. NEOGAP Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project, Kari Matsko, Founder
388. Nerang Community Association Inc.
389. New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance, Jim Emberger
390. New Community Journal Victoria
391. Nimbin Environment Centre
392. No CSG Gilgandra
393. No CSG Walgett.
394. No Fracking WAy
395. North East Forest Alliance.
396. Northern Beaches (Sydney) Greens.
397. Northern Illawarra Sustainability Alliance (NISA)
398. Northern Rivers Arabian Horse Association Inc.
399. Northern Rivers Greens
400. Northern Rivers Guardians (NRG).
401. North Queensland Conservation Council
402. Ocean Outfall Group, Joey Racano, Director
403. Oakey Coal Action Alliance.
404. Oatley Flora & Fauna Conservation Society Inc.
405. Observatorio Ciudadano, Chile
406. Observatorio de Expansión Minero Energética y Re-existencias
407. Observatorio Petrolero Sur | OPSur Centro del CEPPAS
408. Ocean Conservation Research, Michael Stocker, Director
409. Oficina de Defensoría de los Derechos de la Infancia (ODI) (DF, Mexico)
410. Our Land, Our Water, Our Future, Central Coast
411. Otford Environment.
412. Otford Protection Society
413. Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air, Jenny Lisak Co- director
414. People for the Plains
415. Pine Rivers Climate Action Network
416. Plataforma Ciudadana Zaragoza sin Fractura
417. Pottsville Community Association
418. Programa Universitario de Derechos Humanos. UIA –León
419. Promoción de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (PRODESCAC)
420. Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC)
421. Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación (PODER)
422. Protect Arnhem Land
423. Protect Jerrys Plains
424. Protect Keppel Bay.
425. Protect the Bush Alliance. Get in touch
426. Putty Community Association Inc.
427. Queensland Rural and Regional Greens
428. Rainforest Action Network
429. Rainforest Relief, Tim Keating, Executive Director
430. Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos
431. Regroupement Vigilance Hydrocarbures Québec
432. Regroupement citoyen contre les bitumineux et pour le développement durable
433. Respuesta Alternativa, A. C. Servicio de Derechos Humanos y Desarrollo Comunitario
434. Richmond Valley Group Against Gas
435. Roseacre Awareness Group
436. Rock Valley Gas Rangers
437. Running Stream Water Users Association Inc.
438. Ryde Hunter’s Hill Flora & Fauna Preservation Society
439. Safe Energy Rights Group, Inc. (SEnRG)
440. Director of Human Rights Clinic, University of Ottawa, Salvador Herencia Carrasco
441. Save Bunnan Inc.
442. Save our Macleay River
443. Save Our Southwest (SOS)
444. Save our Water Catchment Areas
445. Save the Reef
446. Save the Drip
447. SER (Servicios Educativos Rurales), Peru
448. Servicio, Paz y Justicia de Tabasco, A.C.(SERPATAB) (Villahermosa, Tab., Mexico)
449. Servicios de Inclusión Integral, A.C. (SEIINAC) (Pachuca, Hgo., Mexico)
450. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
451. Sisters of Mercy: Mercy International Association: Global Action
452. Six Degrees
453. Slow Food Sydney
454. Social and Pastoral Team of the Dioceses of the Alto Valle of Rio Negro, Argentina
455. Socialist Alliance New England
456. SOS Liverpool Plains
457. SOS Territoire (comité du GRIP UQAM)
458. Southern Downs Protection Group
459. Southern Highlands Coal Action Group
460. Sth Gippy Landcare
461. Stichting Schaliegasvrij, Ko van Huissteden, Chair, Nederland
462. Stop CSG Blue Mountains
463. Stop CSG Brisbane
464. Stop CSG Illawarra.
465. Stop CSG in Fullerton Cove and Surrounds
466. Stop CSG Macarthur.
467. Stop CSG Sutherland
468. Stop CSG Sydney
469. Stop CSG Sydney Water Catchment.
470. Stop CSG Tara
471. Stop oléoduc Île d’Orléans
472. Stop the Frack Attack Advisory Council
473. Stowarzyszenie Niesiołowice Węsiory – Kamienne Kręgi, Więcek Hieronim
474. Sustainable Energy Group in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada
475. Sustainable Living Association
476. Sutherland Shire Environment Centre
477. Sydney Food Fairness Alliance
478. Tamworth Regional Landcare Association
479. Tasmanian Public and Environmental Health Network
480. Tequio Jurídico (Oaxaca, Oax., Mexico)
481. The Change Agency
482. The Channon Gas Defence Network.
483. The Colong Foundation for Wilderness
484. The Greater Mary Association
485. The Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment
486. Thomas Merton Center, Wanda Guthrie, Executive Director
487. Toowoomba Coal Mine Action Group
488. Transition Sunshine Coast
489. Tweed Climate Action Now.
490. Tweed Richmond Organic Producers’ Organisation (Tropo).
491. United Myall Residents Against Gas Extraction
492. United Native Americans, Quanah Parker Brightman, Executive Director
493. Upper Mooki Landcare Inc.
494. UUSC, Dr. Patricia Jones
495. Valley Watch Inc
496. Wappentake Valley Action Group
497. We Shale Be Free
498. Western Downs Alliance
499. Who?Ra! Permaculture Farm, Kim Alexander
500. Wide Bay Burnett Environment Council
501. WildEarth Guardians, Tim Ream
502. Women Against Coal Seam Gas
503. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) US Section
504. Wooyung Action Group
505. World Wildlife Fund International
506. World Wildlife Fund Uganda, Eric Coull, Conservation Manager
507. Yarra Climate Action Now (YCAN)
508. Youth Food Movement
509. YP Land Owners
510. Yuraygir Coast and Range Alliance
511. Zelenite Political Party (The Bulgarian Greens), Bulgaria

 

CC:

Inter-American Human Rights Commission

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment

UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples

UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

 

Further Reading on Human Rights and Fracking

The Center for Human Rights and Environment (CHRE). Human Rights and the Business of Fracking: Applying the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to Hydraulic Fracturing. CHRE. 2015
https://center-hre.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fracking-and-UNGPs-Draft-2-September-29-2015.pdf
Annex: https://center-hre.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fracking-and-UNGPs-Draft-2-September-29-2015.2.pdf

EHRA. Environment and Human Rights Advisory.
A Human Rights Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas. 2011.

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources. June 2015

https://center-hre.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/HF_ERD_JUN2015.pdf

1. Grear, E. Grant, T. Kerns, K. Morrow and D. Short. A Human Rights Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing and other Unconventional Gas Development in the United Kingdom. October 2014

http://www.sas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/UK%20HRIA%20w%20appdx-hi%20res.pdf

2012. McKenzie, R. Witter, L. Newman, J. Adgate. Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources. In Science of the Total Environment. 2012.

1. Short et.al. Extreme energy, “fracking” and human rights: a new field for human rights impact assessments? The Journal of Human Rights. 2015

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2015.1019219

1. Srebotnjak and M. Rotkin. Fracking Fumes: Air Pollution from Hydraulic Fracturing Threatens Public Health and Communities. Natural Resources Defense Council. 2014

http://www.nrdc.org/health/files/fracking-air-pollution-IB.pdf

UNANIMA. Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas: A new threat to human rights. 2011. http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G11/160/72/PDF/G1116072.pdf?OpenElement

^[1] Zotero. Citation Database: https://www.zotero.org/groups/pse_study_citation_database/items

^[2] TEDX. Chemicals in Oil and Gas Operations, Health: http://endocrinedisruption.org/chemicals-in-natural-gas-operations/health

^[3] TEDX. Chemicals in Oil and Gas Operations, Health: http://endocrinedisruption.org/chemicals-in-natural-gas-operations/health

^[4] Schlumberger. “From Mud to Cement” 2003: www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors03/aut03/p62_76.ashx; Archer – The Well Company. “Better Well Integrity.” 2011: www.naturalgaswatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/well_integrity_failure_presentation.pdf; Petroleum Safety Authority Norway. “New report: Well integrity challenges on the Norwegian Shelf.” June, 2006: www.ptil.no/news/new-report-well-integrity-challenges-on-the-norwegian-shelf-article2762-79.html; Onepetro.org: www.spe.org/ejournals/jsp/journalapp.jsp?pageType=Preview&jid=EDC&mid=SPE-106817-PA; Fox, Josh. The Sky is Pink. June 20, 2012: www.pinkskyny.com