Fracking water 'a toxic brew'

If fracking goes ahead in the Karoo, the companies involved need to disclose what chemicals are used in the process.

This was a call made by a group of experts who said companies involved in the extraction of shale gas should be forced to work within a tight set of limitations so that local communities are not exposed to carcinogens in drinking water.

Head of research at non-profit support organisation Cansa, Dr Carl Engelbrecht, said fluids commonly used in the hydraulic fracking process could contain up to 150 carcinogenic chemicals.

He was supported by Professor Eugene Cloete, vice-rector for research and innovation at the University of Stellenbosch, and Jonathan Deal, founder of Treasure the Karoo Action Group, who said they were against fracking but if it were to go ahead there should be "full disclosure of what chemicals are in the fluid".

Speaking at a seminar in Cape Town, they lobbied for energy companies to commit to water analysis before, during and after fracking and said all reports should be "made public and not just given to the Department of Water Affairs".

Without such data, communities would "have no leg to stand on in court" due to lack of evidence in the event of a claim, they said.

Late last year Department of Mineral Resources director-general Thibedi Ramontja said draft regulations for fracking would be completed this month and that licences could be issued by June.

Cansa has already begun its own water tests on farms in Cradock after Engelbrecht was warned by an American expert that baseline studies were crucial, as the US had seen "over 1000 documented cases" of drinking water contamination next to areas of fracking.

"They also saw cases of sensory, respiratory and neurological damage," he said.

Shell, one of the firms that has applied for a licence, claims that the country's energy crisis could be alleviated by shale gas.

It said the company's operating principles would focus on "safety, environmental safeguards and engagement with nearby communities to address concerns".

But the Karoo Action Group's Deal said the "so-called benefits" of fracking masked the cost of risk.