Critic boycotts Encana hearing, but crusade against fracking far from over

On Saturday, Jessica Ernst – ever mindful the case is playing in the legal system and the court of public opinion – responded to a request to arrange a photo at the Calgary court appearance by supplying a photo taken Friday of her at the doors of the Drumheller Court House.

Photograph by: Handout , Jessica Ernst

Critic boycotts Encana hearing, but crusade against fracking far from over 

Ernst, a scientist who worked as a consultant for the oil and gas industry,gained notoriety beginning in 2005 when she demonstrated how she could ignite thetap water in her home that was fine when she moved there in 1998.

By Stephen Ewart, Calgary Herald January 19, 2013 

Jessica Ernst’s long battle with natural gas giant Encana moved into a packed Calgary courtroom Friday, but with the lead player boycotting the proceeding because it was moved from central Alberta, there was little in the way of courtroom drama. 

 Ernst wants the case — her supporters bill it as a “landmark lawsuit” against fracking — to be heard in Drumheller, which is closer to her home in the village of Rosebud. 

“This is where I live. This is where my water is. This is where the coal bed methane wells were drilled. This is where my wells were contaminated,” Ernst said in a statement read to the court by lawyer Murray Klippenstein.“It is important to rural Albertans that disputes and harms that occur in their communities are judged in those communities.” 

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