Horizontal hydraulic fracturing is a drilling and stimulation technique used to mine shale gas.
It involves pumping vast volumes of water, sand and chemicals into horizontally drilled wells
under great pressure to create cracks in the rock layer to release trapped gas.
FRACKING IS UNSUSTAINABLE • WATER THIRSTY • DAMAGES THE ENVIRONMENT
Reflection on the Karoo walk
Karoo walk – how it went
Our walk from Graaff Reinet to Nieu Bethesda on 1-3 July unfolded several stories – mostly people's views on fracking, but also nature stories, people stories, stories of walking. And underpinning them, like a starry matrix, a timeless story, the one that drew me there.
What people said
Some farm workers and townspeople we spoke to had not heard about fracking, others had heard of it but were indifferent or resigned, "We don't stand a chance." Others, like our hostess Chantelle Marais in Graaff Reinet, had practical plans and were moving and shaking to bring them about: "The Council is aware of our aim to create jobs locally and provide an alternative to Shell." Still others, like Lisa, a guest-house owner, voiced concern that communities were scattered and not well informed, and about "infrastructure upgrades" which suggested that preparation for fracking was already underway.
Around the fireplace in his home, farmer Dougie Stern (recently sent to America on a fracking fact-finding mission by agricultural co-op BKB) shared what he had seen in the USA, and his take on things locally. Negative impacts he mentioned included dust pollution rendering vegetation inedible for stock and wildlife (I for one had not registered this), and damage to the tourism industry due to the blight of wells and trucks on the landscape. On the upside, he spoke about Professor Gerrit van Tonder's (Institute of Groundwater Studies, University of the Free State) scientific findings on the direction of water flow in the Karoo, which should strengthen the case against fracking here. He also said that the flaws in the environmental impact assessment should hold up the process, and that for fracking to go ahead zoning would have to be changed from agriculture to mining, which can only be done at municipal level (national government can't do this).
Overall, Dougie was unswervingly confident that fracking will not take place in South Africa, that the case legally to prevent it is very strong, and that the BKB is already prepared. "People in many countries have been heartened by what is happening in South Africa. Shell has never before encountered this level of opposition prior to drilling."
What people did
Local people hosted us and we really and truly experienced Karoo hospitality. I will remember Chantelle of Camdeboo Cottages toasting us into the Karoo, Marichen of Buffelshoek Guest Farm with a baby on her hip arranging bed linen for us, Dougie and Liz Stern's warm kitchen at Rietpoort, Mikey's slow-cooked supper at Owlhouse Backpackers in Nieu Bethesda, and Lisa at Onse Rus Guest House on the way home offering me a beautiful room and fresh naartjies from her garden. While walking along back-road paths to Nieu Bethesda, passing farmers waved or pulled over to say hello. A woman in a bakkie asked for a "frack off Shell" T-shirt, and not having any on hand, one of the walkers took the shirt off his back and gave it to her.
What we saw and felt
Another walker, Karen Watkins, described her feelings while perched on a boulder above the Plains of the Camdeboo. "The landscape stretched to the horizon, broken here and there by splashes of red aloe flowers. The dry air was rich with the scent of wild herbs. Imagining this endless landscape marked by well pads, my eyes welled with tears." Penny Brown, a scientist on the walk, said "The world depends on fresh water. The next wars will be over water." At lunchtimes we sat on the veld eating bread and cheese, discussing ways forward and falling into silence, watching the grass blow against the sky.
What the walk achieved
For me this land embodies an original love – the San Bushmen who lived in the Karoo long ago knew that ancient love, knew in their bones that "the star is one with the man." In the face of hard data on fracking, that love may seem unreal. But I needed to step forward in homage and connection to it, regardless of the lack of measurable outcome. Who knows the effects of a single action undertaken with loving intent. I am aware that others in our small group walked for their own and different reasons, and that all are valuable. Networking connections, seeds of ideas (such as Penny's idea to approach Athol Fugard and call on the Arts to spread the message), and several articles have emerged as tiny lights from the walk. I picture them adding to the circle around the Karoo. Funds raised have been donated to TKAG in support and gratitude for their work.
Many thanks to my fellow walkers for your lively companionship, to Rosemary and Pat for your support, to the people of the Karoo for hosting us so warmly, to TKAG and sponsors for backing us, and to the great Karoo for supporting all life.
Our walk from Graaff Reinet to Nieu Bethesda on 1-3 July unfolded several stories – mostly people's views on fracking, but also nature stories, people stories, stories of walking. And underpinning them, like a starry matrix, a timeless story, the one that drew me there.
What people said
Some farm workers and townspeople we spoke to had not heard about fracking, others had heard of it but were indifferent or resigned, "We don't stand a chance." Others, like our hostess Chantelle Marais in Graaff Reinet, had practical plans and were moving and shaking to bring them about: "The Council is aware of our aim to create jobs locally and provide an alternative to Shell." Still others, like Lisa, a guest-house owner, voiced concern that communities were scattered and not well informed, and about "infrastructure upgrades" which suggested that preparation for fracking was already underway.
Around the fireplace in his home, farmer Dougie Stern (recently sent to America on a fracking fact-finding mission by agricultural co-op BKB) shared what he had seen in the USA, and his take on things locally. Negative impacts he mentioned included dust pollution rendering vegetation inedible for stock and wildlife (I for one had not registered this), and damage to the tourism industry due to the blight of wells and trucks on the landscape. On the upside, he spoke about Professor Gerrit van Tonder's (Institute of Groundwater Studies, University of the Free State) scientific findings on the direction of water flow in the Karoo, which should strengthen the case against fracking here. He also said that the flaws in the environmental impact assessment should hold up the process, and that for fracking to go ahead zoning would have to be changed from agriculture to mining, which can only be done at municipal level (national government can't do this).
Overall, Dougie was unswervingly confident that fracking will not take place in South Africa, that the case legally to prevent it is very strong, and that the BKB is already prepared. "People in many countries have been heartened by what is happening in South Africa. Shell has never before encountered this level of opposition prior to drilling."
What people did
Local people hosted us and we really and truly experienced Karoo hospitality. I will remember Chantelle of Camdeboo Cottages toasting us into the Karoo, Marichen of Buffelshoek Guest Farm with a baby on her hip arranging bed linen for us, Dougie and Liz Stern's warm kitchen at Rietpoort, Mikey's slow-cooked supper at Owlhouse Backpackers in Nieu Bethesda, and Lisa at Onse Rus Guest House on the way home offering me a beautiful room and fresh naartjies from her garden. While walking along back-road paths to Nieu Bethesda, passing farmers waved or pulled over to say hello. A woman in a bakkie asked for a "frack off Shell" T-shirt, and not having any on hand, one of the walkers took the shirt off his back and gave it to her.
What we saw and felt
Another walker, Karen Watkins, described her feelings while perched on a boulder above the Plains of the Camdeboo. "The landscape stretched to the horizon, broken here and there by splashes of red aloe flowers. The dry air was rich with the scent of wild herbs. Imagining this endless landscape marked by well pads, my eyes welled with tears." Penny Brown, a scientist on the walk, said "The world depends on fresh water. The next wars will be over water." At lunchtimes we sat on the veld eating bread and cheese, discussing ways forward and falling into silence, watching the grass blow against the sky.
What the walk achieved
For me this land embodies an original love – the San Bushmen who lived in the Karoo long ago knew that ancient love, knew in their bones that "the star is one with the man." In the face of hard data on fracking, that love may seem unreal. But I needed to step forward in homage and connection to it, regardless of the lack of measurable outcome. Who knows the effects of a single action undertaken with loving intent. I am aware that others in our small group walked for their own and different reasons, and that all are valuable. Networking connections, seeds of ideas (such as Penny's idea to approach Athol Fugard and call on the Arts to spread the message), and several articles have emerged as tiny lights from the walk. I picture them adding to the circle around the Karoo. Funds raised have been donated to TKAG in support and gratitude for their work.
Many thanks to my fellow walkers for your lively companionship, to Rosemary and Pat for your support, to the people of the Karoo for hosting us so warmly, to TKAG and sponsors for backing us, and to the great Karoo for supporting all life.