For the second day in a row, there is intense focus on what could soon be a shale gas industry in New Brunswick.

Yesterday, a government report called on the province to proceed with shale gas exploration, but with caution.

Today, the province’s chief medical officer of health told government officials to plan and protect before proceeding.

“I am recommending that government takes targeted and strategic actions to prevent and mitigate health impacts,” says Dr. Eilish Cleary.

Cleary offered 30 recommendations for consideration, as the province debates the development of a shale gas industry.

Cleary says no one recommendation is more important than the next, and that they would work best as a set.  

“The scale and the scope and the extent to which they’re implemented will depend on the pace of development,” she says. “And so the development ramps up, then more resources would need to be put in place, but all of them need to be looked at before the development goes ahead.”

Among her suggestions is the establishment of air and water quality testing before any extraction begins, and continuing throughout. She also suggests waste-handling protocols, the designation of exclusion areas, and royalty money to offset any negative health impacts.

With every recommendation, there is a cost.

“If we go through a period of exploration to find exactly what we do have, then we’ll have an understanding of size and scope, and to what lengths these recommendations will have to go to,” says Energy and Mines Minister Craig Leonard. “So, at this point, cost is a question for down the road.”

Cleary presented her report to a packed boardroom Tuesday morning, with government officials and industry critics looking on.

Stephanie Merrill, the fresh water program co-ordinator for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, says Cleary’s report puts health at the centre of the shale gas debate.

“Dr. Cleary has been the first government representative to outline the real impacts and the real issues that people care about, and I think that’s going to be the centre of this moving forward,” says Merrill.

While the New Brunswick government says the costs associated with Cleary’s recommendations won’t be known for awhile, Leonard says he will review both reports tabled this week, and offer a formal response soon.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell