Tensions are high in the Rexton, N.B. area as SWN Resources is set to resume shale gas testing as early as Wednesday.
There are police up and down Route 11 near Laketon, where Marie Paule Hebert has lived for about 40 years.
“I thought that somebody killed somebody,” says Hebert. “There was so many people here, so many officers and then there was an army truck that passed and I asked my husband, ‘is there somebody that died?’”
The RCMP says its large presence is a precaution based on the clash between police and shale gas protesters in Rexton in October.
The current protest site is set up between Rogersville and Rexton along Route 11.
Elsipogtog Warrior Chief John Levi says he was tipped off by a lawyer representing SWN Resources that testing was to resume this week.
“They wanted to deal with us, if we don’t go protest, then they would drop the charges, but we said no,” says Levi.
Levi says he won’t back down because he believes the risks of fracking are just too high.
“We can’t drink the water. If we don’t protect it, that will be it for us,” says Levi.
The Alward government continues to maintain that fracking can be done safely and that all residents will benefit.
But Hebert says she’s worried about what could happen if testing resumes in the area.
“That is disgusting, really disgusting because I thought the government works for us, but I guess it is not, so that’s it,” she says.
With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell
