CBC News is reporting this morning on potential fracking in Gros Morne, Newfoundland. Gros Morne is a UNESCO world heritage site and UNESCO threatens to take the site off the list if fracking goes ahead.

It would be a symbolic gesture, but one that would expose Canada to further international scrutiny on its environmental record.

In eastern Canada, the issue of fracking is increasingly in the news. Also reported today is that the small town of Debert, Nova Scotia has denied the request of a company that 4.5 million gallons of fracking wastewater be cycled through the town’s wastewater treatment plant, which empties into the Bay of Fundy.

Thankfully, the local county decided not to use the Bay of Fundy as a “petri dish” for experiments. Their words.

Yesterday the U.S. released some fracking rules for public lands but there is a growing concern that not only will fracking pose a threat to water quality, but that in certain parts of the U.S. it will cause problems over quantity in water scarce areas.