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VICTORIA — A scientific panel has found B.C. doesn’t know what it needs to know about the environmental, seismic and other risks of fracking, the process whereby much of the provincial natural-gas resource is extracted form the earth.

“The panel wishes to emphasize that it could not assess risks with any confidence, and therefore only potential risks are discussed herein,” wrote the three panelists in a draft version of their report. “Moreover the panel could not assess whether risk is currently being managed or not.”

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This after a year spent gathering research and expert opinions on the impacts of hydraulic fracturing or fracking — the injection of water and other chemicals into targeted rock formations to release natural gas trapped deep within the earth.

The final report from hydrogeologist Diana Allen, geological engineer Erik Eberhardt and earth scientist Amanda Bustin was delivered late last month to Energy Minister Michelle Mungall. She hasn’t yet approved the findings and recommendations for release.