If a thesis had a theme song, Jillian Smith’s would be I’ll Be Your Mirror from the Velvet Underground’s 1967 debut album.

The second-year sociology master of arts student is investigating the response by the residents of the West Coast community of Sally’s Cove to a fracking project proposed by Black Spruce Energy and Shoal Point Energy.

Physically located inside Gros Morne National Park but not included in the park's protected area, the community feels vulnerable to potential development and industrialization. 

“One of the participants said that I was holding a mirror up to the communities,” said Ms. Smith, who grew up in a rural area in the Niagara region of Ontario.

She acknowledges, however, that not everyone she spoke with is against fracking and was surprised to learn there was some resentment felt by the community when the park was developed decades ago.

She is quick to clarify that she didn’t hear the sentiment from anyone in particular, but that it was common knowledge. Ms. Smith points out that this complicates an already complicated issue, highlighting tensions between development, jobs, the environment and tourism and access to clean water where the park begins and ends.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee recommends there should be a buffer zone around Gros Morne.

The sociologist is using an environmental justice theory to frame her thesis. The concept targets the intersection of the environment and inequity and how risk and benefits are not evenly distributed. 

“All environmental justice issues are social issues. We can see that environmental risks – air pollution, potential contamination of water – all these are disproportionally concentrated depending on sex, age, race, class, etc.”

Both Black Spruce Energy and Shoal Point Energy are headquartered in Toronto, Ont., with satellite offices in St. John’s.

“My point is the potential or perceived risks -- if fracking were to happen -- would be concentrated in the rural communities and the majority of the economic benefits would be incurred farther away.”

The licence to explore for shale oil at the Sally’s Cove site expired in January 2014, so fracking at that location is no longer an imminent threat. In addition, there has been a fracking moratorium in the province since November 2013, which has put all proposed projects on hold. An independent review panel is in the process of generating a report on the socio-economic and environmental impacts of fracking, which is due to be released in October.

As an activist, the discipline of sociology is dear to Ms. Smith’s heart.

“It’s really about trying to imagine other possibilities and comes down to thinking about how the world and our cities could be designed differently and be more just.”