The president of the Quebec Oil and Gas Association walked out of a public meeting on the shale-gas industry Tuesday night after facing an angry crowd in St. Hyacinthe.

The public reaction is part of an increasingly negative response to a move to set up the potentially lucrative, yet possibly damaging, industry in the province.

"We're trying to implement in Quebec a very large industry. It's about half of the size of Hydro Quebec," said president Andre Caille in a phone interview with CTV Montreal Wednesday.

Organizers from the Quebec Oil and Gas Association billed the Tuesday night event as an information meeting, but many of those in attendance complained they were unable to ask questions.

Shale gas, a natural gas trapped deep below the earth's surface, is extracted by forcing a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the shale rock, allowing the gas to escape.

Quebec sits on enough natural gas deposits to supply its energy needs for the next 100 years, but with an abundance of hydro electricity, many environmentalists say there's no need to start drilling.

"We don't see what the rush is. What's the problem with taking six months or a year to look at this carefully?" said Steven Guilbeault from environment group Equiterre.

Worried it would harm the province's environmental record, environmental, farming and other groups are calling for a moratorium on the industry until further research is conducted on the effect of the process on drinking water and agricultural land.

The province recently banned all industrial exploitation of the St. Lawrence Basin, stating that studies have shown that the environmental impact on maritime life is too great.

Many opponents are curious as to why it's safe enough to drill on land if mining is too detrimental to the sea, and posed these questions to the gas groups Tuesday night.

Joel Leblanc and his father Roger both attended the meeting because they run a chicken farm in St. Hyacinthe, 60 kilometres east of Montreal, where their land was recently test-drilled for shale gas deposits.

"They passed with big trucks and made sounds underground to see if we have gas or not," said the younger Joel.

Roger said he's concerned, and demanded answers from members of the energy industry.

"We want to know if this is dangerous… for our land," he said.

Quebec has so far said there will not be a moratorium on shale-gas development, but will conduct four days of public hearings by the Bureau d'audiences publique sur l'environnement starting Monday in St. Hyacinthe.