On the 29th of June 2015, a bid from Cuadrilla to begin test fracking in search of Shale Gas at the Little Plumpton, Fylde site between
Preston and Blackpool has been rejected by Lancashire Councillors 10 to 4 against test fracking.
This u-turn is a fantastic result for the environment and Lancashire. This will hopefully set a precedent across the country to show that there is a way to stand against the might of companies such as Cuadrilla.
An email I sent to Cuadrilla on the 22nd of June asking for comments with regards to the safety of fracking remains unresponded to. I have now received a response, included at the end.
I asked John Southworth, local Ramsbottom Green Party member for a comment with regards to this result and he stated:
I was very proud of the councillors in my home county on Monday when they rejected the planning application from Cuadrilla to extract shale gas from the Fylde. This will surely be challenged by the applicant and the protesters must be on their guard. There are many similarities between this case and the AD Plant application for Fletcher Bank quarry, local activists successfully organising themselves collectively to oppose a large commercial enterprise. The Green Party believe that fracking is fundamentally wrong, not only due to the environmental impact of the extraction process but also because we should be leaving fossil fuels in the ground to reduce the onset of climate change. We wish to see a diversion of funding and subsidies from fossil fuel extraction into renewable technologies. John Southworth, Bury Green Party
There are still big questions about the impact on such a process on the environment, and recently as reported in the BBC the state of New York sent a letter signed by 850 elected officials in New York State urging Lancashire to refuse the fracking request.
My original email to Cuadrilla:
Hello, I wanted to make contact to express my concern following findings related to fracking as a practise by New York State Department of Public Health which were highly publicised in recent nation press. I'm sure you are aware of this letter and can probably point me in the direction of a well worded response however I would appreciate if you could directly take the time to allay any concerns I might have. As a resident in Lancashire, how can you promise that there will be no contamination of local water supplies or that there will be no geological damage caused by fracking? Incidentally, I have a local website in which I plan to collate both sets of information as well as written responses from yourselves and other interested parties. thank you for your time,
Here is the response to my email to Cuadrilla:
Dear Lee,
Thank you for contacting Cuadrilla. For you and your readers’ reference here is our response to the New York letter you refer to:
“These officials from New York State have no knowledge of Cuadrilla’s applications or of the regulatory controls in the UK and should not be interfering in the democratic process and decisions which will be made by the elected representatives of the people of Lancashire.”
For background, we’ve also included with this a letter from Carolyn Price, President of the Upstate New York Towns Association stating the case for shale. Carolyn has sent the letter to Lancashire County Council on behalf of her members; the association represents 15 rural town communities, a population of about 100,000, and several hundred officials.
With regards to your question about water, the Environment Agency announced earlier this year that it has granted Cuadrilla the environmental permits for our proposed shale gas exploration sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood.
The Environment Agency have said they are satisfied that out technical assessment is correct. The Environment Agency will not permit the use of hazardous substances for any activity, including hydraulic fracturing, where they would or might enter groundwater and cause pollution.
Our hydraulic fracturing fluid will contain just one non-hazardous, non-toxic, friction reducer in a relatively small amount (0.05% by volume) with the rest of the fluid being made up of mains water and sand. The Environment Agency has been very clear in its assessment stating that: ‘we are confident that there is no risk to drinking water supplies’.
Our planning applications for Roseacre Wood and Preston New Road – together with the accompanying documents available for everyone to read. The Environmental Statements are public documents detail the findings of an extensive Environmental Impact Assessment of the proposed sites, which was carried out by experts at Arup, an independent and highly respected UK engineering and environmental consultancy. It contains 21 chapters looking at a wide range of issues including the effects of the project on the quality of the water environment, both groundwater and surface water.
With regards to your second point, the Government has introduced stringent planning and monitoring requirements controlling activities which might lead to induced seismicity. The Department of Energy and Climate Change has developed a ‘traffic light’ system, which will significantly reduce the risk of any seismic activity caused by hydraulic fracturing and prevent seismicity of sufficient magnitude to constitute any risk to people and property.
The British Geological Survey will also carry out independent monitoring at Cuadrilla’s two proposed sites at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood, before, during and after any operations. The results of this independent monitoring will be made public.
We hope this answers your questions. If you require further information please consult our website www.cuadrillaresources.com or do not hesitate to contact us on our freephone information line 0800 170 1115. This line is staffed by our dedicated community liaison team on weekdays from 9am – 5:30pm. You can also get in touch by email at [email protected]
Yours sincerely
Cuadrilla Enquiries Team
Links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-33313084
http://stopfyldefracking.org.uk/
http://bury.greenparty.org.uk/
http://www.dangersoffracking.com/
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