Camp Frack mobilises against UK’s first shale gas well

Local residents and climate activists head to Southport to protest against plans by Cuadrilla Resources to drill for shale gas in Lancashire The first of an expected 150 climate activists and local residents began to converge on a field near Southport on Friday to protest against the environmental impacts of the UK’s first shale gas well. “Camp Frack” , named after “fracking”, the process of pumping vast quantities of water underground and fracturing rocks with chemicals to release shale gas, is setting up outside the Lancashire village of Banks. It is close to a drilling rig that Cuadrilla Resources is using to drill up to 3.5km deep. The company, which is backed by the former BP chief Lord Browne and money from Australia, has a licence to explore 437 square miles of Lancashire, but suspended operations this summer after two earthquakes struck Blackpool . It has so far sunk two exploratory wells and says a further three may be needed. Britain has around 150bn cubic metres of recoverable shale resources, according to the British Geological Survey , which could meet the nation’s gas requirements for 18 months. Cuadrilla is expected to disclose its first estimate for the amount of shale gas found inside its Lancashire licence area next week. According to the chief executive, Mark Miller, the signs are “encouraging”. “Acre for acre, I think the gas in place here is very comparable to – and in some cases exceeds – some of the good [resources] in the US,” he said last month . But local people and green activists have argued that the “fracking” process is inherently risky. In the US, where shale gas is being hailed by industry as a potential substitute for oil, fears have been raised about the effect of the chemicals used, explosions, links with seismic activity and allegations of illness. A Cornell University study also concluded that greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas are higher than those for coal. Environmentalists are calling for a delay in fracking until a major review of the practice has been published by the US Environmental Protection Agency . But the UK government says it is confident its own safety regulations are strict enough. Sonny Khan from Cumbrian charity South Lakeland Action on Climate Change said: “Our concern is that fracking is being pushed upon us and that our real concerns over safety and greenhouse gas emissions are being brushed aside in the rush for profits. Companies present shale gas as a safe low-carbon fuel but the evidence is that there are very serious risks associated with fracking which have yet to be addressed.” Lesley Graham, from the group Ribble Estuary Against Fracking, who lives four miles from Banks, said: “I am very concerned. There are daily reports from the US saying this is dangerous, but this rig has just appeared here without any real consultation. What checks have been done? There are so many unanswered questions.” But Cuadrilla, which mines for coal in Hungary and has more than 2m sq km of exploratory licences across Europe, said it was liaising with police over Camp Frack because it was concerned about potential damage to its equipment. “We take local concerns seriously. We have had dozens of people visit the site so far, we are very transparent. We are listening to people but we do not believe there is any risk of water contamination but we are taking samples,” said a spokesman. The camp’s organisers say it will consider a national campaign against shale gas, but that Southport will focus on “raising local awareness about the problems with shale gas and an action day of peaceful protest mainly focused on the nearby active drilling rig.” The Southport Liberal Democrat councillor Sue McGuire said: “As far as I’m concerned fracking will impact on everyone within the Ribble Estuary and that includes Southport and Preston. I don’t think we can simply believe everything that Cuadrilla’s PR company print so I’m going to Camp Frack to find out as much as I can about the hydraulic fracturing process.” Shale gas Gas Activism Protest John Vidal guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 16, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.