Lancashire County Councillor Julie Gibson, the Labour Group Shadow Cabinet Member for Economic Development, has raised concerns that both Lizz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two candidates for the Conservative leadership contest, have committed to backing fracking as part of their leadership bids in the recent televised debates.
This has raised concerns that the controversial process of fracking may yet return to the people of Lancashire, projects which met with fierce resistance, particularly after earthquakes linked to test drilling, identified by the British Geological Survey.
“I was amazed that both candidates signalled their unequivocal support for fracking and immediately realised that this could mean the return of fracking to Lancashire,” commented Coun Gibson. “Only last week, we saw Rishi Sunak admitting to taking money out of the North to give to the South. This week, we see once again the Conservatives threatening to strip the North of its resources by committing to bringing back fracking.
“When fracking was last on the agenda, it was the North West, and particularly Lancashire, that was targeted for this, with sites being identified all over the County. I do not remember many being targeted in the South of the country.”
There have, it should be noted, been a number of tests for gas in southern England, so Coun Gibson is ill informed. The government has recently given another fracking company, UK Oil and Gas, the go ahead for prospecting for gas at Dunsfold, in Surrey, denounced as “unbelievable” and “disappointing” by campaigners Weald Action Group. The same company had previously announced it would not appeal against the refusal of planning permission for exploration near the village of Arreton on the Isle of Wight, the focus of fierce local opposition, co-ordinated by Don’t Drill the Wight).
“In my own area of West Lancashire, Great Altcar was identified as a potential fracking site,” Coun Gibson continued, “and it was only down to the campaigning of local residents and politicians that we managed to highlight the potential dangers to the area that fracking would bring. I was pleased that, as a County, Lancashire County Council was steadfast in its opposition to fracking with a motion to Full Council in July 2018 which stressed the importance of local councils to decide in all matters related to fracking and not to have this imposed on communities.”
“There is a global energy crisis, but fracking is not the answer,” Coun Gibson argues. “We saw the problems with earthquakes that fracking caused in Lancashire – both candidates dismissed these. What we need is an energy policy that focuses on renewables and promoting the benefits of green energy.
“Fracking is not a long-term answer to the problems we now face, and I am sure the people of West Lancashire and the whole of the County will be making sure that whoever wins the leadership contest is told loud and clear to keep their hands off “frack free Lancashire” – fracking is not welcome here.”
In 2011, 58 earthquakes were linked to fluid injection during hydraulic fracturing at the Preese Hall well, detailed by the British Geological Survey. The largest, on 1 April 2011, had a magnitude of 2.3 and was felt locally. These hydraulic fracture treatments were carried out during exploration of a shale gas reservoir in the Bowland basin, Lancashire. A further magnitude 1.5 ML earthquake was felt on 27 May, 2011 and also linked to hydraulic fracture treatments, leading to the suspension of operations at Preese Hall.
In August 2019, an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.9 was recorded near Cuadrilla Resources Limited‘s Preston New Road site, then the UK’s only active shale gas site. The BBC reported the tremor near Blackpool was stronger than those that forced Cuadrilla to suspend test fracking in 2011.
It followed another earthquake, with a magnitude of 2.1, measured at the Little Plumpton site on Saturday, which followed another tremor measured at 1.6 on Wednesday.
Despite concerns raised, in March, Cuadrilla was formally advised by the UK Regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority that it was withdrawing the notice it had previously issued requiring Cuadrilla to plug and abandon the two shale gas exploration wells drilled at its Preston New Road site. The two wells will instead be temporarily plugged and suspended until at least the end of June 2023.
In April, the government announced and shale gas review, which was welcomed by Cuadrilla.
“The Government clearly recognises the huge potential that shale gas offers this country, and this review may be a tentative first step towards overturning the moratorium and exploiting that potential,” Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla Resources Ltd, said.
“Anyone who has been following the science since 2019 will be surprised if the Government in fact needs three months to take stock of the clear evidence that already exists.
“In 2020 the Oil and Gas Authority released a report which says that seismicity at the first of Cuadrilla’s two Preston New Road shale gas wells was “imperceptible”, and that the scientific characterisation of even the largest seismic event was “difficult to justify”.
“The Royal Society, one of the world’s most reputable scientific organisations, could not have been clearer when they said that the “seismic risks are low”, and are less noticeable than the hundreds of naturally occurring seismic events which happened in the UK every year.
“We trust that this review will allow Britain’s huge shale gas resources to be exploited. This can create tens of thousands of jobs, bolster energy security, and provide cheaper gas for local communities, and millions of pounds in tax revenues for northern councils. All the while we leave this gas in the ground, the UK continues importing vast quantities of gas at huge expense, creating higher CO2 emissions and no UK jobs or tax revenues.”
Mr Egan failed to mention, of course, that the Royal Society also said that any return to fracking should only happen alongside robust monitoring and with proper, fully regulated Environmental Risk Assessment.
Instead, he chose to misdirect any critics of the company by impugning anti-fracking campaigners, suggesting some might even be getting support from Moscow.
“Former NATO Security General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia is ‘engaged actively’ with environmental groups against shale gas to undermine Western energy security,” Francis Egan said – claims that will no doubt surprise worried Lancashire residents who were simply furious at being directly impacted by the impact of drilling and other issues caused by the work, such as heavy road traffic.
“We trust that rather than listening to scare stories coming from green lobby groups, the Government will heed the advice of its own regulator and the UK’s world-beating academy of sciences and lift the moratorium,” Egan said.
It’s unlikely his reassurances, after direct past experience, will do anything to pacify campaigners. Frack Off, one of the leading national campaign groups against fracking in Lancashire, claimed in February that Cuadrilla’s plans, if given the go ahead, could lead to thousands of new drilling sites.
Lancashire Police, too, may have their own concerns about any return to fracking, after monitoring protests cost over £12 million between January 2017 and March 2020, at a time when budgets were already stretched. Almost 500 people were arrested during fracking protests.
“Fracking contributes to climate change, argues Friends of the Earth. “It is a risky new way of extracting dirty energy. It has been halted or banned in many places around the world including New York State, the Netherlands, Scotland and Wales – because of the risks to people and the environment.”
• Cuadrilla is online at cuadrillaresources.uk
• Frack Off is online at frack-off.org.uk