Breached traffic rules at Cuadrilla fracking site led to two-car crash – eye witness

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Residents demand stricter monitoring of Cuadrilla’s fracking site

By Ruth Hayhurst Drill or Drop on February 2, 2017

Residents living near Cuadrilla’s fracking site in Lancashire have called for tougher action from the authorities.

At a meeting yesterday there were complaints that regulation of the Preston New Road site near Blackpool was fragmented and there was no overall control.

Residents who have been calling for radon monitoring said drilling should be delayed for six months so that baseline data could be collected.

There were allegations that planning conditions had been breached and calls for round-the-clock monitoring. One group of opponents said it would it was now watching the site 24-hours a day.

The meeting at Wrea Green brought together eight staff from the Environment Agency, along with officers from Lancashire County Council, Public Health England, Health and Safety Executive, Oil and Gas Authority and Fylde Borough Council.

Read the full article here:

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Residents feel betrayed over failure to test for radon around Lancashire fracking site

By Ruth Hayhurst Drill or Drop on January 24, 2017

Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site. Photo: Ros Wills

People living around Cuadrilla’s shale gas site at Preston New Road near Blackpool say they are horrified to learn that there has been no independent testing for the radioactive gas, radon.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has been surveying water and air quality, greenhouse gases, seismicity, ground motion and carbon dioxide in soil around the site at Little Plumpton (details).

But the organisation confirmed to DrillOrDrop that there has been no monitoring of radon in the air or homes, before operations begin at Preston New Road. It also said it was not aware of any radon monitoring in the area by other organisations.

A similar project near Third Energy’s fracking site at Kirby Misperton in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, has been monitoring for radon. It received a grant from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). But the BGS confirmed there has been no direct government funding for the Lancashire monitoring.

Neither the Fylde nor central areas of the Vale of Pickering have high radon concentrations. But monitoring would create a baseline against which data collected during drilling and fracking can be compared.

The absence of baseline radon data at Preston New Road was spotted by a resident living nearby and raised with his local MP, the Conservative Mark Menzies.

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The most heavily subsidised industry in the world receives even more taxpayers money to pave the way for the destruction of our environment and water then, when they have taken their profits offshore and finished with the site, they will doubtless liquidate the company and leave the cost of the clean up with the landowners.

The Government is bribing Mineral Waste Authorities to process the applications, this money will go directly to the council (LCC, NYC etc), it is doubtful that the majority of Councillors who sit on the planning committees will be aware of this.

DCLG announces £800,000 to help councils handle shale gas applications

2 December 2016 by John Geoghegan, Planning resource

The government has announced a new tranche of funding worth £800,000 that councils can bid for to help them deal with shale gas planning applications.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has also published a new Shale Gas Prospectus setting out how mineral planning authorities can bid for the funding.

A letter to council planning chiefs from DCLG chief planner Steve Quartermain  (click for the full text of the letter) said the new £800,000 pot is a continuation of funding provided last year.

Last year, the government made £1.2million of funding available for mineral planning authorities for 2015/16 for the same purpose.

The prospectus states: “The government recognises shale represents a new area for mineral planning authorities and that it will present complex and challenging issues for them in processing shale planning applications.

“This will support mineral planning authorities in processing and considering shale planning applications in an efficient, timely and effective manner.”

The document goes on to say that the nature of shale gas development could mean that an authority “might need to draw on additional technical expertise” or “additional support” to “manage and assess representations made on the application efficiently”.

Authorities can bid when they reach “defined trigger points” in the planning application process, which are outlined in the prospectus. These points must be reached on or before 17 February 2017.

They will be eligible to bid for funding up to a maximum amount at key stages during the planning application process. For the pre-application stage, the maximum bid level is £30,000; for post-receipt of an application up to £110,000; and post-decision, up to £20,000.

The prospectus says that funds will be allocated “on a first come-first served basis”.

To be eligible for funding, the authority must confirm that the bid “relates to a proposal, planning application or planning permission for development involving the boring for, or getting of, oil or gas from shale and is for a site within an area covered by a Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence”.

In addition to the £800,000 funding, mineral planning authorities can also “request complementary support from the Advisory Team for Large Applications (ATLAS) to help them with the development of their community engagement strategy” as well as advice from the Planning Advisory Service.

The full prospectus can be found here.

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Here is a collection of news articles reacting to the UK governments overturning of Lancashire County Council’s decision to reject fracking for shale gas at two sites in Lancashire.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/06/uk-fracking-decision-is-nothing-short-of-hypocrisy?CMP=share_btn_fb

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/06/uk-fracking-given-go-ahead-as-lancashire-council-rejection-is-overturned

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/oct/06/hes-rewriting-the-rules-locals-furious-sajid-javid-fracking-intervention

https://www.rt.com/uk/361802-fracking-lancashire-overruled-democracy/

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/lancashire-fracking-decision_uk_57f605cfe4b012652682080e

http://www.ecowatch.com/fracking-uk-2032623535.html

http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/14787282.Tim_Farron_slams_decision_to_allow_fracking_in_Lancashire/

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BREAKING NEWS!

It has been announced this morning that Lancashire County Council’s decision to reject fracking at two sites has been overturned by Government.

The decision has been overturned at the Preston New Road site, however the decision to overturn the Roseacre site has been put on hold.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fracking-lancashire-cuadrilla-sajid-javid-planning-permission-overturned-a7347576.html

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Radon is the elephant in the room for the shale gas industry, it is rarely mentioned unless an anti fracker raises the subject you can find everything you need to know about Radon, the second biggest cause of lung cancer next to tobacco, here:

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Today the first tanker load of US shale gas arrives at the INEOS plant in Grangemouth, as part of a massive investment by the chemicals giant, which also wants to exploit possible reserves in Scotland, using hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”. This week the UK government is expected to sign a deal with French electricity giant EDF and a Chinese partner for the £16bn Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset.

Read the full interesting article here:

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