RSPB Issues First Objections to Fracking in UK

The RSPB charity has lodged a letter of objection with Lancashire County Council to a proposal by Cuadrilla at Singleton near Blackpool. The charity is concerned that the controversial drilling technique will harm wildlife and the climate. The drilling site is close to an internationally important protected area for Pink Footed Geese and Whooper Swans and could cause disturbance to the birds.

The RSPB is also officially objecting to the contentious plans to explore for oil and gas at Balcombe in Sussex on the grounds that no Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried out and because increasing oil and gas use will scupper our chances of meeting climate targets.

Harry Huyton, RSPB head of climate and energy policy, said: "Balcombe has hit the headlines as the battleground in the debate over fracking. The public there are rightly concerned about the impact this new technology will have on their countryside. These are not just nimbys worried about house prices - there is a very real public disquiet about fracking. We have looked closely at the rules in place to police drilling for shale gas and oil and they are simply not robust enough to ensure that our water, our landscapes and our wildlife are safe.... There may not be as many local residents in the Singleton area as in Sussex, but this area is protected by European law because it is so valuable for wildlife and Cuadrilla has done nothing to investigate what damage their activities could do to it.

The RSPB has joined with other wildlife and environmental groups to call on the Government to rethink its shale gas policies. Mr Huyton added: "Figures suggest that in the north of England there is potential for 5,000 sites and a total of up to 100,000 wells. the idea that these will not have an impact on the countryside is very difficult to believe. Fracking is technology largely untested in the UK and we really have no idea what the impact will be on our wildlife. We do know, however, that concentrating our resources on extracting fossil fuel from the ground instead of investing in renewable energy threatens to undermine our commitment to avoiding dangerous levels of climate change."

Whatever your views about fracking I find the lack of Environmental Impact Assessment both alarming and foolhardy. I shall be signing the e-petition to Make Hydraulic fracturing/fracking Illegal in the UK  
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/40905