Picture: Cuadrilla Resources
In the past few minutes, the government has given the go ahead for fracking at one site near Blackpool in Lancashire. But it has delayed a decision on plans for another site.
The decision overturns Lancashire County Council’s refusal of Cuadrilla’s application for Preston New Road, Little Plumpton. No decision has been made on Roseacre Wood, which was also refused by the county council.
PDF version of formal decision by Secretary of State
The Communities and Local Government Secretary, Sajid Javid, said Cuadrilla’s proposals to drill, frack and test for shale gas at Preston New Road were in the national interest.
He said he was minded to approve the plans for Roseacre Wood but he proposed to reopen the inquiry into the appeal. This was to allow Cuadrilla to put forward any other evidence on highway safety and for the opponents to respond to it.
A formal letter from the government said:
“Subject to being satisfied that the highway safety issues identified by the Inspector can be satisfactorily addressed, the Secretary of State is minded to allow Appeal C [Roseacre Wood] and grant planning permission, subject to conditions.”
The inspector at a six-week public inquiry, Wendy McKay, held earlier this year, had recommended the Preston New Road go ahead but recommended refusal of Roseacre Wood.
Pat Davies, Chair of Preston New Road Action Group, said:
“This is a sad day as it is clear to all that this government neither listens nor can it be trusted to do the right thing for local communities.
“It is deplorable that an industry that has been rejected on every level has inflicted itself on Preston New Road.
“Westby Parish Council, Fylde Borough Council and Lancashire County Council planning committee all said no to this application. These reasons were based on facts and knowledge, they rejected the site as unsuitable.
“Dismantling the democratic process to facilitate a dirty fossil fuel industry when only months ago the UK committed to climate change targets in Paris is another example of saying one thing and doing another.
“Profit clearly comes before people. This decision will be scrutinised by many, not just the people of Lancashire and this travesty of justice will not be accepted. This is not the end. We will challenge this.”
Barbara Richardson of Roseacre Awareness Group said:
“If fracking goes ahead in Roseacre, it would devastate our community. We are allowed to make decisions over wind turbines or solar farms, which have far less impact, but not fracking.
“We are not scaremongers, just concerned residents. These are totally inappropriate greenfield sites, situated in the very heart of rural Fylde, for an industry of this nature.
“So much for our government saying they want local people to have control over their own destiny. Even our own MP urged his own ministers to respect local decision makers.
“We will continue to work with our friends at Preston New Road, and other threatened communities, to stop fracking from happening. It has been a David and Goliath battle. Unfortunately we don’t have the resources of Cuadrilla and the oil and gas industry.
“Fracking is not the solution. It is a backward step in energy policy. Ours is a small and densely populated country, unlike the wide open spaces of the US, which cannot support such an industry without devastating results. Be assured this is about money not people.”
The decision on Preston New Road is a shot in the arm for the shale gas industry, which saw consideration on plans by IGas in Nottinghamshire deferred yesterday after a legal warning. But the boost could be temporary because groups opposed to the plans are expected to bring a legal challenge to the decision.
Earlier this week, Cuadrilla’s chief executive, Francis Egan, said he was confident that the company’s plans would be approved. In the summer, the company advertised jobs in Lancashire.
Cuadrilla applied more than two years ago for up to four shale gas wells at each site. If the Preston New Road scheme goes ahead it would see the first horizontal wells to be drilled, fracked and tested in the UK. It would also be the first fracking approval on a greenfield site since 2011.
Refusals
Mr Javid’s announcement follows the decision by Lancashire County Council in June 2015 to refuse both Cuadrilla’s applications.
Councillors on the development control committee voted by nine to three with two abstentions to turn down the plans for Preston New Road, Little Plumpton.
They argued, against the advice of planning officers, that noise from the scheme and its appearance would have an adverse impact on local people. There had been more than 18,000 objections (excluding duplicates) and five petitions against the plans with a total of 32,559 signatures.
Also in June, councillors unanimously refused the application for Roseacre Wood, in line with the planners’ recommendation. More than 15,600 people objected to the application and signatories to petitions against the plans totalled more than 91,000.
Just under a month later, Cuadrilla appealed against the decisions and arrangements were made for a public inquiry in Blackpool.
In November 2015, the government announced that the appeals would be recovered, which meant it would be decided by the Communities Secretary, not a planning inspector. The then Secretary of State, Greg Clark, said the proposals were of “major importance” and “more than local significance”. They should, he said, be decided by the Secretary of State.
Opponents to the plans accused the government of lack of democracy and hypocrisy for promoting the idea of localism but taking decisions away from local politicians. Jennifer Mein, leader of Lancashire County Council, urged Mr Clark to “demonstrate that he has listened to people’s views whether they are for or against.”
The government also announced it would recover appeals against refusal of permission for a monitoring around Preston New Road and conditions on a similar scheme at Roseacre Wood. These appeals have also been approved, following recommendation by the iquiry inspector.
Applications
Cuadrilla first submitted its applications back in May 2014 for Roseacre Wood and the following month for Preston New Road. The plans, for up to four shale gas wells at each site, first came before Lancashire County Council’s planning committee in January 2015. Planning officers recommended refusal at Preston New Road on noise grounds and Roseacre Wood on noise and traffic grounds.
Cuadrilla asked for a deferral and proposed acoustic around both sites to reduce noise impacts. It later withdrew these proposals.
The Preston New Road site would be 7.3ha including the access road and Roseacre Wood would be 1.34ha plus access. Up to four wells on each site would be drilled to a maximum depth of 3,200m and then horizontally for up to 2,000m from the well pads.
Costs
Cuadrilla applied for costs against Lancashire County Council for the Preston New Road appeals. Mr Javid followed the recommendation of the planning inspector and refused the costs for the drilling/fracking/testing appeal but allowed costs for the monitoring appeal.
In a letter published on the Planning Inspectorate’s web pages for the appeal, the Secretary of State concluded on the drilling/fracking/testing appeal:
“a full award of costs against Lancashire County Council, on grounds of ‘unreasonable behaviour’, is not justified in the particular circumstances. The application is therefore refused.”
But on the monitoring appeal, the letter said:
“He has decided that a full award of costs, as specified by the Inspector … is warranted on grounds of unreasonable behaviour on the part of Lancashire County Council.”
Links
Key points on the announcement
Community group vows to challenge Preston New Road announcement. Plus more reaction
Timeline of Cuadrilla’s Lancashire fracking plans at Preston New Road and Roseacre Wood
This report is part of DrillOrDrop’s Rig Watch project. Rig Watch receives funding from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. More details here
Categories: Regulation
DRILL OR DROP? 
Great News…The Anti Frackers seem to have LOST!
No Malcolm, this is just a small battle. The Labour Party, Lib Dems, Green Party, SNP, most of the Unions, Greenpeace, FOE, over 300 community groups and 100s of 1000s of people across the country all rejected Shale and fracking. That’s a huge wall for pro-frackers to climb, not even at damp course yet!
No surprise there, then! Thin end of the wedge.
This was expected.
Will be interesting to see what they propose to ‘get round’ the traffic issues at Roseacre they are considering at the moment. My sympathies to the residents of PNR and Rossacre. They must be feeling very distressed. 😦 Don’t give up. This is just one battle!
This govt has show its true colours. Is it time to find an alternative?
Yes I think the current alternatives are the Labour Party, UKIP, or the LibDems. The Conservatives were voted in at a recent democratic general election if I remember rightly.
You are correct of course, but ‘Only 37% of voters lent their support to the Tories on Thursday. 63% opted for other parties. When you take into account the fact many people didn’t vote at all, the numbers get even more extreme. Only 24% of those eligible to vote actually put a cross next to a Tory candidate on their ballot paper.
That leaves a massive 76% of people we have no reason to believe support the Conservative government.’
Today that 76% will have increased!
Should this 2014 ‘Dash for Gas’ Documentary to be updated ? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX1bsyDuAfg
There, you see it all as plain as day, no public objection stands, no council refusal stands. we might as well give up on all legal ways to stop this madness, and what is left to us then? Brexit does not mean Brexit, no to fracking does not mean no to fracking, truth is lies, lies are truth, inversion rules, representation means nothing, public opinion means nothing, frick the frack out of the countryside, run rough shod over the poor locals, that means you and i. This insanity crushes burns and destroys any illusion of democracy. Democracy my glutimus maximus, this is dictatorship. What does TM say about protecting the poor? Well you can see what any promise from her means when it comes down to it.
Teresa May will choke on this decision, this is nothing less than declaring war on those who want to protect our ecology, well we shall see about that.
That’s it Phil. You are catching on. This is a huge day for national DEMOCRACY as those who voted the Conservatives into power have finally seen their votes counted. It is a huge day for the ENVIRONMENT as domestic gas can replace coal, reducing GHG emissions in the UK. And it is a huge day for those POOR who live in fuel poverty as they won’t be strangled by over-investment in renewables and will instead have relatively low cost domestic natural gas in the mix. A great leap forward for the UK today!
As usual Mr Ball Peeny you have spouted drivel.
The casting vote on the refusal at LCC was a CONSERVATIVE Councillor. If you ask many of the locals they will tell you they voted CONSERVATIVE; so not representing their views in any shape or form.
Clean energy production, smart use , insulation and use for need not want of greed reduces emissions, not fossil fuel burn.
No one lives in FUEL POVERTY, people live in POVERTY because of AUSTERITY policies by an industry financed government who refers to the free men and women of the UK as ‘ordinary working-class’.
‘over-investment in renewables’ is a joke statement, as you well know.
‘low cost domestic natural gas’ is already here from the North Sea. Shale gas costs three times more to produce; now that’s gonna hurt the pocket of the ‘ordinary working-class’
Go back to bed and come back when you have changed the record….
You haven’t a clue, Sherwulfe! National democracy has triumphed over NIMBYism. What a glorious and democratic outcome. You work on that whole “want of greed” thing, but I’m going to stick with capitalism my good friend! LOL
Clean energy production raises energy costs and causes death in those who suffer from fuel poverty. So you can go back to your little hovel and feel smug about your “Green” causes, but other people suffer because of your selfish ignorance and fearmongering. That’s a fact.
Take a look at the north sea gas production profile over the last decade Sherwulfe. See a trend? Look at Norway’s production? See the same trend? Wake up my friend. The UK will need gas for a long time. Better to produce it at home than use gas from foreign lands that are higher cost and higher emissions.
Hurray for Democracy!
What part of ‘democracy’ is one person deciding?
duh, ‘Better to produce it at home than use gas from foreign lands’ all ready on it! oh and guess what…it’s NOT shale
p.s. and I am not ‘your friend’ 🙂
oh and look at the stats for renewables…see a trend?
And how many will suffer for your selfish ignorance?
None. People will get jobs, get wealth, and get well. ;o)
…so we wait…..
Little mr innocent points to the splinter in others eyes, ignoring the plank in his own.
No he isn’t spouting drivel, he’s just disagreeing with you.
‘And it is a huge day for those POOR who live in fuel poverty as they won’t be strangled by over-investment in renewables and will instead have relatively low cost domestic natural gas in the mix’
Tell me Mark….you think this is fact?
Tell me also was it fact that a CONSERVATIVE Councillor was the casting vote to refuse permission at LCC; was he representing those Conservative voters?
DEMOCRACY
‘the belief in freedom and equality between people’
Clearly the wishes of the locally and freely elected representatives of the people of the Fylde and Lancashire, many of those being Conservative Councillors have been overridden by one person who was not impartial in his judgement as he is self declared pro-fracking.
… and a great day for the short term profiteers (if they’re lucky) . While increasing GHG emissions (let me correct you on this point of fact) the shale-fracking initiative has no long term capability to sustain gas supplies to the UK without progressively saturating the landscape with wells. See longer response lower down this thread…
Phillip, You show no logic or reasoning in your posts. Clearly the replacement of coal and foreign gas with domestic gas will cut GHG emissions. All you need to do is look to America and they’ll show you Brits this in spades! http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/project_syndicate/2012/09/thanks_to_fracking_u_s_carbon_emissions_are_at_the_lowest_levels_in_20_years_.html
Wake up man!
Well, I’m awake enough to see that the report was written by a business professor and not a scientist – and there are no refereed science studies cited. Then there’s the Breakthrough Institute referenced as an authority (well known for its pro Gas stance). Shall I produce some refereed studies showing the unexpectedly high emissions from the frack-shale industry? Wait – just drop your bias and do some homework yourself – you don’t have to look far.
and since 2012?
Democracy is dead ! What utter tosh! The Tories got most votes to run Britain…just like Brexit got most votes to leave EU! So you anti Fracking Hyopcrites are in a minority…get over it! Let us frack Britain so we do not have to IMPORT USA Shale Gas into Grangemouth which started recently…Were you there John to protest about IMPORTED SHALE GAS ? No…i thought not,will you John refuse to use Gas/oil etc John? Oh…again i thought not!
erh
The majority of responses to the applications said NO to shale. The Councillors voted a majority NO to shale. No where near a minority!
As a matter of interest Malcolm:
‘Only 37% of voters lent their support to the Tories. 63% opted for other parties. When you take into account the fact many people didn’t vote at all, the numbers get even more extreme. Only 24% of those eligible to vote actually put a cross next to a Tory candidate on their ballot paper.
That leaves a massive 76% of people we have no reason to believe support the Conservative government.’
Off course that 76% will have got bigger today.
‘USA Shale Gas into Grangemouth’, produced by a company with a very dubious safety record is being used for plastics etc. not for energy generation.
Today Scotland has said not to underground coal gassification.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/scottish-government-bans-underground-coal-gasification-1-4251015
They are still looking at the evidence for shale.
Malcolm (Willie) – you spend most of your life whining about dodgy horse racing tipsters and the rest of it tipping dodgy fracking investments. Get out there and live a little! Stop gambling with your and our resources.
You see? inversion rules, lies are truth, truth are lies. The end never justifies the means, and i have seen nothing but meanness from this. Perhaps you should be advised to look before you leap, its a long way down. Ooops, tooo late, who would have thought he had so much gas in him? Dear dear, how sad, never mind.
You still here? Thought someone had pulled your plug long ago? Still no humanity then? Just a blank empty page, nothing but pixels on a screen. [Edited by moderator].
Common sense and national interests prevailed in this case imo.
No, business contributions to a party that cannot fund itself from its members has influenced this decision. The inspector has recommended refusal for Roseacre but the govt need more time; why?
You have got to be joking! Right? If not I would suggest you do at least some research.
Evidently not TW. The ‘common sense’ of the people was voiced loudly – to the contrary. See documentary (link above) to see how ‘national interest’ is determined.
Agreed, TW. Hopefully this provides an avenue for the UK to get out of its energy crisis. National democracy carried the day as it should!
What is ‘National democracy’ ? Is that the new name for governments overturning the decisions of the locally voted committee members?
Energy crisis, what energy crisis? 47 billion barrels of oil and gas burned since 1975, that’s over 41 years of wasteful use. 20 billion barrels remaining.
Climate change targets in place. Renewables producing power today, reducing fossil fuel burn….and tomorrow and the day after. More smart meters fitted today. Today, another home/business has had solar panels fitted in their roofs; large companies divesting from fossil fuels and installing their own clean energy generation.
Today Shale gas in the UK has still produced zero gas for the country. The shale gas imported from the US is not for the Scottish people as publicised in the media,, but to produce predominantly plastic.
There is ‘no hope’ required. We have it covered!
I hope the frackers will live up to its duty and responsibilities otherwise they can frack off for good. The local and people will give them one last chance.
The only ‘duty and responsibilities’ that the ‘frackers’ have are to their overseas investors and ‘bet fred’ profiteers. The ‘regulations’ are policed by a purposely inadequately funded HSE and EA who don’t even have enough resources to control our flood defenses.
If this drilling does take place then we it will end up costing the country dearly. On a world stage It will increase, not replace fossil fuel emissions, leave leaking wells which will contribute further to climate change and escalated the problems associated with this, mass migration and land loss; pollution that cannot be monitored or cleaned up.
On a local level it has already caused health problems, loss of property values for future health care, threatens jobs and quality of life. I’m sure the residents and their supporters country and worldwide will keep up the fight. There is no social licence for this industry; no ‘last’ chance.
Ah but you are wrong my little cherub. There is social license, just not from your small minority group of (edited by moderator), irrational fearmongerers. There are eleven million Conservative voters who voted for fracking and they are having their day.
and your evidence for this is….
The casting vote for refusal by LCC was from a democratically elected CONSERVATIVE Councillor. Suggest you survey those 11 million voters particularly those who live in the countryside….good luck with that. (Check out the responses from the previous surveys…yes some of those respondents who prefer clean energy production in favour of dirty fossil fuel generation will be Conservative.
p.s there are over 65 million people living in this country…
And fracking was clearly part of the Conservative agenda. Those 11 million voters have been heard Sherwulfe! What a glorious thing it is when Democracy works for the good of the country and triumphs over illogical NIMBY interests!
Au contraire my big tar covered fossil; this was not a democratic decision.
Save it for the 11.3 million that voted in the Conservative government, mon ami!
Thanks but I’ll stick with the other 55 million UK citizens mon chéri 🙂
That’s fine but many didn’t vote. A democratic process gave Conservatives a victory and you’ll have to deal with it!
But a democratic vote for a party who then forms a government does not that party permission to ride roughshod over local government.
TM herself on discussing localism and her lessons from being a local councilor:
‘The lesson of how local councils can lead the way, because they operate at such close range to the lives of the people they are elected to serve, has never left me.
I think the Conservative Party, at a national level, now has to demonstrate that same kind of commitment to delivering the things that really matter to people’.
Theresa May
on July 5, 2005
What matters to the people of the Fylde is that their livelihoods are safe, their homes are safe, they can live out their lives in peace. Hundreds of local people stood up and said NO to Shale. Thousands took time out to add their voices to say NO to Shale. Locally elected Councillors including Conservative Councillors said unanimously NO to Shale.
Yes we have to deal with it, but I suspect, not for much longer.
Sorry, Sherwulfe, but it just don’t work that way my friend. Nationally significant projects, such as onshore gas, trump local nimbyism. You object to extra lorries running through country lanes for several weeks, while someone in another part of the country dies so that you are not bothered by the trucks. That’s why the rules were made this way. Democracy is for the greater good, not just for your good (and many in Lancs do support the industry, BTW). ;o)
and the name of this person is?
Supporters? oh, you mean ‘the hundred’?
That’s interesting; you think I live there 🙂
Your problem, Sherwulfe, is that you think that because someone isn’t loud and they don’t protest and ramble on incoherently, that they do not count. The silent majority rules. Figure it out.
Oh honey, are we having our first fight?…you get so inarticulate when you’re upset…best off to bed with a warm milk and we’ll talk about this again when you are feeling better in the morning xxx
” lorries running through country lanes for several weeks” – Oh Peeny! Weeks? Surely you know better than THAT LOL
Well said Sherwulfe. Peeny has obviously never seen the output curves from fracked shale wells. The highest output is on the first day (after fracking) then it drops off steeply… most profitable output is gone within 3-5 years. Companies would then flick the installations on to whoever would want to bid for them, then as the lesser owners go belly up and start disappearing (as is happening now in the US) they will simply abandon the infrastructure which will be no use for anyone. But hey, why should that stand in the way of short term profits! This initiative has no long term capability to sustain gas supplies to the UK without progressively saturating the landscape with wells.
Imagine the Trough of Bowland a decade or so from now with a decaying lattice of interconnected well sites. Hopefully it won’t get past the sacrifice of the first few acres. Knowing how the English love their countryside the emotional impact this rollout could have, I’d say, would be like parents standing by and watching their children being tortured. It certainly has the impact to bring about a crisis in conservatism.
Found this gem online – an amateur video (with a long winded introduction – which you can skip) where Dr Ingraphia speaks the truth to a small group of Upstate New York residents about what they might expect regarding shale fracking. It’s the most comprehensive and accessible, expert summary that I have seen.
… here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h06KWMkNKY
Phillip, It’s funny to hear you drone on about decline curves as if you know something! As if you haven’t just been fed drivel by some ignorant anti-frack group! Steep decline curves can be a huge boon to producers. The faster they get the resource, the faster they can redeploy capital. If you invested money in something would you prefer to get your money (and profit) back in 6 months or 5 years? [edited by moderator] faster is better assuming that the resource produces the volume required to generate proper IRR.
You can pump Infraffea (get the spelling right next time my man….he is your hero after all!) all that you want but the guy has been shown to be a Mickey Mouse, clown scientist. He has been debunked so many times in the US that he is often laughed out of conferences.
https://energyindepth.org/marcellus/ingraffea-peddles-debunked-research-on-fracking-at-mercyhurst-university/
Ridiculous – anyone can google ‘energy in depth’ and see where there O&G industry funded propaganda comes from “Energy in Depth (EID) is a pro-oil-and-gas drilling industry front group formed by the American Petroleum Institute”
Look up Heartland Institute while you’re at it – very revealing.
EID is industry funded. That doesn’t make the facts that they cite any less valid, however. Ingraffea is funded by anti-frack groups. But his analysis is subjective junk science. FYI !!
Wow – just reread you points above… you’re very honest about your shallow motivations (quick profits – move on etc). And you didn’t even know that Ingraffea (who you mis-spelt also) is primarily an engineer. No-one has managed to debunk his engineering or scientific views, in fact there are more and more independent studies coming through that simply verify his observations. Please list your credentials so I can compare them against his – thereby I can assess your hysterical denouncement of him.
Your mining expertise, I’ve noticed, consists entirely of a tendency to keep on digging after you’ve already dug a hole for yourself.
You are a neophyte Phillip. I made no statement about my investment time horizon. You only reveal a shallow understanding when you assume that an o&g company’s strategy for reinvesting capital has anything to do with my investing philosophy.
Ingraffea has been debunked so many times that no one is counting any more. I can give you specific examples, something that you are not very good at providing!
show me one thing about fracking that Ingraffea has got wrong
Why yes, Phillip, I am happy to oblige! In fact, I was hoping you would ask.
Ingraffea presents s/t GWPs as if they tell the whole story, omitting the fact that over a longer term GWPs from gas are much more attractive than coal.
Here’s what a real climate change scientist (as opposed to a geologist (Ingraffea) has to say about Ingraffea’s climate claims on gas: “But what Ingraffea is doing in continuing to claim that natural gas is as bad as coal is not a matter of looking at the same data as everybody else and drawing different conclusions. It is more a matter of distorting science in order to support a preconceived political agenda.”
Here is what the Pennsylvania Secretary of Planning and Policy said about Ingraffea’s work: Ingraffea cares so much about banning shale gas that he has gone off the cliff into misinformation and propaganda. He has proven that he will say anything and use any means to advance his rabidly held end. The new Cornell paper ends the scientific credibility of Howarth and Ingraffea.”
Ouch!
Ingraffea once said that all waste water from PA is put on a truck to OH. Not true, 90 percent is recycled.
In a 2014 study, Ingraffea made the bizarre claim that the incidence of leakages from wells in unconventional formations is greater than that from conventional. He based his thesis on notice of violation reports from the state, but didn’t even take into account the variation of NOVs by state or the different tests used to issue NOVs and how they vary based on drilling. He was dead wrong.
He was also wrong about the fact that older wells in the sample data set were leaking at higher rates than younger wells. The data simply didn’t support his assertion.
I could go on, and on, and on, and on. He is a Clown with a capital “C.” And has been dismissed by most credible scientists and government officials.
References please. Disinformation is the forte of the anti AGW brigade. Heartland institute for instance and its covert money funneling schemes magically produce reports and ‘peer reviewed’ papers on demand… some academics have pocketed millions for their help in such efforts (Willie Soon for instance) to support O&G’s anti mainstream climate science stance – and millions is just chickenfeed for them, a minor investment to discredit anyone who supports AGW and it’s knock on implications for fossil fuels. It’s hard to disentangle the web of deceits around climate science so let’s park that for a separate debate and concentrate on fracking itself, as requested i.e. ‘about fracking’.
Below the ‘ouch!’ then …
‘Ingraffea once said that all waste water from PA is put on a truck to OH. Not true, 90 percent is recycled. ‘
… source? a tabloid paper?
I cannot comment unless verifiable (even then it could have been true at some point in time – do we know all the facts and context of that statement?) but I’m intrigued by the recycling waste-water idea – by that do you mean pumped back into the ground? The most toxic byproduct of the fracking process is deceptively called ‘produced water’ – I would defy you to describe any process by which it can be reclaimed or defined as recyclable.
Next: ‘In a 2014 study, Ingraffea made the bizarre claim that the incidence of leakages from wells in unconventional formations is greater than that from conventional… ‘
… This gets more interesting. Ingraffea noticed that no-one had put effort into gathering any real data on these well-site emissions and the process by which he gathered readings is described in the video link – see my comment at 12.56pm. He used ground based teams and also hired planes for airborne readings above drill sites. These all got compared to baseline readings. Remember he’s first and foremost a geology engineer – he’s not into simply making claims – measurements are taken seriously and he gets the work he does cross checked, correlated and refereed in published papers. There are no US satellites plotting methane using remote sensing but there was a European one which he was able to correlate his data with. Other US, Australian and Canadian studies are confirming the findings and a new hi-res methane sensing European satellite to be launch next year should nail it once and for all.
‘He was also wrong about the fact that older wells in the sample data set were leaking at higher rates than younger wells. The data simply didn’t support his assertion.’ What data? Leakage shoots up when older wells get refracked so that is probably what is being referred to there. Multi-stage / multi fracked wells are the norm since 2007. Can’t you imagine the stresses on old hardened cement during refracking?
‘I could go on, and on, and on, and on. He is a Clown with a capital “C.” And has been dismissed by most credible scientists and government officials. ‘
… Baloney – I can understand that he’s one the hottest targets for the industry discreditation because he gets unnervingly close to the truth. Sorry that he makes you uncomfortable (I’m not really)
Hi Sherwulfe, National democracy is newspeak for the government rules, money speaks, its the same NLP programming talk we see everywhere from government and businesses in all areas of public interaction. National democracy is not democracy for you and me, only for the rich and the hidden government manipulators. divide and conquer.
It’s a conspiracy Phil C! Those 11.3 million rich manipulators who voted Conservative have it in for you! LOL
Ahhh ballspeeny, still some residual gas I see, all gas and no gaiters isn’t it? Is it dark down there? Shoulda looked before you leapt? Better strike a match! Well that illuminated things for a second, pity that its wasted on you, what’s that smell? Burning peeny?
Conspiracy, Conservative, Condescending, Conflict, Complacent!, Conflagration, Conspicuous, Consumption, Conniving, As opposed to Convivial, Confiding, Consensual, Confidential, Confident, Configuring, Conscience.
VOTE LABOUR in the next ELECTIONS
Cuadrilla have a 30year lease on Lower Stumble site at Balcombe West Sussex and property price’s are going up on a daily basis! Do not give that crap that property price’s slump! Utter scaremongering tosh!
So the anti-fracking lobby, Green Party & Labour cry fowl, saying this decision is undemocratic. LCC councillors went against their own planning officer’s recommendations & advise of LCC’s own legal counsel. Cuadrilla appealed. The Planning Inspector upheld the appeal & the Secretary of State agreed. Democracy has to be underpinned by the Law & due process. So the Ant-frackers, Greens & Labour prefer anarchy?
Nick Riley – Thank you for a rational post!
So on that basis Brexit should be overturend by Law and due process
Fowl or foul? Whatever! flora or fauna, man or machine, gas or wind, it doesnt alter the fact that all you are crowing about is patent evidence of your contempt for the local residents and our environment as a whole. What i suggest you all do is to go personally to those who are only trying to protect their livelihoods, their health and their water and air, and all of you explain to them exactly what you say above here, and then see what reception you will get, i am sure they will give you a very very very warm welcome. And that goes for all the exponents and proponents of this nefarious procedure. I challenge you all.
Best & most morally sound comment here. Thank you.
Hi Frances, I sent you a message but on a different name. I’ll try and sort out this phone!