Opponents of plans by Third Energy to frack a well in North Yorkshire have criticised remarks by operations director, John Dewar, made in an interview with the Press Association.
Mr Dewar (pictured right) said he had an “open door” to anyone who had “genuine concerns”. He said:
“Come and see us, talk to us.”
But he said of protesters:
“If they’re coming just to cause disruption, my message to them is that we will still go ahead. Please go away. We respect their right to protest but they should respect our right to operate.”
Ryedale resident, Robert Laycock, replied:
“He says ‘Please go away’. We are not going to go away – we live here.”
Sue Gough (pictured left), who lives half a mile from the KM8 well which Kirby Misperton plans to frack, said:
“We are not going anywhere. It is Third Energy that should go away and leave us alone”.
In the interview, Mr Dewar said Third Energy had drilled the KM8 well without “causing any disruption”. He said:
“The hydraulic fracturing operation will take less time, be less disruptive”.
But Sue Gough said:
“How dare John Dewar say they have not caused any disruption. He visited a lady who was kept awake all night by the 24/7 drilling and promised double glazing and a job for her husband – this is all on the public record of the planning committee meeting.
“The Tory county councillors [on North Yorkshire County Council] who pushed this through should hang their heads in shame at what they are putting our community through.”
Robert Laycock added:
“John Dewar will only discuss KM8 but we see the bigger picture – this is the start of fracking ‘on an industrial scale’ as promised last year by Ineos. Our holiday cottage business, Flamingoland, Castle Howard and all the other tourist businesses in this area will all be affected by that.”
“100% confidence”
Mr Dewar also promised no possibility of water contamination.
“We wouldn’t have had approval from the Environment Agency, the Government and North Yorkshire County Council were we not able to conduct this operation safely.,”.
“So I have absolutely 100% confidence there will not be any contamination issues whatsoever.”
He described the well at Kirby Misperton as:
“The most heavily monitored piece of real estate in the UK.”
The site of Third Energy’s KM8 well at Kirby Misperton
He said Third Energy had done 13 baseline studies of the site and surrounding area including noise, light, seismicity, water and soil. Monitoring would continue during and after the operation to prove there had been no impact.
But Ian Conlan, of Frack Free Ryedale, said there had been no baseline of the health of local residents. This is despite a recommendation by a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council in January 2016, which said detailed information should be collected about the health of local of local people before fracking started. More details
Ian Conlon asked if people became ill whether Third Energy would deny that this was caused by its operations.
“Heavy industrialisation”
Steve Mason, of frackfreeunited.org, a new network of anti-fracking residents’ and campaign groups, said:
“The fracking companies are always keen to keep the debate focused on individual wells, when we are already aware that the industry intends to apply for multiple sites across the country.
“With hundreds of locations under threat by fracking licences, the debate isn’t about Third Energy’s ‘little cute’ test well, the debate is about the frackers’ plans for the heavy industrialisation of our communities into the future.”
- Third Energy’s PR company confirmed to DrillOrDrop that the quotes ascribed to John Dewar are accurate
Categories: Opposition
DRILL OR DROP? 
Mr Dewar actually said (in his recorded interview on video) “on this particular site there is absolutely zero chance , and I say zero carefully, zero chance of contamination”
Even Ken Wilkinson has had to agree (in the comments section of the YP article here http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/fracking/zero-chance-of-water-contamination-insists-boss-of-yorkshire-fracking-site-1-8415242) that “Anybody who says anything is 100% safe is deluding himself.”
We are merely being pleasant and reaching out to you to have a one on one conversation to put your mind at rest.
For those of you with a brain and common sense (that don’t learn about the facts of life on 3rd rated websites financially suppported by some very interesting characters) then please don’t feel intimated by either us nor the aforementioned and join us for a coffee and a chat.
For the ones like my friend John then your times nearly up and exploration is only a very short distance away now. Once we have proven you preach mythical dangers you’re going to look a right numpty….not that you care.
But GBK, they are not , quote, “mythical dangers”
I have a long list for you to TRY and discredit.
( Nobel Peace Prize Winners ) Physicians For Social Responsibility (PSR)
To download their comprehensive report, fourth edition, 17 November 2016.
Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking
http://www.psr.org/resources/fracking-compendium.html
Quite interesting!!
Wasn’t this the site that when the planning application was made, then there were headlines saying “If Lancs won’t frack, Yorkshire will”.
Wasn’t this the site that when the planning application was made numerous letters of “protest” were received which appeared to have come from a single source?
Wasn’t this the site that certain locals, who voiced their support and stated Third Energy had been good neighbours for 20 years, then reported on-line intimidation?
The basis of the argument seems to be now, we have to stop this, not because of this site but to prevent an epidemic!
(I suspect the protestors will not go away, but also suspect they will quickly find out what the locals truly think when they start causing disruption.)
Has anyone stopped to think, it will only be anywhere approaching an epidemic if such sites were economically and environmentally successful , and the same posters say repeatedly that there is no chance of this? Strange mixed messages.
“Anybody who says anything is 100% safe is deluding himself”. Well. it has worked out pretty well for Durex (other brands are available!) Perhaps that is what the “Protectors” really want to stop! Seriously, what is 100% safe? Pictures of wind turbines crunched in a field after a storm, is that not a clue?
What is Third Energy about? It is trying to expand the life cycle of an existing gas extraction site, utilising new technology. Not exactly cutting edge. Protestors will simply be seen as trying to disrupt an existing site which has caused no problem, including water contamination, by trying to promote speculation that next time they might not be so lucky! (If that is a valid argument, then my youthful Sunday nights would be a waste of time after a Friday night!)
KM will be interesting. I suspect there is little to gain, and everything to lose for the antis here.
“Seriously, what is 100% safe”
According to John Dewar fracking is 🙂 We all know better though don’t we
” (If that is a valid argument, then my youthful Sunday nights would be a waste of time after a Friday night!)”
Ewww
Do you expect John Dewar to say “we are not going to proceed because a few out of towners have set up a protest camp (eyesore) led by a conspiracy theorist; we take everything they say on board and with immediate effect cancel our planning permission, will refund the enemies of the earth etc. all their costs from their losing the JR, and we will bring in a rig to plug and abandon all our wells and leave Yorshire”?
You would all probably object to the height of the rig they brought in and try and stop them leaving…..
La la land…….
LOL to all of you [edited by moderator] – Have you not yet spotted the irony of a Scots invader asking the local residents to go away? 😂
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So where do the people in the camp come from?
Paul – where does Mr Dewar refer to the camp? He just talks about people who come to protest – that clearly include local residents who seem to feel they have more right to be there than a Scot who is trying to impose and unwanted industry in their area.
Do you know, I think they are right.
Just looking at this now, though i promised i would not,
OK, I have been saying this for months, my offer to talk is always there and suddenly its a press association release as if its a new initiative from Third Energy? I smell PR.
Then why have my offers been ignored for months?
I’m not in UK at the moment and wont be for a couple of weeks, great timing.
Will anyone else pick up this belated offer of an open door?
I have a better suggestion, neutral ground, no heavies, no lawyers, no PR, free and open discussion, no relevant subject out of bounds, perhaps Drill or Drop could attend or record? Would that be possible Ruth? If their are no takers then it will have to wait until I get back.
You cant pass this up folks, if no one else will, then I will and how about Cuadrilla, Igas and Ineos too?
Great idea – but you’d also have to add no pre-selection of who can and can’t speak Phil.
I’d like to see the Francis Egan / Tina Rothery showdown. I heard he refused to debate with her again in Preston this month so he’s up against Natalie Bennett instead.
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PhilC you’re deluded my friend. You don’t understand the psychology of the anarchists. To them this is a war.
That’s no way to talk about John Dewar and your esteemed colleagues? Anarchic or not, they still have a voice.
Why so against it? Seems like a reasonable suggestion to me, jaw jaw, not war war.
It will be interesting to see if the posters really want genuine debate about fracking rather than the descent into the usual destructive character assassination diatribes we see at the moment?
Hi Phil. Thanks for your comment. It sounds like a very good idea. And, if it happened, DrillOrDrop would be very keen to attend and report. Thanks again, best wishes, Ruth
Ruth – coincidentally today an open letter in the press to Francis Egan has invited him to a debate with Mike Hill. I’m sure John Dewar would be welcome as well
http://www.refracktion.com/index.php/an-invitation-to-francis-egan-of-cuadrilla/
Perhaps you could follow it up and find out if Mr Egan is up for it?
Saying 100% is just bad science. It’s impossible to be sure and foolhardy to predict
The fact is Third Energy only held community liaison meetings in the run up to the planning application, to tick the box. Since being granted planning permission they have held NONE, so keen is John Dewar to engage with locals. This news article is nothing more than a shallow PR exercise as the time for the test frack approaches.
The majority of people protesting will be locals – but people opposed to fracking do not have to justify their opposition on the grounds of being local, fracking is a national issue and climate change a global issue. How many who support the industry and comment on here are local or live in a fracking area? Not all, I’m sure. Why should it be OK for supporters to comment, irrespective of where they originate – but anyone opposed must be local? Ridiculous to say the least.
And any disruption caused during the test frack will be nothing compared to the decades of disruption from a fracking industry.