The Environment Agency has given formal consent for oil and gas production at an expanded West Newton-A well site in East Yorkshire.

The permission clears the way for the operator, Rathlin Energy, to drill up to six new wells and sidetracks and extract hydrocarbons for 20 years.

It also allows Rathlin to flare gas for a total of about 60 days for each well during well testing and clean-up.

This is the third permit variation granted by the Environment Agency (EA) for the site.

The EA said it in a press release that it did not permit activities that posed an “unacceptable risk”. Consents were issued only where the EA was satisfied that impacts could not “cause significant pollution or harm to human health”, it said.

Kathryn Richardson, EA area environment manager, said today:

“The Environment Agency is satisfied that the appropriate measures are in place for oil and gas extraction without causing harm to the environment or human health and, after exploring the issues and concerns that have been raised, it cannot find any reason to refuse the application.

“Before we finalised our decision, we reviewed and considered all comments received. The views of the local community on this site are hugely important, and we thank everyone for their contributions through the consultation.”

The EA said it had carried out a “detailed and rigorous assessment” of Rathlin Energy’s application. This was to ensure the operating techniques and control measures at the proposed facility complied with the environmental permitting regulations, the EA said.

Rathlin Energy, which has run the site since 2013, applied in November 2021 to vary the environmental permit. This was despite the rejection earlier that year by East Riding of Yorkshire Council of plans to expand the site area by almost four times and increase the number of wells from two to eight.

The company scaled back its planning application to an additional four wells and a smaller expansion. Planning permission was granted in March 2022.

In June 2023, the EA said it was minded to approve the permit change for six new wells.

Concerns

A consultation by the EA raised concerns that included:

• Lack of detail of well pad design and liner
• Lack of shallow groundwater monitoring
• Risk of flooding
• Air pollution from emissions and impact on public health
• Content of drilling muds
• Previous breaches of permit conditions
• Noise and light pollution
• Increased traffic
• Contribution to climate change

Key issues

The EA’s decision document on the permit variation sets out what the regulator thinks are the key issues. It said:

• More than 10 tonnes of gas per day would be flared during well clean-up phases
• Carbon dioxide would be used during operations to clean debris near the wellbore
• During the initial extended well tests, it would not be possible to export gas or use it to generate electricity – so it would be flared
• During production, Rathlin Energy has proposed to generate electricity from any unwanted gas but the number of gas engines is limited to four
• Venting of produced gas is expected to be for 45 minutes or less and infrequent so exceeding air quality standards was unlikely
• Risks to surface water and groundwater have been adequately identified and addressed
• No additional groundwater monitoring was needed
• An odour management plan has been approved
• Impacts on air quality would not significant and would not exceed environmental standards
• The impact of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) on most important nearby wildlife sites was not likely to be significant
• At Lambwath Meadows SSSI, NOx pollution could not be considered insignificant but exceeding critical levels was unlikely

Improvements and conditions

The permit said emissions from activities at West Newton-A should not produce smells, noise and vibration outside the site.

Before starting work, Rathlin Energy is required to:

• Provide additional details on construction and containment measures in the extended area of the site
• Verify the final design of gas engines and prove they do not pose an increased environmental risk to air, noise or odour

Within six months of production, the company must also produce an improved leak detection and repair plan, update a plan to notify the EA when gas is vented in an emergency and analyse the gas going into the flare for mercury.

EA documents

Varied environmental permit

Decision document