Initial assessments of damage caused by the UK’s largest fracking-induced earth tremor were made by staff from the Cuadrilla’s headquarters, not professional surveyors or insurance experts.
The shale gas commissioner, Natascha Engel, who resigned last night, had more than twice as many appointments with business than residents, according to government records. But we won’t know what she discussed with fracking companies because she reportedly deleted emails and meeting notes.
Two-thirds of the UK’s first horizontal shale gas well was not fracked during a nine-week operation last autumn, according to reports that the company, Cuadrilla, tried to keep secret.
A small oil well on the world heritage coast in Dorset is legally allowed to emit hundreds of tonnes of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, annually direct into the atmosphere.
DrillOrDrop investigates the costs of a long-running planning battle over Surrey oil drilling plans which ended suddenly last week.
The shale gas company, INEOS, has said some products which may be used at a proposed exploration site could cause cancer or birth defects if “permitted to escape”. They could also lead to mutations and were toxic to plants and animals.
Last week, the Bolsover MP, Dennis Skinner, asked the prime minister to investigate drinking water problems in an area of his constituency where the shale gas company INEOS had been carrying out seismic surveys.
