Reporting of the regulation of the shale oil and gas and hydraulic fracturing industry, including planning permissions and permits
23rd March 2014 According to documents seen by The Guardian, the chair of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, offered last year to speed up a permit application by Cuadrilla. He also offered to intervene with West Sussex County Council on Cuadrilla’s planning application at Balcombe and identify further […]
17th March 2014 Contamination of air and water, noise and traffic disturbance, and threats to local wildlife were the main issues raised by people objecting to Cuadrilla’s latest planning application at Balcombe. The public consultation by West Sussex County Council, which ended on March 13th, attracted 925 objections. Of […]
17th March 2014 Almost all the responses to the public consultation on Cuadrilla’s application to flow test its oil exploration well at Balcombe were objections. An analysis* of the comments by InvestigatingBalcombeAndCuadrilla.com found Key concerns were water and air pollution, traffic, noise and the impact on wildlife More […]
14th March 2014 Staff from West Sussex County Council had weeks of negotiations with Cuadrilla’s planning consultant over what information should be included in the company’s application to flow test its well at Balcombe. The evidence emerged in the response to a Freedom of Information request by InvestigatingBalcomebAndCuadrilla.com […]
13th March 2014 A group of wildlife and countryside organisations says current regulations for unconventional fossil fuel development are not strong enough to prevent damage and it calls for a permanent ban on fracking in all protected areas. The group, which includes National Trust, RSPB and the Wildlife […]
7th March 2014 Transcripts of last week’s parliamentary questions on: Regulating shale gas and the implications of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Insurance for shale gas operators With thanks to theyworkforyou.com 3/3/14 Question by Roger Godsiff, Birmingham, Hall Green, Labour To ask the Secretary of State for […]
3rd March 2014 1. Balcombe: end of public consultation approaches WSCC/005/14/BA application by Cuadrilla Balcombe Ltd There are 10 days left for people to respond to Cuadrilla’s application to flow test and monitor its oil exploration well at Lower Stumble. (The consultation period ends on 13th March 2014).
28th February 2014 A freedom of information request has confirmed that Cuadrilla carried out no seismic surveys in the Balcombe area and is relying on data from the 1990s, which one geologist has said is inadequate. Last year, Cuadrilla drilled a vertical and a horizontal oil exploration well […]
23rd February 2014 We asked Cuadrilla questions about its planning application to flow test the oil exploration well at Balcombe and for a response to calls for it to contribute to the cost of policing the summer protests. Here are the unedited responses. Question: What is ‘acid etching’ […]
19/2/14 Development of a UK fracking industry could be threatened by uncertainty about the planning and approvals process, according to the Poyry consulting group. A report published by the company this week warned that investment in shale gas could be deterred because it was unclear whether the UK […]
DRILL OR DROP? 