Government accused of killing fracking by forcing drilling firms to suspend work over tiny tremors
THE GOVERNMENT has been accused of killing the fracking revolution by forcing drilling firms to suspend work over tiny tremors.
It comes after a group of 49 scientists urged ministers to urgently review the fracking earthquake limit.
Current rules force fracking firms to stop drilling if tremors reach 0.5 on the Richter scale.
But a report last year showed that tremors of that magnitude are comparable to a football being bounced on the floor.
Professor Quentin Fisher, of Leeds University, joined calls to loosen the current threshold in a letter published by The Times on Saturday.
Yesterday he hit out against Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth for spreading “nonsense” claims about the industry.
Prof Fisher told The Sun: “To me it’s totally killing the industry, I find it really difficult to imagine how it can go forward with such low limits.
“The limits are just way below any other industry, both in the UK and equivalent industries abroad.
“The levels at the moment can’t even be felt.”
Ministers have refused to loosen up the current limits amid a wave of protests from anti-fracking campaigners.
ARE ANTI-FRACKERS RIGHT?
Prof Fisher added: “There’s been a lot of really negative publicity from groups such as Greenpeace and Friends Of The Earth who are frankly just telling massive untruths which has scared the local population.
“Talking about things like water pollution when there’s absolutely no chance of it.
“The Environment Agency don’t even let people drill through places where there’s drinking water.
“I think there’s a general scaremongering about seismicity.”
Prof Fisher said Britain could stop relying on the likes of Qatar and Norway for gas imports if the fracking industry is allowed to expand.
Lee Petts, chair of pro-fracking group Lancashire For Shale, said the shale gas industry could potentially create 64,000 jobs and a £33 billion supply chain in the UK.
He added: “All of that is at risk if it’s so constrained that it can’t progress from where it is today to commercial production.
“Our government has got to recognise that.
“Last year the House of Lords select committee produced a report that said post-Brexit the UK could be more vulnerable to energy outages and supply disruption in the event of extreme weather.
“Now is not the time to be holding back a new energy industry that could offset some of those problems and dependency on EU imports.”
The Sun Says
THE Government’s refusal to give the shale gas industry the green light is a woeful failure of leadership.
Rather than backing a new technology which could revolutionise parts of the UK economy and provide us with true energy security, lily-livered ministers including Business Secretary Greg Clark have run scared from eco-warriors on social media. It is madness.
Getting shale gas working could provide jobs in regions of the UK that need it most, would provide a massive boost to Treasury coffers and offer us a reliable source of energy as we develop genuinely affordable renewables.
The Government must relax the absurdly low “tremor limits” which are far below anything seen in the States — where fracking has reduced energy prices and boosted industry.
There is huge economic potential sitting under our very feet, and the Government is refusing to tap into it. Of course fracking has to be safe. It’s why we have rigorous safety standards. But we are in danger of going overboard.
The Tories must shake themselves out of their paralysis, and find a backbone.
A Greenpeace spokesman said: “Fracking has been an absolute waste of time. After nearly a decade of bluster and blunders, all we have left is a hole in a muddy field.
“For years the industry has been reassuring the public that the UK had world-class regulations. Now that these rules are getting in the way, the frackers want to switch to a ‘make it up as you go along’ and lay the blame for their problems at the door of anyone who raises questions.
“No wonder people are concerned about an industry that can’t stick to the rules it has set itself.”
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Tony Bosworth, fossil-free campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “It was expert advice that led to the government and fracking companies agreeing these safety regulations.
“Those companies only chose to question the guidelines once they realised they couldn’t frack within them.
“The government must stand it’s ground, and keep current limits in place.
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