Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
American Journal of Public Health that ''The paucity of scientific evidence
looking at the public health impact of natural gas extraction complicates the
issue. It is dicult and potentially dangerous to formulate policy and
regulations in a vacuum''.
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2.5 Earthquakes
The rise in concern about fracking in the UK started when test-fracking by
Cuadrilla in Lancashire triggered low-level earthquakes, although it says that
these tremors were far too weak to cause any damage to buildings or harm to
people.
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However, a possibly even greater risk is to the integrity of the well-
casings, typically made of steel and cemented in place, designed to reduce
or eliminate the possibility of leaking methane or flowback water. Tony
Grayling, Head of Climate Change at the Environment Agency, has
acknowledged that this could be a problem. Referring to the Lancashire
earthquakes, which did damage the well-casing,
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he said, ''we need to
understand what is the maximum damage that might be done in such
circumstances to a well and the integrity of the casing, whether it would
increase the risk of a leak. If there is ground water in the vicinity, that could
be a problem''.
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Evidence from the US shows that the Lancashire experience is not unique.
Several US states have experienced seismic activity following shale gas dril-
ling and fracking in areas where this has not previously happened. Although
a clear causal link has not been proved in all cases, a close correlation be-
tween fracking and earth tremors can be seen.
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2.6 Will UK Regulation be Adequate?
The Government and industry claim that the UK's regulatory regime is
strong enough to prevent any problems. Typical of such views is that of the
UK Onshore Operators Group: ''The UK has much stricter regulations than
anywhere else in the world and is recognised as the gold standard''.
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However, Friends of the Earth believes that better regulation can make the
industry safer, but not safe. As has been referred to above, the United
Nations Environment Programme has concluded ''Hydrologic fracking may
result in unavoidable environmental impacts even if (unconventional gas) is
extracted properly, and more so if done inadequately. Even if risk can be
reduced theoretically, in practice many accidents from leaky or mal-
functioning equipment as well as from bad practices are regularly
occurring''.
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Friends of the Earth is concerned that the proposed regulation of un-
conventional gas and oil activity is flawed because:
It fails to ensure that a precautionary approach is adopted;
It fails to address the serious climate change impacts of burning un-
conventional gas and oil;
