I believe that shale gas is a promising new resource which could create thousands of jobs, raise billions in tax revenues and secure our energy supply for the future. However, operations should be safe, and must not be at the expense of local communities or the environment.
As such I am pleased that the UK has one of the world’s best track records when it comes to protecting our environment alongside industry development, and I am wholly confident that this experience will be brought to bear as this industry takes off in the UK.
I am concerned that there has been a lot of misinformation around fracking. To be clear, the Infrastructure Act 2015 forbids the Secretary of State from consenting to extraction if it would take place within a 'protected groundwater source area', and ban extraction outright if it is at a depth of less than 1,200 metres, within 50 metres of a point where water is used for domestic or food purposes, or in zones through which water will travel up to 50 days before being extracted. For comparison, almost all drinking water is found above 400 metres. The draft regulations agreed to in December also explicitly protect National Parks, the Broads, AONBs, World Heritage Sites, SSIs, Ramsar, Natura 2000 sites, and areas vulnerable to pollution, meaning that drilling cannot take place on the surface of these areas in addition to the above restrictions. I am confident that these protections will ensure that the beauty of our countryside is protected.
Below I have from various sources which detail that fracking will be safe, hugely beneficial to our economy and indeed robustly regulated.
UK Energy and Climate Change committee report on Shale gas;
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenergy/795/79502.htm
Lord Smith Task force final report on Shale gas:
Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineers Report on Shale gas extraction
https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/shale-gas-extraction/report/
UK Onshore Oil and Gas Briefing Notes:
http://www.ukoog.org.uk/images/ukoog/pdfs/Round%2014%20Explained.pdf