Fracking for gas cannot be safely

FRACKING will not be safely regulated in Scotland if it is allowed to go ahead, according to an expert report to be published this week. Professor Andrew Watterson and Dr Will Dinan from the University of Stirling will argue that regulatory agencies lack the staff and resources to protect the public from pollution risks, and that no-one has worked out how to make sure that regulation is effective.

They claim that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) will not have the capacity to oversee the thousands of fracking wells that could be drilled across the central belt to extract shale gas. There are fears wells could leak, causing water contamination.

The report assesses the evidence available on fracking regulation and industry practice in the US and the UK. “There are multiple serious challenges surrounding location, scale, monitoring and data deficits facing regulators,” it concludes. “The evidence suggests fracking in the UK will not be effectively regulated. It is highly likely that regulatory agencies may lack the staffing and resources to mon- itor and enforce effective regulation of the industry.”

Watterson, head of the Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group at Stirling, said. “The belief in Government and industry to ensure the health and safety of fracking seems to rest on a wing and a prayer,” he said. “That is no basis for protecting public health either now or in the future.”