MPs fear fracking study will overlook important evidence

KWASI KWARTENG’S review of fracking will undermine public trust if it ignores evidence that the risks associated with shale gas production can be “managed and mitigated”, more than 35 Tory MPs and peers have warned.

In a letter to the Business and Energy Secretary, parliamentarians including Craig Mackinlay, who chairs the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of MPs, point to the findings of a government-funded study that concluded that the earthquake risk from fracking is no worse than coal mining and can be mitigated.

Boris Johnson has come under pressure from MPs and some ministers to lift the ban as part of efforts to increase Britain’s homegrown energy supply.

The Business Secretary is to fly to the US this week to drum up American investment in new nuclear plants, amid concerns that the UK is too reliant on China for help building reactors.

Mr Kwarteng is expected to hold talks with Jennifer Granholm, the US energy secretary, in Washington. He is said to be concerned that Britain is too reliant on China General Nuclear, a Chinese state-owned energy giant, and EDF, which is owned by the French state.

In his letter to the British Geological Survey (BGS) ordering the review, Mr Kwarteng stated that the moratorium was imposed in 2019 following “seismicity” experienced by residents living near a fracking site in Lancashire.

He added: “The reasons for that pause – the difficulty in predicting the size, duration, magnitude, and timing of seismic events induced by fracking – have not gone away and to date we have not identified any new, compelling evidence that would support a reassessment of the current position.”

His request to the BGS included for the body to investigate “where there have been new developments in the science of hydraulic fracturing – in particular whether there are new techniques in use which could reduce the risk and magnitude of seismic events.”

But MPs fear a study that appears to shed light on how the risks of fracking can be addressed could be overlooked.

The backbenchers, who include Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, and Esther McVey, the former work and pensions secretary, noted the Unconventional Hydrocarbons in the UK project this month “confirmed that the science shows “there are methods to assess, manage, and mitigate” the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing”.

The letter adds: “This is ‘new’ science, which was not available to policymakers in 2019, but it is not the first time the science has concluded that the risks associated with fracking are minimal.”