Not reassured by pledge on fracking
From: Sue Gough, Little
Barugh, Ryedale.
THE protestations on the part of John Dewar of fracking company Third Energy that the process is not going to disturb people in Yorkshire ( The Yorkshire Post, August 5) are unlikely to sway those who live in the villages around Kirby Misperton.
He quotes figures for Third Energy’s proposed mini test frack as though this small operation would be the end of the story. In fact, it would be just the beginning.
Mr Dewar confirmed as much at an environmental committee hearing in March, where he stated that Third Energy were planning 19 well-sites across the area, with between 10 and 50 wells per site. That’s up to 950 fracking wells in an area known for its natural beauty, peace and quiet, threatening our agriculture and flourishing tourist industry.
And that’s just for starters – other licences are to be handed out by the Government this month, which will open the door to widespread commercial fracking all across Yorkshire.
Even Third Energy’s small test frack application at Kirby Misperton involves noisy, roundthe-clock work for at least five months, and the construction of a 28ft wall of shipping containers around the site to partially block the noise of continuous nighttime fracking.
And when you factor in 1,400 vehicle movements through country lanes in the first eight weeks, taking sand and dangerous chemicals – like sulphuric acid – to the well and radioactive waste water and other solid waste away from the well, you start to see why local people are so concerned.
If this application is successful, it could be the first of hundreds of wells to be fracked in the area, and Kirby Misperton will most likely be developed into a 10 or 20 well pad. Then people really will sit up and take note – but by then, it will be too late.
From: Chris Redston, Frack
Free Ryedale.
JOHN Dewar claims that the UK gets its gas from Russia, when the onshore industry trade association, UKOOG, clearly states that our gas suppliers are Norway (55.8 per cent), Qatar (27 per cent), Holland (14.6 per cent) and Belgium (2.6 per cent).
He also states that Third Energy are “a company that’s been a good neighbour for 20 years”. However, the Assets and Onshore Operations page on the company’s website states: “Third Energy acquired its onshore assets in North Yorkshire through the purchase of Viking UK Gas Limited and RGS Energy Services in 2011.”
So that’s just four years, Mr Dewar – not 20.
How many “good neighbours” don’t even tell the truth about how long they’ve lived next door?
From: Steven M White, Great
Edstone, York.
JOHN Dewar claims fracking will be less intensive than “many of our other activities” – which would possibly be true if the limit of his ambitions were the five small test fracks at one site near Flamingo Land.
However, we know from his evidence before Parliament that he envisions a Ryedale with up to 950 wells, each being drilled and fracked in turn. Just the same as conventional gas production? You may as well argue that the country lanes of Ryedale are just the same as the M62.