Campaigners ready for battle after fracking site proposal
CAMPAIGNERS are preparing for battle after an energy firm registered its interest in a new West Lancashire fracking site.
Aurora Energy Resources has submitted a scoping request to Lancashire County Council for a proposed well site on Altcar Moss, near Great Altcar.
The request is a precursor for a planning application to begin fracking, a process opponents consider unsafe and untested.
Fracking has been a source of intense controversy around the country, with numerous protests and demonstrations held against the practice, which involves drilling deep into the ground to release shale gas for fuel.
The new site would have one horizontal drill and one vertical drill at Altcar Moss, which is also close to Formby in Sefton, to explore what gas is available below.
If the search is successful, a planning application to begin fracking is likely to be placed.
But campaign group Frack Free Formby is warning against the proposal, arguing that it is an unsafe and unsuitable location. The process would affect a three-mile radius underground, taking it towards areas including Liverpool Road and Formby village, as well as Haskayne and Barton.
John Wilkinson, a member of the group, said that as well as fears over the safety of the drilling, which is opponents believe increases the frequency of earthquakes, there is going to be problems with transport, risks to the ecology and a danger of unsettling older well sites. He said: “The first thing to consider is how are you going to get the vehicles. You are going to have to deliver water to the site, the stuff that comes out the pipe will have to be taken away. If there’s no gas pipe to connect to then tankers will be needed as well.
“All those vehicles will have to access it and the most logical way to do that is on the Formby Bypass so you’re talking about a lot of extra heavy traffic in Sefton.
“We believe that the site that they’re proposing is most inappropriate because of the geological conditions under the ground.”
He said the group was confident that it had strong enough arguments to convince Lancashire County Council not to grant permission in the case of a full planning application being placed.
Ian Roche, managing director, Aurora Energy Resources said: “The UK will require gas for decades to come and the potential to develop a new source of indigenous supply will bring benefits, both nationally and locally, though the provision of tax revenues, skilled jobs and opportunities for local businesses in the supply chain.
“The UK has a long and exemplary record in the regulation of oil & gas activities both onshore and offshore and residents can be reassured that the proposed activities will be conducted safely and with minimal impact on people or the environment.”