We’re no activists, we’re the public
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PROTESTERS told chemical giant Ineos that ‘we’re not militant activists’ as they held a demonstration at Ineos subsidiary Inovyn’s Rocksavage works in Runcorn over fracking equipment they say is being stored at the site.
Frack Free Frodsham And Helsby (FFFH) said the aim was to highlight chemical giant Ineos’s ‘unconventional gas extraction’ plans and to bust the company’s portrayal of anti-fracking campaigners as ‘militant activists’ and brought placards showing what they did for a living including civil servants, a biology teacher, an early years professional and ‘a local Labour MP’ – Weaver Vale’s Mike Amesbury.
The protest was joined by members of Frack Free Dee Coalition.
A spokesman for FFFH said Ineos had characterised campaigners as ‘militant activists’ in its recent high court injunction.
He added that Ineos holds the largest set of fracking licences in the UK, covering 1.2m acres of England, and said the firm has plans for drilling 10 wells per square mile, revealed in a tendering document last year.
The campaign website Frack Off has claimed the equipment was bought from a bankrupt Polish fracking company at knockdown prices.
A FFFH spokesman said: “Despite high levels of public opposition to fracking in this area, the threat Ineos poses to local communities is mounting.
“If they are successful in their plans we will see irreversible industrialisation of huge parts of the countryside, including the associated risk of water and land contamination.
“The proven damage to the environment, rural economies, human health, and impact on climate change have led many countries and states to ban fracking, but the UK alone seems to be pushing ahead with this outdated, short-term and dangerous form of energy.
“It is the local residents that will pay the price, and we are here today to demonstrate our opposition.”
Mike Amesbury MP said: “Fracking is a huge issue both nationally and in my constituency.
“I spoke to both protestors and police while I was there and expressed my opposition to fracking.
“I’ve said time and again that we do not want fracking in Weaver Vale or anywhere else for that matter, it is a blight on the landscape and studies have shown it is destructive to the environment.”
Ineos was approached for comment.