Please sign my petition to stop the first steps towards fracking in Derbyshire. Fracking risks damage to our health, countryside and possible pollution of water as well as an inevitable reduction in house prices.
Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure mixture containing chemicals is injected into the rock to release the gas inside. Fracking uses huge amounts of water, at significant environmental cost. The potentially carcinogenic chemicals used may escape and contaminate groundwater around the fracking site.
Before fracking takes place, companies must do 'exploratory drilling' to find shale gas. If we can stop the exploratory drilling, we can stop the fracking.
INEOS Upstream Limited has already been given a licence to explore for shale gas by central government. However, now they need planning permission and they have started enquiries with Derbyshire County Council to drill in Eckington near Marsh lane. The company say on their website they won't frack this site - but in a Parish meeting they admitted that if they find shale gas, they WILL FRACK in the area.
The council now must decide whether a future planning application to drill a vertical core well to explore for shale gas would need to be subject to a statutory Environmental Impact Assessment.
Sign now to tell the council YES an Environmental Impact Assessment must be done, and that NO exploratory drilling for shale gas (which, if found, could lead to fracking nearby) should be done in Derbyshire.
Proposed site:
Further info:
Derbyshire County Council have recently received a request for a 'Screening Opinion' from INEOS Upstream Limited, a company which has already been granted 'exploration' licences from central government's Oil and Gas Authority (OGA). Licences only grant exclusive exploration rights to specific companies. Planning permission is still required for any development - so it's essential we make sure the council do not give planning permission for any fracking or exploration pre-empting fracking.
Residents can have their say at an exhibition at Green Laws Community Centre in Marsh Lane on Tuesday, January 31.
