I intended to make this blog show only positive things, but the time has come to post something negative.
We went to a public meeting on Friday about the intention extract shale gas locally. I came away staggered that such potential damage to the environment could be considered at all, never mind carry on unregulated and unchecked.
When will we learn?
so, as a response, I'm posting my letter to the local MP.
I await a response.

Dear Mr Menzies,

I am extremely concerned about the intended shale gas extraction in our area. Having attended a meeting hosted by WeshamTown Council on Friday18/05/12, I now have more specific worries that this process is being set into motion without proper regard of its potential consequences.

My initial concern was with the possibility of future earth tremors, this I understand is not now an issue, and indeed may be the solution, as one of the speakers informed us that the Government has told Cuadrilla that one more tremor would mean the cessation of drilling.

Please could you verify if that is true.

However, I am now of the opinion that the tremors are a lesser concern than the potential environmental damage that could be caused by the process.

Specifically:

The use of the 'cocktail' of chemicals that would be deliberately pumped into the ground. The demonstration of the proportionately small dilution of these cocktails was irrelevant when the scale of the amounts of water needed to extract a well is considered.

• The huge amounts of water that are needed to extract the gas from a single well, which becomes toxic & cannot be returned to the water supply, seems to be a cynical use of a finite resource, especially considering the amount of news space that has recently been devoted to drought.
• The amount of traffic, of large scale tankers, that would be needed to ship water and toxic chemicals in, and subsequently contaminated, toxic &, I was instructed, radioactive, flowback water out. The Fylde is a semi-rural area of small towns with small roads that were not intended for use with such traffic. The potential for road traffic accidents & spills must also be considered.
• The Fylde is not a sparsely populated, wide-open space in which the impact of extraction would be minimal; it is an intensely populated, semi-rural area in which agriculture is a mainstay of the local economy. Financial and environmental damage must be considered. Any sort of environmental or industrial accident would decimate the area for generations.

Please could you tell me your opinion & knowledge of the above concerns.

You have written to me previously (27/09/11) & stated:

“The positive projections must be backed up by a strict safety regimen & close regulation by the appropriate departments”.........”I would point out that Britain has an extremely proud record of regulation of energy industries, particularly in the North Sea, and I'm sure that this process will be very closely monitored to ensure the highest possible safety standards.”

However, information given last Friday's meeting by the independent consultant, Mike Hill, would suggest that, far from being closely monitored & scrutinised, there is little scrutiny, no monitoring & inadequate regulation. He detailed the attention that has been provided to date by The H.S.E., The E.A. & DECC. and none of these bodies appear to have made the sort of unannounced, detailed checks on the process & safety of drilling, that I, as a lay-person, would expect the authorities to be providing on my behalf. The lack of regulation & accountability is staggering, especially considering that this is a fledgling operation at the beginning of an exponential increase in the numbers of wells.

Please can you tell me the Government's intentions for ensuring that this process is properly regulated.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.