That was the title of an event I attended at the Scottish Parliament last Tuesday, organised by Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES). The event featured a presentation and disscussion by Dr. Mariann Lloyd-Smith.
A policy advisor on chemicals and waste management Dr. Lloyd-Smith has served on the UN Expert Group on Climate Change and Chemicals and the Technical Advisory Group of Australia's industrial chemical regulator, and authored Australian Government waste management plans. Her work has been published widely and her experience will be directly relevant to public policy on energy and industrial waste in Scotland.
During the presentation she related to her own experience of living near an area in eastern Australia, which had become a hot-bed for Coal Bed Methane (CBM) or Coal Seam Gas (CSG) as it is known in Australia. She also spoke about fracking, which is more prevalent in Western Australia. Of course sometimes the two are related as CBM projects can be fracked following initial gas extraction.
I'll outline here some of the key points that came out of the event.
As I reported in my previous post, Dart Energy's flagship CBM project is based near Airth near Falkirk. They have a presense throughout the UK, but this is their most advanced project. However it seems that increasing public opposition is throwing a proverbial spanner in the works. Public opposition was something that Dr Mariann focused on.
In Australia, a movement called 'lock the gate' was formed. This was based on a facet of Australian law in which no one could enter a locked gate. The movement became highly successfull in pushing out the gas companies and became a model for community solidarity.
How the process worked was that if say a gas company wanted to exploit on a farmers land, all the farmers in the area would come together and oppose the proposal. Any local citizens would also come together and join the opposition - effectively 'locking the gate' against the gas company. Indeed the process has been so successful that the gas companies are moving their operations elsewhere. And guess what. The UK is a prime market.
So could community solidarity hold the key to defeating the gas companies in this country? There is no reason to suggest that it couldn't. If communities followed the Australian model, they could become a real thorn in the side of the gas companies. This is how it works:
- Gas company is granted Petrolium Exploration and Development (PEDL) Licence by Dept. of Energy & Climate change (DECC)
- Public becomes aware of impending incursion by gas company
- A protest group is formed which then canvases on a door to door basis informing all local residents of the situation. This is important. The real key here is approaching people on a face to face basis and making them aware of the facts.
In the Falkirk area Falkirk Against Unconventional Gas (FAUG) was formed to oppose Dart's operations. Similary in Lancashire, where Caudrilla Resources are expanding their fracking operations, Ribble Estuary Against Fracking have mobilised an opposition group.
Health Issues
In the US, the impacts on human health from fracking operations have become highly contentious. In Australia, similar concerns have been raised in areas where CSG operations have been conducted. As result, the Federal Government has imposed a 2k exclusion zone around drilling operations. This is another reason why gas companies are finding Australia unconducive the their 'interests'.
One of the key sources of medical problems is flaring, which releases hydrogen sulfide, methane and BTEX chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, andxylene) into the air, as well as metals such as mercury, arsenic and chromium. The US EPA will ban flaring in 2015.
Then there is the issue of contaminated water. Large holding ponds need to be created in order to contain the water and chamicals recovered from flowback fluids after a well has been fracked. Similary CBM must recover huge quantities of water, which are very high in dissolved solids i.e extremly salty. These waters are difficult to recycle and can't be fully purified.
The UK Government was quizzed by Dr Mariann on how waste water would be disposed of. They didn't have an answer!
Dart energy was also challanged on their claim that they didn't use chemicals in the CBM process. They were forced to admit that they did. Why did they not disclose this? They didn't want to alarm the public!
And its not just the public who are vulnerable to health risks. It has been identified that workers within the industry can develop silicosis: 'Exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) over a long period can cause fibrosis (hardening or scarring) of the lung tissue with a consequent loss of lung function. Sufferers are likely to have severe shortness of breath and may find it difficult or impossible to walk even short distances or up stairs. The effect continues to develop after exposure has stopped and is irreversible. Sufferers usually become house- or bed-bound and often die prematurely due to heart failure'.
Sand (which is basically silica) is used as a propant during fracking in order to keep the fractures open after the hydraulic fracturing process, assisting the release of the gas. A report by Michigan State University highlights the risks involved.
I could go on but clearly this industry needs to be stopped in its tracks. Greenpeace has developed an interactive map which details where PEDL licences have been granted in the UK. So if you're affected, Get Active!
And finally, watch Dr Mariann speak on Newsnight Scotland.
This post was updated with extra detail and links on 27 May 2013
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