Victoria's Green Matters - 10th Nov 2011

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:

The recent report into the cause of the earth tremors in Lancashire earlier this year has concluded that they were very probably caused by hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Operations were halted after the tremors occurred until after the report has been sent to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the British Geological Survey.

The process of fracking unlocks gas that is stored underground in cracks in rocks and this is achieved by injecting water and chemicals into the ground, under high pressure, to force the gas out. The process itself is fraught with dangers. Regardless of the possible structural damage, the chemicals used can contaminate ground water, large amounts of greenhouse gases can be released to the atmosphere and vast quantities of water are needed for the process.

Much is being made of the large amounts of gas that are to be found in several areas around the UK. Companies set to make large amounts of money out of the process try to tell us that this gas is a ‘green’ option as burning gas releases only half of the greenhouse emissions that coal produces. Together with the gases released during fracking this is clearly not so.

The possibility of this process coming to Woodnesborough rests on the outcome of a planning application for an exploratory borehole due to be considered by Kent County Council next month. Please write to your MP and your local councillor objecting to this application - KCC/DO/0069/2011 – and please do it now!