Fracking - stand up for the wild places you love
Earlier this year the Government promised not to offer licences to frack in places that have environmental protections.
But when they drafted the legislation, it missed out the thousands of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) that protect our natural heritage and cover about 8% of Great Britain, as well as European and Ramsar protections for our most important wetlands.
The draft legislation also allows drilling right next to protected places, and then horizontally underneath.
Fracking involves pumping thousands of gallons of polluted water into the ground. WWT is concerned that some could find its way into wetlands – possibly miles away – through hydrological processes like permeation. Wetland wildlife is very susceptible to water pollution.
That’s one of the reasons why we believe fracking should only happen where research and regulation has proved there is an acceptably low risk to the environment – and that doesn’t include any area with environmental protection. Our full thinking is reflected in the document Are we fit to frack? which we co-commissioned with five other NGOs.
If you feel strongly about this issue, why not write to your MP? There’s some suggested text below for you to copy and paste. You can find out if there is a potential fracking licence near you by checking the Government’s map. To find your local MP, enter your postcode at this link.
Dear XXX,
I am concerned that the Government’s current fracking proposals do not include sufficient safeguards to protect the natural environment.
Please could you oppose the draft Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2015, which are due to go before the House later this year, on three counts.
Firstly they do not preclude fracking within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) which protect our natural heritage. This is despite the Secretary of State’s assurance to the House during the passage of the Infrastructure Bill that fracking would be ruled out in SSSIs. Please hold the Energy Secretary to her promise.
Secondly the Regulations do not preclude fracking in areas protected by the Birds and Habitats Directives, or Ramsar designated wetlands. While these designations already provide legal protection, this new regulation allows that legal protection to be challenged on the basis of ‘public interest’ – ie oil/gas revenue versus wildlife. Please can you consider pressing for these areas to also be precluded.
Thirdly, the new safeguards for fracking in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty appear very weak. They allow fracking horizontally underneath them at a depth below 1,200 metres—an extra buffer of just 200m—providing little in the way of protection for wetlands and water bodies further down the catchment. Please can you consider pressing for fracking to be precluded underneath, as well as within, these areas.
The Government can still make good on its commitments by adding new licensing conditions to rule out fracking in SSSIs, but time is short before the new Regulations are agreed. Unless this happens, I hope you will oppose the draft Regulations.
Yours sincerely
Don't worry if any of that looks a bit technical, let us know at prteam@wwt.org.uk if your MP replies or asks for any further information.
