1-20 of 66 results for subject:Fracking
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Q10
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Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con):
I thank the Prime Minister for sticking by her words and giving communities in Fylde the final say on fracking, but as always the devil is in the detail. Will the Prime Minister assure me that local consent will be measured independently and transparently, that in no circumstances will fracking companies be directly engaged in assessing local consent, and that if people in Fylde say no, that view and that decision will be respected and acted on by this Government?
Q10
.
Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con):
I thank the Prime Minister for sticking by her words and giving communities in Fylde the final say on fracking, but as always the devil is in the detail. Will the Prime Minister assure me that local consent will be measured independently and transparently, that in no circumstances will fracking companies be directly engaged in assessing local consent, and that if people in Fylde say no, that view and that decision will be respected and acted on by this Government?
I agree very strongly with my hon. Friend. I know he cares deeply about this issue. I assure him that we will consult on a robust system of local consent and give clear advice on seismic limits and safety before any fracking takes place. The consultation will consider all the relevant people—the regional Mayors, the local authorities and parishes—and the concerns of those who are directly affected. My right hon. Friend the Business Secretary will say more about this later today.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the UK economy of the shale gas industry to date.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the UK economy of the shale gas industry to date.
The shale gas industry has the potential to provide the UK with a new domestic energy source, reducing our need for imports, providing more jobs, and contributing to economic growth. However, the industry is at the very early stages of exploration and we do not yet know how much of the UK’s shale resources can be extracted technically or economically and what the contribution to the UK economy could be.
We will continue to support responsible companies, working within our stringent regulatory regime, who are prepared to invest in this industry as they proceed with the exploration process, to test the size and value of the potential reserves.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the economy of Fylde of the shale gas industry to date.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the economy of Fylde of the shale gas industry to date.
The Government believes that communities should experience direct benefits from hosting hydraulic fracturing sites in their area. At the exploration stage, £100,000 in community benefits will be provided per well-site when hydraulic fracturing takes place and 1% of revenues at production stage will be paid out to communities.
I am pleased to see that these benefits are already being realised from Cuadrilla’s operations in Lancashire. Cuadrilla has spent almost £9million directly with suppliers based in Lancashire, has over 700 local companies registered with its supplier portal and has provided over £200,000 for local sponsorship schemes.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of shale gas extraction on (a) domestic and (b) commercial energy tariffs.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of shale gas extraction on (a) domestic and (b) commercial energy tariffs.
It is not yet known how much of the UK shale gas resource will ultimately be recoverable, or what rates of extraction, deliverability or reliability could be assumed if shale sources are found to be viable. Therefore the impact on energy tariffs has not been assessed to date.
The Government will continue to monitor progress of the shale gas industry and will revise its estimates, as appropriate, as the industry develops.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of noise levels at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site since the commencement of (a) exploratory drilling and (b) exploratory fracturing.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of noise levels at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site since the commencement of (a) exploratory drilling and (b) exploratory fracturing.
Lancashire Country Council and the Environment Agency are jointly responsible for noise level assessments under planning conditions and environmental permit conditions.
Flaring operations are currently the only activity regulated under an environmental permit that noise could be attributed to. The Environment Agency carefully considered emissions from noise and vibrations during its environmental permit determination and concluded that they are not an issue due to the design of the flare, the location of the site, and the level of background noise.
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of planning permission breaches at the Preston New Road Shale gas site since the commencement of exploratory drilling.
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of planning permission breaches at the Preston New Road Shale gas site since the commencement of exploratory drilling.
The Department does not record centrally the number of breaches of planning control that may have occurred at any particular development site. Enforcement action against any suspected breaches of planning control is a matter for local planning authorities. Local authorities who wish to take enforcement action against breaches of planning control can bid for resources from the Department’s £1.6 million shale support funding scheme.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to monitor emissions from shale gas sites once they have been decommissioned.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to monitor emissions from shale gas sites once they have been decommissioned.
The Environment Agency requires monitoring of the environmental conditions at shale gas sites before operations can start in accordance with the environmental permit granted. This provides a valuable evidence base to compare against monitoring results taken during and after operations. The type and period of monitoring required after decommissioning is determined on a site by site basis. It will depend on the risks associated with the type and scale of activities at a particular site, together with the local environmental setting.
The Environment Agency will not allow an operator to surrender their permit until it is satisfied that the well has been decommissioned in line with the Health and Safety Executive's requirements and either no pollution has occurred at a site, or if it has, that the site has been returned to its original condition.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential air quality effects of shale gas extraction since the completion of the Air Quality Expert Group report n that subject in 2015.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential air quality effects of shale gas extraction since the completion of the Air Quality Expert Group report n that subject in 2015.
The report, “Potential Air Quality Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction in the UK”, prepared by the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) was published on 27 July and no further assessment of air quality impacts from this activity has been carried out.
However, in line with the AQEG recommendations, the Environment Agency (EA) continues to monitor air quality around identified exploration sites before, during and after activities and they provide strict guidance that operators must adhere to.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the waste water disposal system at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the waste water disposal system at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site.
Environmental permits issued by the Environment Agency set legally binding conditions. The permit at Preston New Road allows for hydraulic fracturing fluid that returns to the surface, known as flowback fluid, to be reused and recycled onsite in the process. Flowback fluid that cannot be recycled will become waste, and must be taken offsite for treatment at appropriately licensed waste water treatment facilities.
Waste flowback is not expected to be produced at the site until further into the fracturing programme. At that time the Environment Agency plan to carry out a full audit of flowback storage, sampling and disposal.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the level of compliance by Cuadrilla Resources with relevant environmental restrictions at its shale gas site at Preston New Road.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the level of compliance by Cuadrilla Resources with relevant environmental restrictions at its shale gas site at Preston New Road.
The Environment Agency has been carrying out regular inspections, audits and unannounced spot checks to ensure that Cuadrilla is compliant with the legally binding conditions in the environmental permit.
Cuadrilla had a small number of non-compliances with their environmental permit in 2017, mostly for procedural matters. This is not uncommon for industrial sites after site inspections and audits. In these instances the Environment Agency has provided advice and guidance to ensure full compliance with the permits. In response Cuadrilla has implemented the required improvements. So far in 2018, no permit non-compliances have been recorded.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment his Department has made of geological activity in Fylde (a) since the commencement of exploratory drilling at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site and (b) prior to such drilling.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment his Department has made of geological activity in Fylde (a) since the commencement of exploratory drilling at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site and (b) prior to such drilling.
This is publicly available information:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/groundwater/shaleGas/monitoring/lancashire.html.
Motion that this House has considered local involvement in shale gas development. Agreed to on question. Sitting adjourned without Question put.
Motion that this House has considered local involvement in shale gas development. Agreed to on question. Sitting adjourned without Question put.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many onsite inspections the Environment Agency has conducted at Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since July 2017
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many onsite inspections the Environment Agency has conducted at Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since July 2017
There have been ten visits to Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since July 2017.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the level of compliance with relevant environmental restrictions by Cuadrilla Resources’ at its shale gas site at Preston New Road.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the level of compliance with relevant environmental restrictions by Cuadrilla Resources’ at its shale gas site at Preston New Road.
The Environment Agency assesses that to date Cuadrilla have been in general compliant with their permit conditions.
The Environment Agency expects full compliance against Environmental Permits but it is not uncommon for industrial sites to have minor non compliances after site inspections and audits.
The Environment Agency has raised concerns over the management of surface water on site and has asked the operator to address this as a matter of priority.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many unannounced onsite inspections the Environment Agency has conducted at Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since July 2017.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many unannounced onsite inspections the Environment Agency has conducted at Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since July 2017.
There have been two unannounced visits to Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site at Preston New Road since July 2017.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Public Health England on updating its report of 2014 on the effect of shale gas on public health.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Public Health England on updating its report of 2014 on the effect of shale gas on public health.
Public Health England (PHE) reviews the evidence base on the health impacts of chemical and radiological emissions associated with shale gas extraction as it emerges, considering the available evidence as a whole. Currently, PHE has not identified any significant new evidence that would make the Department change its view that the potential risks to public health from exposure to emissions associated with shale gas extraction will be low if operations are properly run and regulated. This means that good on-site management and appropriate regulation of all aspects from exploratory drilling, gas capture, use and storage of fracking fluid, and post-operations decommissioning are essential to minimise the risk to the environment and public health. If significant new evidence emerged this would be discussed with the Department of Health and other Government departments.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times ambulances attended incidents on the A583 at or outside Cuadrilla Resources' shale gas site on that road in July 2017.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times ambulances attended incidents on the A583 at or outside Cuadrilla Resources' shale gas site on that road in July 2017.
We are advised by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust that there were six occasions during July 2017 where ambulances attended incidents on the A583 at or outside Cuadrilla Resources' shale gas site.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times ambulances called to attended incidents on the A583 at or outside Cuadrilla Resources' shale gas site in July 2017 transferred patients for further treatment in hospital.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times ambulances called to attended incidents on the A583 at or outside Cuadrilla Resources' shale gas site in July 2017 transferred patients for further treatment in hospital.
We are advised by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust that there were two occasions in July 2017 when ambulances called to attend incidents on the A583 at or outside Cuadrilla Resources’ shale gas site transferred patients for further treatment in hospital.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what reports his Department has received of incidents of unreasonable behaviour towards North West Ambulance Service staff at or outside Cuadrilla Resources' shale gas site on the A583.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what reports his Department has received of incidents of unreasonable behaviour towards North West Ambulance Service staff at or outside Cuadrilla Resources' shale gas site on the A583.
This information is not held centrally.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times ambulances on (a) blue light response and (b) non-blue light response had to take an alternative route as a result of traffic disruption on the A583 in July 2017.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times ambulances on (a) blue light response and (b) non-blue light response had to take an alternative route as a result of traffic disruption on the A583 in July 2017.
This information is not held centrally.