UK-based Cuadrilla company, engaged in exploring and developing shale gas in the country, said on Tuesday that it had suspended fracking works at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire for 18 hours after registering a 1.5-magnitude seismic activity in the area.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) UK-based Cuadrilla company, engaged in exploring and developing shale gas in the country, said on Tuesday that it had suspended fracking works at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire for 18 hours after registering a 1.5-magnitude seismic activity in the area."A series of micro seismic events in Blackpool have been recorded on the British Geological Survey website this morning following hydraulic fracturing at our shale gas exploration site in Preston New Road, Lancashire ... The largest recorded was 1.5ML (local magnitude) at about 11.20am ... Cuadrilla will pause and continue to monitor micro seismicity for at least the next 18 hours, in line with the traffic light system regulations," the company said in a statement.
The statement added that fracturing operations had finished before earth tremor happened.
The UK Oil and Gas Authority requires the companies to stop fracking in case of any seismic activity above 0.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. Activity below magnitude 0.5 requires them to proceed with caution.
Cuadrilla suspended its fracking works in the United Kingdom in 2011, admitting that its activity was likely to have caused two earthquakes outside Blackpool. In 2014, it applied for a permit to resume fracking with the Lancashire county council, which gave its consent despite public protests.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique for extracting shale gas and oil by injecting pressurized toxic liquid into the ground. Opponents of hydraulic fracturing argue the process poses numerous health, safety and environmental risks, including the potential for fracking fluids and waste to leak into water as well as seismic activity risks.
