UK government refused to ease rules regulating threshold for earthquakes caused by fracking companies' operations, despite the industry's appeal, local media reported on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2019) UK government refused to ease rules regulating threshold for earthquakes caused by fracking companies' operations, despite the industry's appeal, local media reported on Thursday.Earlier this week, petrochemical producers Cuadrilla and Ineos urged the authorities to review strict regulations, claiming that they hinder their work. The Oil and Gas Authority has Traffic Light System (TLS) regulations in place that limit seismic vibration ground levels to 0.5 magnitude Richter scale.
According to the Guardian newspaper, the government clarified that the limits would not be reviewed.
"The government has given the industry significant support to develop while ensuring that our world-leading regulations remain in place to ensure fracking happens safely and responsibly. We set these regulations in consultation with industry and we have no plans to review them," a spokesperson at the Department for business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, as quoted by the publication.
According to the most recent energy poll ordered by the BEIS and released earlier in the day, the share of UK citizens opposing fracking has increased to 35 percent, while the share of those supporting the technology fell to 13 percent.
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.
