The leadership of the UK Labour Party wrote a letter to UK Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom calling on the government to ban controversial fracking operations that recently triggered the biggest tremor ever recorded in the country
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2019) The leadership of the UK Labour Party wrote a letter to UK business Secretary Andrea Leadsom calling on the government to ban controversial fracking operations that recently triggered the biggest tremor ever recorded in the country.Earlier in August, energy company Cuadrilla suspended its fracking activities on Preston New Road, located in the UK coastal city of Blackpool,� due to frequent earthquakes triggered by the company's operations. On Monday, a tremor measuring 2.9 local magnitude on the Richter scale was recorded near Blackpool and is believed to be the biggest fracking-related tremor felt in the United Kingdom.
"We are calling on you to immediately ban fracking, and the Labour Party will work with the Government to swiftly introduce legislation to that effect," the letter released on Tuesday read.
The letter was signed by Labour Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey, and Shadow Minister for Climate Justice and Green Jobs Danielle Rowley.
The lawmakers further noted that "fracking is inconsistent with achieving net zero emissions, increases air pollution, and presents contamination risks from spills and mismanagement of wastewater."
Hydraulic fracturing, which is a process of injecting a high-pressure mix of water and chemicals into shale rock to extract gas, has raised concerns about earth tremors and the practice's environmental impacts, making it difficult for companies to obtain drilling permits.
The UK government claims that shale gas extraction could benefit the national economy and contribute to London's net-zero emissions goals, and that the country had "world-leading regulations" guaranteeing the safety and environmental responsibility of shale gas exploitation.
