Environmentalists in the United Kingdom are pushing for a total ban on fracking operations alarmed by a succession of earthquakes in Lancashire county in northwest England where the now-suspended Preston New Road shale gas extraction site is located, a spokesperson for Frack Free Lancashire (FFL), Miranda Cox, told Sputnik on Tuesday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2019) Environmentalists in the United Kingdom are pushing for a total ban on fracking operations alarmed by a succession of earthquakes in Lancashire county in northwest England where the now-suspended Preston New Road shale gas extraction site is located, a spokesperson for Frack Free Lancashire (FFL), Miranda Cox, told Sputnik on Tuesday.On Monday, Lancashire experienced the strongest in a row of tremors over the past week with magnitudes varying from 1 to 2.9. In the United Kingdom, the government guidelines stipulate that fracking temporarily cease in the event of an earth tremor above 0.5 in magnitude. Fracking operations at the Preston New Road near the town of Blackpool have been temporarily halted on Wednesday last week.
"Yesterday morning we were rocked by a 2.9 ... which is quite a bit stronger than the one in 2011 which was a 2.3. The oil and gas authority have already suspended fracking operations at Preston New Road until they've done further research, but Cuadrilla are saying they are not going to be deterred in pressing to resume fracking. So as residents we're really concerned about this," Cox said.
According to Cox, regular tremors have become reality for those living in the area, with Monday's quake being just one of multiple earth tremors to have recently taken place.
"In the space of ten days we've had a hundred tremors, some of them very small, but in terms of what we're experiencing we're very concerned at what's happening underground, under our homes and under our infrastructure. So we've called upon Cuadrilla to basically halt, permanently, fracking. We're not convinced this can be done safely and we're not convinced regulations can help us. Since 2011 we've undertaken a lot of research and since they began fracking again last year we've experienced successive tremors and quakes. So we're naturally very concerned," she said.
Environmentalists, in turn, worry that their concerns might be being obscured by the current government's fixation on Brexit, an issue they feel is monopolizing media attention and diverting coverage away from other important issues.
"I would say the government is in a state of paralysis over Brexit. We're naturally concerned about the impact of Brexit upon environmental regulations, but also this debate isn't being covered as much as it could be in the media and it's very difficult to get answers out of elected politicians," Cox said.
She also expressed concerns about UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson having "appointed people to his cabinet who are not naturally inclined to engage with environmental issues in a positive way."
She pledged to continue pressing the government on issues like fracking.
