North Yorkshire county council planning
committee report on the application to drill using hydraulic fracturing of
shale rock to obtain natural gas (“fracking”) at Kirby Misperton in the
North Ridinghas been reported to be comprehensive in scope.
Fracking promoters are urging councillors
give the green light (“Campaigners blast “desperate”
tactics on eve of fracking meeting,” Yorkshire Post 19 May, http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/campaigners-blast-desperate-tactics-on-eve-of-fracking-meeting-1-7919141)
I
have read the 252 page committee report, and it omits two key environmental and
health aspects: release of radioactive radon gas into the natural gas stream,
(although naturally occurring radioactive materials, otherwise known as NORM,
are discussed at para 3.43, and by the Environment Agency - Yorkshire Area Oil
and Gas Team submission at para 4.17; and radon is mentioned in passing at para
3.77) and use of endocrine disrupter fracking fluids.
This
is what Public Health England’s final report Review of the potential Public
Health Impacts of Exposures to Chemical and Radioactive Pollutants as a Result
of Shale Gas Extraction Process - published in October 2014 - stated: "If the natural gas
delivery point were to be close to the extraction point with a short transit
time, radon present in the natural gas would have little time to decay...there
is therefore the potential for radon gas to be present in natural
gas extracted from UK shale." (http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1317140158707)
Extraordinarily,
PHE scandalously stated in its response on 15 September 2015 to the
consultation, that it had “ no significant concerns regarding the risk to
the health of the local population from the installation”.
Moreover, an article in
the Washington Post on April 10 last year (“Rise of deadly radon gas in
Pennsylvania buildings linked to fracking industry,
(”www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/04/09/rise-of-deadly-radon-gas-in-pennsylvania-buildings-linked-to-fracking-industry/). reported a detailed study in the journal, Environmental
Health Perspective, that revealed a “disturbing correlation” between
unusually high levels of radon gas in mostly residences and fracking that has
become the industry standard over the past decade.
The researchers found
that, in the same areas of the state of Pennsylvania as the fracking
operations, there was a generally higher reading of radon - with about 42% of
the readings higher than what is considered safe by federal standards.
The researchers also
discovered that radon levels spiked overall in 2004, at about the same time
fracking activity began to pick up.
Over
two years ago, academic researchers at the University of Missouri, released the
results of research they had conducted into the known chemicals used in
fracking. Their research paper, Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Activities of Hydraulic
Fracturing Chemicals and Surface and Ground Water in a Drilling-Dense Region,
published in the journal Endocrinology.( Volume 155 Issue 3 - March
2014 http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/en.2013-1697),
found higher levels of hormone-disrupting ('gender-bender) activity in water
located near fracking wells than in areas without drilling.
The
planning committee should investigate and publicly report on these concerns.
Public Papers
|
|||
Size
|
Format
|
||
155KB
|
 |
||
3MB
|
|
||
17MB
|
|
||
231KB
|
|
||
191KB
|
|
||
919KB
|
 |
||
667KB
|
|
||
291KB
|
|
||
1MB
|
|
||
No comments:
Post a Comment