Ribble Estuary Against Fracking

New REAF Website

2012-01-31T21:17:00.002Z

Sadly we are leaving Blogger. It served us well but REAF have outgrown its limited features... The Good News is ...

Here is our new site!

Please accept our apologise and thank you for your patience whilst we get the historic data from Blogger transferred over in addition to adding the latest links and articles. We hope to be up to speed real soon!

BGS: Contamination "extremely unlikely"

2012-01-15T22:03:00.004Z

Next in the series of reports by BBC North West...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg-qhKdZD_g

The British Geological Survey say that it is 'extremely unlikely' that contamination can occur? As John Bailey of CROP comments - 'extremely unlikely' is just not good enough. Once contaminated, even by accident, polluted aquifers are non recoverable.

Here is the response from Frack Off in a recent email;

The experience of fracking the United States clearly shows that it causes a huge range of local environmental issues, in addition to its severe effects on the climate system (1) The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found benzene contamination in groundwater near fracked wells (2) A Duke University study has also found methane contamination of groundwater (3) Dr Paul Hetzler a ex-employee of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation has been recently quoted as saying 'Hydraulic fracturing will contaminate New York's aquifers. If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply, here in the north-east you couldn't find a more chillingly effective and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic fracturing.' (4) This not unexpected since a Schlumberger study shows that most wells will eventually start leaking even without fracking (5) Shale Gas brings many more wells and intensive fracking, where a 10-well frac-pad is equivalent to setting off a 4.4 kiloton nuclear bomb underground (6) Is it any wonder that fracking has been linked to a string of magnitude 4 and greater earthquakes in the US over the last year? (7) Due to the very minimal onshore petroleum exploration that has happened in the UK there is almost no regulation at all, unlike some US states with long experience of petroleum exploration where they at least they have some limitations on drilling near houses and water sources etc (8)

1 Shale gas: a provisional assessment of climate change and environmental impacts
http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/sites/default/files/coop_shale_gas_report_final_200111.pdf

2 Investigation of ground water contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming
http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/EPA_ReportOnPavillion_Dec-8-2011.pdf

3 Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing
http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/cgc/pnas2011.pdf

4 Fracking will poison New York's drinking water, critics warn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/05/fracking-new-york-poison-claim

5 From mud to cement -- building gas wells
http://www.slb.com/%7E/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors03/aut03/p62_76.ashx

6 If fracking has been happening since 1947 what is there to worry about?
http://frack-off.org.uk/if-fracking-has-been-happening-since-1947-what-is-there-to-worry-about/

7 Ohio Fracking: Earthquakes Could Incite Policy Shift
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/03/ohio-fracking-earthquakes_n_1182079.html

8 Worst Frackng Regulation in Unities States
http://www.scribd.com/doc/72545747/Worst-Fracking-Regs

From the BBC report "Geologists say its important methane and seismic activity are monitored effectively" - yet the following article suggests that is not what is happening!

There is also confusion about how the Caudrilla operation will be overseen. Donald Dobson, HSE's head of discipline, well engineering, says in a letter to former oil and gas engineer Mike Hill, that it is financially impossible to check each well.

"Verification of an individual well is not the role of the HSE. The resource implications would be immense."

There is also disagreement between officials at the EA over how many times Cuadrilla has been visited randomly. In one letter, Mark Goucher, an EA customer services operator, says that all of its eight sampling visits "have been unannounced". But Stuart Mcdonald of the agency says. "We have made one unannounced out of eight sampling visits." By contrast, Cuadrilla chief executive Mark Miller says: "The EA makes random visits two to three times each month."

Equally, the HSE considers fracking to be low-risk and has only made one site visit. "To date, HSE has conducted one site inspection of Cuadrilla's UK operations. We do not generally make unannounced site visits," says Dobson."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/23/fracking-industry-minimal-regulation-uk?intcmp=122

Rising Tide of protest over Shale Gas

2011-12-06T22:14:00.000Z

In the early hours of Thursday, 1st of December protestors from Bristol group Rising Tide breached security at the Banks Marsh site and scaled the drilling rig. The operators removed the groups banner from the outside of the drill cassette but protestors held fast later into the evening. There where several arrests.

http://soundcloud.com/reaf/bbc-radio-lancashire-01-12-11
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71113300@N08/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-15983592
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/fracking_protesters_storm_rig_1_4020734
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/12/489546.html
https://twitter.com/#!/BrisRisingTide

Interestingly the news team from BBC North West where interviewing REAF members at a nearby location and interupted the filming to get footage of the rig protest. However, neither the rig protest nor REAF where referenced in the resulting report aired on the 2nd December.

In addition REAF have worked closely with Lancs Police on public events and voluntarily attended a de-briefing following the previous rig protest. To date there has been no contact from Lancs Police in relation to this particular incident.

REAF presents at Poulton meeting

2011-12-04T21:21:00.004Z

A crowd of over 150 turned out for a REAF co-hosted event in Poulton on Monday 28th November. Working with CROP [Concerned Residents of Poulton] to impart information and encourage debate, REAF members answered questions from the public on all matters Fracking.

Also on hand to answer questions where representatives from the Environment Agency and for Cuadrilla, staff from PPS Group.

The evening started off with a slideshow explaining the fracking process as well as a series of photos showing the drilling equipment currently in operation as well as some of the sites under development around the Fylde.

Various discussions followed including the implications for the area should planned licences be granted and the effects of semi-industrialisation on house prices and traffic to name but a few. The slideshow was followed by short film Fracking Hell as well as REAF collaboration shorts with Friends of the Earth and The Co-Operative.

Reporters for the evening where the Blackpool Gazette and Radio Lancashire [links below] and filming was by students from the University of Lancaster.

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/business/residents_share_fracking_fears_1_4018537

http://soundcloud.com/reaf/reaf-bbc-radio-lancashire-29-11-11

BBC North West News series mentioned in the radio clip above
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI5Z_3qeKQ0

REAF at Westminster Debate

2011-12-03T10:37:00.001Z

REAF members attended a debate hosted by the Co-operative Group at Portcullis House, Westminster on Wednesday 23rd November.

http://www.uk.coop/nrcc/event/2011/co-operative-group-debate-and-film-screening-gasland

Amongst the panel where Caroline Lucas, Nick Grealy and Paul Monaghan.

It seemed the only people who could comment from a local perspective where REAF members living close to the rig at Banks Marsh and armed with information straight from the operators themselves, REAF where able to debunk some of the touted misconceptions relating to the industry moving forward.

REAF feature on BBC Radio 4 Open Country

2011-12-03T09:54:00.000Z

On Tuesday 22nd November REAF members took part in an interview for the Radio 4 program 'Open Country' - this was conducted at the RSPB viewing point at the end of the Dib Rd and included comment from a BGS Geologist. Its aired on December the 8th or you can catch it on iPlayer on the link above.

REAF feature for Bloomberg News

2011-12-02T11:04:00.000Z

As part of our 'media day' on the 22/11/11 - REAF played host to a Bloomberg News crew covering Fracking in the UK - REAF arranged interviews with several key members local to the drilling site.

One REAF member owns and runs a caravan & camping site and organic farm and is concerned how semi-industrialisation of the area will affect business.

The question is; if gas production goes ahead as planned with an estimated 400 wells in Lancashire, will that create a loss in confidence in supply from an area that is a large contributor to the UK's salad and crops market?

The Bloomberg team then interviewed several other REAF members before leaving for Singleton to report on how the Fracking related earthquakes had shaken houses and people there.

You can watch the report on the Bloomberg News Channel [Sky UK may host this] or see the abridged version and web report here [sorry about the ads!]

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/82016960/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-02/shale-pioneers-plan-next-english-wells-after-frack-causes-quake.html

REAF on BBC Country File

2011-12-02T09:57:00.001Z

Tuesday the 22nd of November was a hectic day for REAF members trying to organise and co-ordinate several media interviews and filming. The most prominent of these being an interview with John Craven for the BBC program Country File - in addition to the Country File team was another film crew who where filming a documentary about John Craven's career, so in fact there where two crews, one interviewing REAF members with John, and another filming them!

This made it quite difficult to get good photo's of the event. John interviewed key members of the REAF team at one of the local residents houses close to the current rig site at Banks Marsh. He was very well informed and showed concern relating to the issues discussed.

The event will be aired on Sunday 04/12/11 starting at 18:25 on BBC1 - there will be a 15 minute slot dedicated to Fracking in Lancashire.

Friends of REAF "The End" release protest track!

2011-11-27T12:58:00.004Z

Possibly the first rock protest against Fracking to be released, friends of REAF rock band "The End" show support for REAF with their punchy track "When are they gonna learn?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk0_i6kBudI

http://soundcloud.com/reaf/when-are-they-gonna-learn

REAF takes Gasland to Bleasdale

2011-11-14T21:55:00.002Z

A sunny remembrance Sunday afternoon at Bleasdale parish hall was the setting for another REAF outreach event which was attended by 45 people from the surrounding area. The event was part funded by the Co-Op who payed the licence fee for a screening of the film 'Gasland'.

The screening was followed by a short recap of REAF's activities so far and an update of events around the Banks Marsh rig. This was followed by a Q & A session with several contributors answering questions that led to further discussion.

Several people at the meeting also took part in short video interviews with a ULCI student who is following the shale gas story for his journalism thesis. Most importantly however, was the agreement with several attendees to form a new group in the Wyre area and REAF are already helping with this, providing mailing details of those who attended the meeting as well as encouraging networking with other groups and offering to share ideas and resources.

REAF featured video on FOE front page!

2011-11-07T21:42:00.001Z

Friends of the Earth release short video made at last months meeting with REAF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahcdnCro7eE

Sign FOE's objection form for Preese Hall planning extension to Lancs County Council!

Hundreds turn out to council hosted debate

2011-11-07T21:18:00.000Z

It was standing room only at the council arranged event at Our Ladies church hall in Tarleton on Friday night (4th Nov) Turnout was greater than many had expected and people standing spilled out into the corridor off the main hall. A panel made up of Cuadrilla representatives, Simon Glover a spokesperson who worked in the drilling industry and Dr John Broderick from the Tyndale Centre. The BBC North West presenter Dave Guest facilitated the meeting and the event was introduced by Councillor Paul Blane.

Most of the questions for Caudrilla came from locals who had concerns about traffic, water contamination and from those trying to get details of their plans for development moving forward. It seemed that majority of those attending where in fact opposed to the companies operations but they weren't the only ones coming under attack as Lancs County Council was heavily criticised for the lack of public consultation prior to planning permission going ahead.

Lancs police had a small presence at the event and REAF members wanting to distribute leaflets where asked to do so only at the exit to the premises.

REAF on BBC Radio Lancashire 02-11-11

2011-11-02T16:05:00.005Z

It was a rather chilly and early start for REAF members who met up with BBC Lancs Radio's Alison Butterworth at approximately 8am for an interview that went live on the stations 'Graham Liver' show.

REAF where contacted literally minutes before the interview with news that protestors from Frack-Off had accessed the nearby Cuadrilla site and scaled the drilling rig staging a banner drop and occupation.

The events undoubtedly added even greater controversy to the continuing issues around Fracking in the UK

Listen to the broadcasts here :-
http://soundcloud.com/reaf/reaf-on-bbc-radio-lancashire
http://soundcloud.com/reaf/reaf-on-bbc-radio-lancashire-1

Read more on Frack-Off :-
http://frack-off.org.uk/press-release-natural-gas-drilling-rig-stormed-by-anti-fracking-protesters/

http://vimeo.com/31483238

Action: Urge your MP's to sign EDM

2011-10-27T07:01:00.002+01:00

Urge your MP's to sign Caroline Lucas' early day motion on Fracking!

"Fracking" has caused serious environmental problems in USA, and its use instead of developing renewable energy, will only increase the likelihood of catastrophic climate change.

We all need to write to our MPs asking them to sign this EDM.

http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2292
http://www.edms.org.uk/2010-11/2292.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Day_Motion

Local MP's web sites / details on the take action page!

http://reafg.blogspot.com/p/take-action-now.html

REAF Hosts Co-Op's Gasland Screening

2011-10-23T21:59:00.001+01:00

A very busy week for REAF highlighted by co-hosting the Co-Op's screening of Gasland at the Blackpool Hilton. The event was well attended by over 130 guests including local and county councillors, Friends of the Earth, The Green Party and of course The Co-Op. Following a short introduction by the hosts, the film by US director Josh Fox gave the audience a lot to discuss in the world cafe style debates which followed, with the hottest table being attended by Cuadrilla executives who fended off quick fire questions and points of concern from those in opposition.

The evenings events where filmed by the Co-Op and footage is to be used in
their wider national campaign which focuses on how the fracking industry may
affect people and the environment, with REAF being just one example of how
locals create opposition groups and manage their own campaign.

REAF information boards and leaflets provided a wealth of material for those attending the event and our representatives took the opportunity to network with other groups, collaborate on future events and unite in our common goals.

Cuadrilla prepare Anna's Road, Westby

2011-10-23T21:01:00.001+01:00

It looks likely that Anna's Road, Westby will be the next location on Cuadrilla's schedule. Work on pad preperation is well underway. This photo was taken late afternoon on Thursday 20th October [click to enlarge]

The 'impenetrable membrane', which appears to be thick bitumen sheeting, can clearly be seen folded over in the foreground and lapped into the gutters around the edge of the pad. Would this be enough to prevent 'undesirable liquids' contaminating neighbouring fields and ground water should a spill occur?

This site is well away from residential housing, the adjacent fields are not used for crops but haylage. There is a small plant hire business close by with the next neighbour being Clifton Fields Caravan Park.

Anna's Road itself is a small single track road badly in need of repair. You would have to go out of your way to find it. Peel Road on the other hand is a narrow but busy and quick link road to Lytham. Increased traffic and turning here will undoubtedly be a cause for concern as well as possible problems for aircraft?

Enthusiastic turn out for REAF film night

2011-10-15T19:38:00.001+01:00

It was a lively turn out for REAF's first community event staged at Banks Leisure Centre. The short film 'Fracking Hell' by The Ecologist Film Unit was shown at several stages throughout the night and numerous info boards and leaflets provided additional information relating to the fracking industry.

There was also a fair amount of healthy debate and fundrasing in the form of tea, cake and a raffle! Doreen, a local resident and REAF member said "We were very pleased with the turn out to our first event. We are planning more outreach events in future to help raise awareness locally"

Members of Friends of the Earth, The Green Party, and Transition Southport also attended.

REAF's next film night will be on Wednesday 26th October at the Tarleton Bowling Club, Sutton Lane, Tarleton. See the events page for more details!

REAF meets FOE UK Chief in Campaign Strategies

2011-10-09T20:00:00.004+01:00

It was a fruitful meeting for REAF this week at Hesketh Banks village hall on Wednesday as the group met Andy Atkins, Friends of The Earth UK Executive Director as well as key members of Southport and Blackpool Green Party, local councillors and Head of Climate Change for FOE, Tony Bosworth.

Friends of the Earth are co-ordinating a wider national campaign and the visit emphasises the importance of this issue and of local groups like REAF, who where offered practical help as well being included in filming and interviews which will be used in the campaign.

All the groups involved will be presents at the Co-Op's screening of "Gasland" on Wednesday October 19th, 6.30pm at the Blackpool Hilton.

Related: This story in the local press

Fracking issue featured on Radio 4

2011-10-06T10:34:00.003+01:00

BBC Radio 4 You and Yours 05-10-11
Featuring Eric Vaughan, Cuadrilla Chief Ops giving simplified explanation of their fracking process, followed by an interview with Kevin Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change and Andrew Morris, a director of Poyry Energy Consulting. Full audio available HERE!

If you tolerate this, then your field may be next!

2011-10-04T17:56:00.009+01:00

One of the barriers in getting the public onboard on this issue has been the fact that people really dont think its going to affect them, unless they are actually within line of site of a rig! Well, you couldn't be more wrong. The operators have a large licence area so theoretically they could apply for planning to the appropriate council, to drill anywhere in that licenced area.

If you live anywhere within the blue square above [PEDL165 CR / AJLUCAS] you might like to consider how this issue will affect you if the operators do indeed start drilling in your back yard?

Not in the North West? See THIS map covering the UK showing licence areas and potential drilling / fracking sites.

DECC Overview map of UK
Overview of all UK oil and gas exploration (fracking sites are green dots) https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/information/bb_updates/maps/landfields_lics.pdf

Licence Data by Block
https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/eng/fox/decc/PED302X/quadrant?QUADRANT_NO=SD

BBC Duped by Bogus Group?

2011-09-25T12:32:00.003+01:00

Both BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC North West who aired this clip featuring controversial statements by Dr Benny Peiser, director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. The statements appear contradictory to those of most environmentally concerned groups?

Phil Thornhill of Campaign Against Climate Change does some investigation and finds theres more to the GWPF than meets the eye!

REAF on BBC Radio Merseyside

2011-09-21T13:49:00.005+01:00

REAF member in live interview with Cuadrilla representative on BBC Radio Merseyside this morning. In the interview Eric Vaughan [Cuadrilla Resources] uses the example of Elswick-1 to try and allay public fears surrounding local gas production however Elswick-1 is a special case and was bought by Cuadrilla in 2010 - was there another motive for this purchase?

REAF on BBC Radio Merseyside 21-09-11 by REAF

Elsewhere in the media today there has been coverage of Cuadrilla's private press conference in Blackpool where they revealed their findings following exploration. Of course REAF members and other supporting groups where waiting outside to welcome them!

Check our channel for todays coverage!

Camp Frack rally call!

2011-09-19T14:00:00.004+01:00

On a sunny Sunday at around 2pm and with a head count of over 140 the rally moved slowly down Shore Rd towards the drill site, much to the bemusement of some locals, car drivers and bus passengers. With representative groups ranging from local residents from REAF, Campaign Against Climate Change, the Green Party and the Co-Op to name but a few. The crowd converged as close to the drilling site as possible and heard speeches from various contributors including those locally affected.

The whole event was peaceful and friendly and police attending commented how well it all went. The whole Camp Frack experience was very positive for REAF who forged network opportunities to go forward with their campaign.

YouTube: Rally Speeches

REAF would like to thank all concerned especially members of Frack Off for all their help and support! More pics in the library!

See http://www.campaigncc.org/ for CACC report on Camp Frack!

Don't call us...

2011-09-19T13:15:00.002+01:00

Greens Environmental tanker filling up down Banks Road, Southport. In a phone conversation with Greens I asked ;

1) How long does it take to fill up?
2) How many times a day are you filling?
3) What effect does filling have on local pressures?
4) Is the frequency of filling likely to increase in the future?

They said they would ring me back....

If planning to go into full production goes through how many of these tankers will be clogging up our roads? Read this report by Frack-Off ...

http://frack-off.org.uk/caudrilla-fracking-fluids-available-at-tesco/

REAF take planning workshop

2011-09-17T23:41:00.001+01:00

REAF had a good turn out today and had lively conversations with visitors to the REAF tent. Different workshops were held throughout the day. Sue McGuire and John Hodson led a well attended impromptu workshop on council planning.

International, national and local climate campaigners spent a fruitful day discussing the myriad issues involved in campaigning against fracking. A sense of community has very definitely been forged and our local group is strengthened by the support of other local and regional groups like Friends of the Earth, Transition Southport and CPRE and by a much wider national community of environmental campaigners.

The Co-operative Group has called for a moratorium on the extraction of natural gas from the UK’s shale formations and group representatives were at the camp talking about the issues.

Contrib by: LG / Edit by: EM