The Peak District appears to be safe from fracking thanks to a last minute change to a government bill.
After a bad weak for the shale gas industry in which the Environmental Audit Committee recommended a moratorium on fracking and council planning officers in Lancashire recommend the rejection of two drilling licenses in Fylde, the government was forced to announce an outright ban on fracking in National Parks.
With two thirds of the country licensed for the controversial procedure Glossopdale and The Vale of Edale were at risk of being fracked.
The operation of a fracking site involves up to fifty heavy vehicle movements a day as well as air pollution and the risk of groundwater contamination. Shale gas is a fossil fuel which contributes to climate change as does the methane which inevitably leaks from fracking operations. The United Kingdom only high pressure frack in the United Kingdom, at Preece Hall in Lancashire, caused an earth tremor which a fractured the well head that Cuadrilla Resources couldn’t fix and didn’t report for six months.
Several campaigners from Glossop were involved in opposing test drilling at Barton moss in Salford last winter.
Lancashire Council votes on Cuadrilla’s application on Wednesday 28th January.
Martin Porter, from Glossop, said “The battle to save the Peak District from fracking was fought at Barton Moss and won Lancashire. If Lancashire Council reject Cuadrilla’s application for the first license to extract fracked gas it will be a body blow to the industry.”
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