This January 31st is a national day of action against fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in your community. Dorset has (been) issued nine shale gas exploration licenses which is the pre-cursor to full-blown heavy industrialisation & toxfication of the countryside. If every town & village had at least one participant or banner we would send a clear message to the industry ‘FRACK-OFF’ arr-land!
Quite how fracking is seen as a good idea by anyone other than those with a vested interest is beyond belief. Multi-national corporations and investors are eager to start drilling on the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site and all that we hold dear. Their greed will leave a legacy of pollution, habitat destruction and health issues. Our government has given them protection from environmental and planning laws. In ten years time when the ramifications of their actions becomes clear it will be too late.
If you haven’t yet discovered what fracking is please investigate and join a group – virtual or otherwise. Your local Greens, Friends of the Earth, PEAT and Facebook groups ‘Frack Free Dorset’ and ‘Dorset County – No Fracking Way’ will welcome you with open arms. The above flag makes a great profile picture, window or bumper sticker so what are you waiting for?
Lee Hadaway
Some contributions sent by Ian Sedwell have also been included:
1. Dorset is already host to the largest on-shore oil well complex in Western Europe at Wytch Farm.
2. At least half the blocks allocated cover the Sherwood formations from which the current Wytch Fram is extracted. This formation will not need fracking.
3. The remaining blocks do raise issues of concern and Lee is quite right to draw attention to the risks and dangers.
4. None of the blocks impinge on the Jurassic Coast, other than at Wytch and that has been in safe and more or less environmentally harmonious operation for more than 40 years.
This Shale gas Toolkit may be of some help to understand more including an extraction process timeline.
