I was in attendance at the Balcombe Community Protection Camp for the entire summer, protesting, running the information tent & taking care of the finances as Treasurer. We had quite a contingent from Dorset and we have since formed Frack-Free Dorset to defend against the plans that are threatening our area.
The initial planning permissions have been requested from Dorset County Council by Infrastrata plc in respect of a site known as California Quarry which is owned by a man called Mr. Suttle who has a quarry nearby. Objections must be raised before the 14th of November 2013.
We visited the site on 26th of October & were horrified to hear that the present tenant farmer has been asked to vacate the land to permit Mr. Suttle to take up “an offer he couldn’t refuse”. Access to the site is via road through Corfe Castle village and passes through a small housing estate leading to a steep dirt track. Having witnessed, first hand, the size, weight and number of large lorries & articulated vehicles that were required to initiate the drilling work undertaken at Balcombe we are extremely concerned for the disturbances that the residents of Swanage will suffer. Light pollution is 24/7 on this kind of well pad and once drilling actually commences the noise is tremendous, continuing throughout the night. All wildlife vacates immediately. We were shocked to notice that for the duration of the test drilling there was no dawn chorus…. the birds had literally vanished.
I cannot stress enough how worried we are that Infrastrata plc will persuade Dorset County Council to accept their proposals and initiate this destructive and dangerous new form of drilling. Fracturing shale requires vast quantities of water, sand & an undisclosed chemical formula to be forced at very high pressures into the rock. They drill straight down for a considerable distance and then horizontally for miles under the sea and land including peoples homes. The impact of this depends upon the geology. The effects can be devastating, as has been experienced in Dakota, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Canada & Australia. One principal complaint from all of these areas is that water aquifers become polluted and methane gas migrates to the surface in uncontrolled (& WORSE) unadmitted fissures. Some Oil & Gas companies in the USA, particularly, have settled damages claims out of court, with “gagging” provisos preventing those affected from publishing their experiences.
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Frances Leader
