This compilation picks up on the recently announced EAC review, a recent report on the health effects of fracking based on American experience and a hostile anti-fracking article in the Ecologist which sets out a whose who of positions.
Environmental Audit Committee start review of risk from fracking on the environment including water, air and the wider environment
The Committee is undertaking an inquiry on the risks from fracking operations in the UK, including potential risks to water supplies and water quality, emissions, habitats and biodiversity, and geological integrity; (b) necessary environmental safeguards, including through the planning/permitting system; and (c) the implications for our carbon emissions reduction obligations. Written submissions by 31st December
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/inquiries/parliament-2010/environmental-risks-of-fracking-inquiry/
Chemicals from fracking pose “serious health risks” to pregnant women, babies, and children, a new study has claimed
Business Green – Centre for Environmental Health Research published in the peer-reviewed journal Reviews on Environmental Health today finds fracking operations use and create chemicals linked to birth defects, infertility, miscarriage, impaired foetal growth, low birth weight, preterm birth, and premature or delayed sexual development, among other health problems.
During fracking, chemicals, sand and waters are blasted into the ground at high pressure to shatter rock formations and release shale gas and oil.
The report’s authors, from the non-profit Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in California and the Institute for Health and the Environment at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany, find more than 750 chemicals may be used in fracking operations, many of which are “routinely released” into the environment, posing a potential threat to nearby communities.
Chemicals from fracking pose “serious health risks” to pregnant women, babies, and children, a new study has claimed.
Fracking is safe. Radiation is harmless. And pigs have wings
‘Ecologist – David Lowry – ‘Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos, Environment Secretary Liz Truss, the Environment Agency and its ex-boss Lord Smith all suffer from a blind spot, writes David Lowry – the dangers of fracking, its radioactive emissions and the toxic chemicals that threaten to pollute our aquifers. As for official advice that ‘regulation needs to be strongly and robustly applied’ – pass the Tippex!
More than 700 chemicals are used in the fracking process, and many of them disturb hormone function. With fracking on the rise, populations may face greater health risks from increased endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure.
Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe yesterday announced his company’s £640 million new investment into hydraulic fracturing of shale gas, asserting:
“Ineos has also hired some of the world’s leading shale gas experts to make sure the gas can be safely extracted in an environmentally responsible way.”
He echoed similar statements by the independent peer Lord Smith of Finsbury – until 2005 Chris Smith, Labour MP for Islington South & Finsbury – made during an interview on BBC TV’s The Daily Politics programme.
More recently Smith has been the chairman of the Environment Agency, holding the post for five years until he retired at the end of June 2014. He was also Tony Blair’s shadow environment secretary from 1992-94, and went on to shadow the health portfolio.
At issue was Smith’s new role as chairperson of an ‘independent’ inquiry into fracking, the Shale Gas Task Force – which will be funded by the fracking industry. He insisted that fracking would be “safe” if properly regulated. To read the article click here
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