A bad week for fracking – the Defra report in full – the Lancashire County Council report and another study on the chemicals used in the process. Links to the decisions and reports

Lancashire County Council reject fracking application by Cuadrilla

Guardian ‘Nine of the councillors on the 14-strong development control committee voted in favour of a motion to reject the application on grounds of visual impact and unacceptable noise, and also rejected a related application for an array to monitor seismic activity. The long-delayed decision by councillors follows their rejection last week on traffic grounds of a bid by Cuadrilla to frack at another site, Roseacre Wood, between Preston and Blackpool.  Planning officers had earlier this month recommended the council reject Roseacre Wood but approve Preston New Road. Councillors said the grounds for refusing the application for a monitoring array at Preston New Road was that it ran contrary to planning policy EP11, in the respect that “the cumulative effect of the proposal would lead to the industrialisation of the countryside and adversely affect the landscape character.”

Defra release their report published in full on Shale Gas & Rural Economy

Defra report published in full having lost a freedom of information challenge made by Caroline Lucas. The previously published report had 63 chunks of text redacted.

Guardian Fracking operations to extract shale gas in Britain could cause nearby house prices to fall by up to 7% and create a risk of environmental damage, according to a government report that has been published in full for the first time. Entitled Shale Gas Rural Economy Impacts, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) document was released on Wednesday after a freedom of information battle.

An official assessment of the impact of fracking, it warned that leakage of waste fluids could affect human health through polluted water or the consumption of contaminated agricultural products.

ChemTrust Report on Fracking and toxic chemicals 

ChemTrust ‘Due to our concerns about fracking, CHEM Trust commissioned a detailed examination of the chemical pollution impacts of fracking.

The findings of this examination are summarised in our briefing “Fracking pollution: How toxic chemicals from fracking could affect wildlife and people in the UK and EU“, which also includes discussion of the latest developments and includes our recommendations for the future.

For a more in-depth examination of the evidence, see our detailed “Chemical Pollution from Fracking” report.’

http://www.chemtrust.org.uk/fracking/