Graham Evans MP holds Q and A session on Fracking.
On Friday night over 150 residents from Frodsham and the surrounding areas attended a meeting on Fracking.
“In December last year, the 14th round of licences were given out,” explained Graham, “these licenses allow companies to begin exploratory investigations to find out if it is commercial viable to release gas deep in the ground through the process commonly termed fracking. Frodsham and the surrounding area now has one of these licences and I therefore wanted to organise a meeting for constituents so that they could learn more about the process and procedures around fracking.
“It’s important that a meeting such as this should be informative and balanced,” said Graham, “ I therefore invited representatives from the regulatory bodies who oversee this industry as well as a Professor of Structural Engineering who specialises in water contamination and a local charted surveyor and valuer to speak on the potential impact to peoples’ homes and businesses as well as representatives from Ineos the company who holds the license.”
In his opening remarks, Graham Evans reiterated his view on this subject saying, “I see the reasoning behind it as we do need to ensure we secure our energy supplies. However, I could not and would not agree to anything which would affect the health, safety and wellbeing of my constituents as well as their homes, businesses or our natural environment. “
Ineos CEO, Tom Pickering, explained the UK chemical industry is in decline due to energy competitiveness as other countries can rely on cheaper sources of gas than that which we import, and many local jobs are in this sector and need protecting. Professor Jackson spoke mostly about the worry of water contamination should the integrity of the well be compromised, and the regulatory bodies sought to reassure the audience by explaining how high the safety standards and regulations are in this country.
This meeting follows on from the previous meeting held in November for Helsby residents on the same subject. After each panel member had up to 5minutes to talk on their specific area of expertise, Graham who hosted the event, opened the meeting to questions from the floor.
Questions were many and varied and after around 2 hours of questions the meeting closed at 9.30pm.
“I am pleased that so many residents attended Friday’s meeting,” concluded Graham, “I have already written to the Minister with various concerns I have, and I shall write again with questions and concerns following tonight’s meeting. In addition, I have recently spoken in a House of Commons debate on the role of UK Manufacturing in the sector and stressed once more that whilst we can all appreciate the potential benefits of fracking in terms of a cleaner energy and job creation the safety and wellbeing of residents and the environment is paramount.”
The Panel included: on the photo from left to right
Eddy Cottrell BSc MRICS, Chartered Surveyor and Valuer
Tom Crotty, Ineos
Tom Pickering, Ineos
Professor Robert Jackson bsC, Eur Ing, CEng, FICE, FCIWEM, FGS, PhD, FIStructE
George Kowalczyk, Public Health England
Trevor Sexty, Helath and Safety Executive
Gordon Whitaker, Environment Agency