• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

The Horror of Fracking and Why We Can’t Regulate it – A Warning!!

By J T Coombes www.globalmagnacarta.com @GMagnaCarta The problem is all in the title. Fracking is all about ‘hydraulic fracturing’ to give it its full title. Simply put it’s a procedure that creates fractures in rocks and their formations deep under the earth, by injecting sand water and chemicals into cracks to force them to open […]

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2014-05-12 10:45
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

By J T Coombes
www.globalmagnacarta.com @GMagnaCarta

The problem is all in the title. Fracking is all about ‘hydraulic fracturing’ to give it its full title. Simply put it’s a procedure that creates fractures in rocks and their formations deep under the earth, by injecting sand water and chemicals into cracks to force them to open further. This allows more oil and gas to come out of the rock formation where it can be extracted. In essence it is putting underground rock formations under high pressure to yield their stores of oil and gas.

Whilst fracking has been around for more than 20 years it has been on a small scale and therefore few problems that we are aware of. However the boom now taking place is changing the whole ball game in its breadth and intensity. America is leading the way and it is here that problems are now beginning to manifest. One retired high ranking oil company executive has gone on record as saying that we do not have the technology at present to make fracking safe, and current proposed regulations are inadequate. So what’s the problem?

Already the US Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a study for a better understanding of any potential dangers to drinking and ground water from the process. Why such a restricted study directed solely at water and not ground erosion of earthquake risk as well? Do they know something we don’t . . . again!

There has been great reticence by fracking companies to disclose the chemicals they use in the process, which include benzene and methanol. Whilst they argue these are household chemicals we keep in the kitchen, which is true, we do not use the massive quantities that fracking requires. Of more pressing concern however, is how to deal with these toxic chemicals when they return to the surface, which they are doing with increasing alarm.

Fracking also seems to have a high social cost that impinges on communities large and small. These translate into clearing large swathes of land, building access roads and drilling structures and encasing the well, together with high volumes of heavy vehicles transporting the toxic waste to disposal sites, which also threatens and heightens the risks to air, water and environmental stability. These concerns have translated into over 250 communities in the US having passed resolutions to stop fracking and why Vermont, France and Belgium have stopped it.

In April of this year a Texas family received $3 million in compensation after it was shown that the family’s health was seriously impaired by fracking activity. Children with nose bleeds, rashes and nausea and parents with similar symptoms as well as breathing difficulties, all of which began after the fracking activity commenced in their surrounding vicinity. This case is a first, as many other similar experiences by people around fracking sites have been gagged by out of court settlements with the companies involved.

RelatedPosts

Conservatives suffer hat-trick of council by-election defeats

Watch: Tories take a beating as BBC QT heads to Inverness

Steve Bray fundraiser nears a quarter of a MILLION pounds

Labour MP asks whether US-born Boris should be deported for breaking the law

Here in the UK we have had a recent similar experience in Lancashire when earth tremors were admitted to have come from fracking activity by the company involved.

With so much secrecy surrounding the actual process, and its repercussions, it begs the question as to why the government is so keen to press ahead as quickly as possible? And with this precedent for secrecy continuing, what reassurance do we have that the government can successfully regulate the industry’s activities? After all their track record with banks is not inspiring and fracking is an equally powerful industry.

To my mind it all boils down to governments need to find money to service the monumental amounts of debt it has taken on in recent years. With an election only a year away it needs some financial goodies to try and bribe the electorate to show it is being fiscally responsible. Fracking ticks all the boxes and with this vested interest it is almost certain any regulation will be lax.

Given the experience in the US over a number of years, we should be looking at a gradual development of this possible source of energy. Take five years say, to closely monitor the work in both intense and more relaxed conditions, whilst involving the local communities for any introduction of pollution, be it above or below the earth and in the air. Government is talking about vast tracts of land being made available and if it goes wrong, and current evidence suggests in might, the price Society will have to pay, like the oil spill in Mexico and the Fukushima disaster, does not bear thinking about!

Beyond all of this conjecture I cannot help feeling that this infant industry is beginning to look as dangerous as our already established nuclear power industry, with all the problems of how to deal with the toxic waste. As climate change brings harsher weather conditions, land erosion is rearing its ugly head. Whatever we construct to contain this hazardous waste Nature is quite incapable of respecting. With this new venture, unless we are cautious we are simply adding to the problem rather than diminishing it?

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

A cash-strapped council has spent a staggering £25m on external consultants – in just three years

Britain’s rail fiasco – It’s not (just) about the money

Djokovic admits attending interview after testing positive for Covid

Warning referendum on united Ireland risks repeating mistakes of Brexit

‘Creepy’ and ‘misogynistic’ Spectator article prompts fierce response

More than 400 pubs vanish in England and Wales in 2021

Johnson accused of misleading parliament over images showing him drinking at leaving do

Hancock declines to apologise after High Court ruling on coronavirus contracts

Boris Johnson accused of ‘violating international law’ with ‘inflammatory’ remarks about sending migrants back

Watch: US embassy salutes elderly couple who stood up to three Russian soldiers storming their property

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.