TUMBLEWEED AT FLAGSHIP FRACKING SITE AS NO FRACKING OCCURS FOR ALMOST 3 WEEKS
FRACK FREE LANCASHIRE
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
22 NOVEMBER 2018
As we approach the end of the third week with no fracking at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road, residents are asking questions about the situation, but Cuadrilla are not offering any answers. Just five weeks into the fracking process, the situation is clearly not what should be expected.
We know from campaigners’ 24-hour observations from outside the site that Cuadrilla fracked for three weeks until 2 November. Between 18 October and 4 November this caused 36 earthquakes, the largest of which was 1.1 Ml and the last one was 0.7Ml. Six of these quakes were recorded by the British Geological Survey as being 0.5Ml or above.
Since 2November, almost three weeks ago, Cuadrilla appears to have stopped fracking at the site. However, there is activity at the site, albeit minimal, usually comprising of staff entering and exiting the site and the odd cherry picker working near the silo tanks.
It has been suggested that, as well as the earthquakes, Cuadrilla is facing problems ranging from further issues with their “impermeable” membrane to problems with their well bore. This uncertainty has led to local MP Mark Menzies requesting an independent investigation into well integrity at the site.
As the coiled tubing has been removed from its tower it is also suggested that Cuadrilla may have abandoned their first well without having been able to inject sufficient fluid or proppant to achieve a commercially acceptable flow of gas.
A spokesperson for Frack Free Lancashire commented:
“Local residents are living in an information vacuum. We can all see that this is not going to plan for Cuadrilla but they are refusing to allay our concerns by providing the community with the relevant facts. Instead, when our representatives on the Community Liaison Group question the regulators, they are fobbed off every time with excuses about “commercial sensitivity”.
“The local and national media are now coming to us looking for answers because Cuadrilla refuse to engage with them. If this is how the industry conducts itself when it is trying to present itself as a responsible operation, then what can we expect when they have all the permissions they need and start on their project of turning Lancashire into “the largest gas field in Western Europe”?”
ENDS