January
Newsletter

Packed meeting in Driffield

Bishop & Doctor speak out against fracking

A retired GP and Bishop addressed a packed public meeting in Driffield on Friday, and in informative and entertaining speeches warned of serious health issues, and spoke of the moral case against fracking.

Dr Tim Thornton spoke of:

Just 5 years into large scale fracking in Pennsylvania, there is a 27% increase in hospital admissions for cardiovascular, neurological and breathing problems, along with increased severity of symptoms in asthma and COPD sufferers.^Study
Many children experience daily nose bleeds and headaches, skin itching and rashes.
300,000 homes now have radon levels above the government maximum. Radon gas is the second highest cause of lung cancer, and released from rock during fracking.
40% chance of early delivery of babies.^Study
Used frack fluid, that comes back up the well, is contaminated with heavy metals, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene & xylene), bromides, and NORMs (naturally occurring radioactive material). It is so toxic it would not be permitted to go down the well in the first place.
Tests on urine from frack workers showed presence of benzene.^Study^, ^{NIOSH Blog} There is no safe level of benzene.

Dr Thornton said everyone must decide on where their own red line is. Are you willing to pay the price of living in a Yorkshire sacrifice fracking zone?

He pointed out that although the gas companies & government tell us fracking is safe, for years companies and corporations tried to tell us that asbestos was safe. Tobacco. Lead in Petrol. Recently we discover that Exxon-Mobil knew decades ago that man made greenhouse gas pollution was causing climate change, but lied to the public about it. The petrochemical industry spent $36m concealing the harm of benzene^Story - a cancer causing chemical present in workers on fracking sites.

Dr Thornton's website is well worth a look: www.isfrackingsafe.com

Rt Revd Graham Cray said, "I believe fracking raises moral issues, and is a threat to human flourishing. Fracking is not for the Common Good. It has no social licence, and if it is imposed, then democracy will be further undermined. The greatest moral threat, to which fracking contributes, is being blind to the possibility of a genuinely better life.

Climate change is an issue that effects us all morally in a way few others have. If we use shale gas and other fossil fuels to try to sustain our current way of life, all we do is degrade it - carbon emissions have no mercy. But we have the God given ingenuity and creativity to create a better, more sustainable way of life more in tune with the limits our planetary home impose on us.

I oppose fracking for the sake of us all, and in favour of a better way of life"

He referred to a UN Alert raising environmental and health concerns, that warns of risks even if fracking is done properly:

"Some risks result if the technology is not used adequately, but others will occur despite proper use of technology" - UN Alert

Third Energy Show Up

John Dewar, Operations Director of Third Energy attended, and spoke for a few minutes. Third Energy currently have an application to frack nearby to East Yorkshire, next to Flamingo Land, in Ryedale. You can object here.

He sought to reassure people, and said:

the test frack would only last for 8 hours.
there is zero chance of contamination of the water supply
he learned something this evening, that the waste frack fluid that comes back up the well is contaminated.
It may be radioactive, but so are you.

Waste frack fluid would go to treatment plants, possibly in Teeside or Leeds, but he was unable to specify which ones.

Frack Free East Yorkshire is not aware of any plants in the UK capable of treating the massive quantities of waste frack fluid that would be produced by the industry (billions of gallons), & removing NORMs.

One energy consultant says, “There is currently no treatment works in the UK able and willing to take in fracking wastewater.” ^Article