Fracking blocked in Six Counties, Leitrim and Roscommon

ASSEMBLY AND COUNTY COUNCILS VOTE TO BAN CONTROVERSIAL GAS EXPLORATION PRACTICE

BY MARK MOLONEY

Seán Lynch

THE use of the controversial gas exploration practice known as “fracking” has been halted in the Six Counties after Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Alliance Party and the Green Party all voted in favour of an Assembly motion on 6 December calling for a moratorium on the practice and a withdrawal of licences pending an environmental impact assessment. The motion was opposed by the DUP while the Ulster Unionist Party abstained.
Sinn Féin MLA for Fermanagh/South Tyrone Phil Flanagan said:
“Fracking has caused untold damage in other parts of the world and we are not comfortable allowing this process to take place in Ireland.”
Fracking, which involves the pumping of millions of gallons of water mixed with rock-dissolving chemicals into shale rock to release gas deposits, has been banned in France, parts of Germany, Australia, South Africa and several US states due to environmental concerns.
During a debate on the issue, DUP MLA and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment Arlene Foster dismissed fears. “The amount of scaremongering that has gone on about the issue of fracking is quite shameful,” she said.
Yet only hours after the motion was passed in the Assembly, the US Environmental Protection Agency released a report linking carcinogenic chemicals found in Wyoming drinking water aquifiers to the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas deposits in the area. Samples of drinking water from wells showed that they contained methane, benzene, petroleum hydrocarbons and other chemicals, all at levels far in excess of what is considered safe.
Earlier this year an investigative report by the US House of Representatives into the more than 750 chemicals used in the process found that “more than 650 of these products contained chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, or listed as hazardous air pollutants”.
The decision by the Assembly to halt the practice followed in the footsteps of Roscommon and Leitrim County Councils who only a week previously had voted to ban fracking. Roscommon County Council voted unanimously for an outright ban while Leitrim County Council voted for a five-year ban.
Commenting on the Assembly vote, Sinn Féin MLA for Fermanagh/South Tyrone Seán Lynch said: “Although the motion calling for the moratorium on fracking was passed in the Assembly, it is important that people don’t get complacent. People must use this time wisely to further understand the fracking process and the implications it could have on our environment, economy and health.”