Potential shale gas exploitation in N.E. Wales.

[cmaj76]

Minister on C4 news stated that there will be many hoops to jump through. Firstly gaining planning permission from the local council. Would this be the same local council they are bribing sorry offerring up to £1.7m?

[NJones]

@Luke_Ashley 2326 wrote:

The Gov can break their own laws but I`m not allowed to install a wood burning stove to cut my energy bills because I live in a `smoke free` zone. What a load of bollocks.
Coal resurgence threatens climate change targets | Environment | The Guardian

You can install a wood burner in a smoke free zone but it must a ‘DEFRA approved appliance’ and the installation ‘HETAS certified’.

[rolwrex]

@Luke_Ashley 2321 wrote:

Firstly, A big thanks to Wrexham.com for the recent article on the meeting about potential fracking plans in the Wrexham and N.E. Wales area.
Concerns over ‘fracking’ in the Wrexham area | Wrexham.com

I`m an ex North Sea drill crew worker and spent about 8 years in the industry from the age of 19. Having spent much of my upbringing living in various places around the world and then joining the Merchant navy after leaving school followed by my time in the offshore oil and gas industry, I was desperate to settle down and therefore quit the industry and associated travelling.

But about three years ago, I heard of a new technique to extract onshore oil, gas and coal bed methane that was about to hit the shores of UK from America and got quite excited at the prospect of a well paid job nearer to home that I had plenty of experience in.

So I proceeded to carry out some research on the subject along with where the likely areas of future drilling may be taking place. I came to learn of licensed blocks stretching from as far South as Shrewsbury, through Wrexham and up to Chester. These blocks also continue along the North Wales coast and up to Blackpool. I was getting more and more excited by the day.

BUT, during my research the words `Highly controversial ` kept popping up, so I felt compelled to dig deeper. Although i`ve never been involved in any frack jobs, I have an advantage over the general public on drilling procedures, the equipment used and the many problems and risks that are associated with the oil and gas extraction industry, not to mention the pollution and contamination issues that are an increasing problem.

So it was not too difficult for me to realise why fracking is so controversial and that I did not want to have anything to do with that industry. I have since become hugely aware of many, many other issues and the wake of destruction left in the path of the ruthless and destructive extractive industry and now an active campaigner/activist with very strong opposing views on not just fracking itself, but the WHOLE hydrocarbon extraction and production industry.

I hereby invite members of this forum to get properly informed. DO NOT rely on information provided by the fracking companies or their promises of jobs. While these companies boast of shale gas being a cleaner energy source than coal by way of emissions, what is not mentioned is that CO2 levels may decline as a result of shale gas exploitation, but CH4 (methane) emissions will increase due to leakage that is inherent with the industry. Increased hydrocarbon exploitation activity equals increased methane emissions. What many don`t realise is that in the short term, methane is 100 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2. So while you might here countries like USA boasting that their emissions are down as a consequence of shale gas being used to burn in power stations that once burned coal, in fact their climate changing emissions are up because more methane is escaping into the atmosphere.

The Arctic ice melt is at a new and VERY worrying record level due to man made global warming. This in turn is reducing the area that has in the past, reflected the suns rays thus keeping our planet at a suitable temperature. But as the ice caps retreat, even more methane is being released due to the thawing of the tundra. Renowned climate scientists and global government leaders are in urgent talks about this very serious issue but fail to admit this. I suppose they KNOW that many people would point blame at gov leaders for allowing climate changing industries to thrive without adequate regulations in place, if any at all.

Aside from climate issues, there are water usage and contamination issues, not just here and now, but long after these drilled wells have been plugged and abandoned. There is and never will be a 100% guarantee that a well can be permanently plugged (sealed) for good. Well integrity is a well known problem in the industry. Earthquakes as have occurred in the shale gas drilling project in Lancashire are another big problem. Even if quakes can be controlled during fracking operations and be kept below a certain magnitude, nobody can see into the future or indeed below the ground. As vast areas are fracked, the possibilities of future unforeseen large scale earthquakes is increased. Even in areas of very little past seismic activity, the frackers could be unwittingly `loading up` stresses and faults or even creating new ones.

So if anyone wants to carry on this discussion, please do. I have a number of Facebook pages, one of which is N.E.Wales Anti-Fracking Action Network
https://www.facebook.com/NEWAFAN
if anyone wants to get better acquainted with fracking before posting on here.

All I know is that my past drill crew experience and recent 3 years researching shale gas, coal bed methane and deep sea drilling, has led me to strongly oppose any future plans to exploit shale gas in or around the Wrexham area.

Luke, your concerns brought this proposal to my attention. My immediate reaction was whether this proposed drill was in the very area of the Gresford Colliery disaster. By that, I mean where the miners were entombed. I do not really know if that is the case, but I have objected on that point. I intend also to become more informed on such things as fracking and its effects. thanks Bryan Evans

[zinger]

The area where most of the disaster victims were entombed is in the region of the Gresford Flash & the Pant yr Ochain public house.

[Metalhead]

@zinger 11951 wrote:

The area where most of the disaster victims were entombed is in the region of the Gresford Flash & the Pant yr Ochain public house.

The proposed drilling point isn’t that far from this area. I went along to one of the Dart Energy presentations and this was one of the concerns that was raised. The consultant I spoke to said that he believed that this drilling site is around 1/4 of a mile from where they believe some of these mineshafts to be located. I was informed that this proposed test extraction will be much deeper than these coal mining shafts but if a full time extraction process were to follow then it is very possible that such an operation could well run directly under some of these mineshafts (but obviously much further down). There were a host of concerns raised at the presentation I attended, I left unconvinced that all had been satisfactorily answered.

[Metalhead]

Thought Wrexham.com might have covered this:

Wrexham gas drilling test decision delayed due to fears for old mines – Daily Post

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