Fracking in Lancashire - a village-eye view

Andy Atkins

19 October 2011

On the radio this week a scientist set former Chancellor Nigel Lawson straight on fracking.

I recently visited rural Lancashire to meet people affected by fracking - so I was interested.

Fracking is the process of drilling down and creating tiny explosions to shatter and crack hard shale rocks to release the gas inside - to be used as a fuel.

It's been happening near Blackpool and is controversial because of the chemicals involved and the risk of contamination of drinking water and the local environment.

Lord Lawson is a big fan but my experience in Lancashire didn't fill me with enthusiasm.

We went out to the drilling site and stood in front of  Doreen's house. She's lived there for 38 years looking out on a peaceful horizon.  

A few weeks ago she woke up to see strange activity going on in the fields about 500 yards away. Next thing she knew there was a huge white concrete tower surrounded by portakabins and a security fence. 

She says the rig is lit up like Blackpool tower at night and hums incessantly, stopping her sleeping and giving her headaches. 

Doreen is a keen gardener and has taken care of her soil without chemicals for nearly four decades. She's furious that someone thinks it's OK, without even asking her, to inject industrial quantities of chemicals into fields just opposite. "I hope you can do something about it", she says as we leave. 

In a community hall in Hesketh Bank we listened to evidence from a dozen or so people. They included members of Friends of the Earth, a Liberal Democrat councillor and a vicar. And novice campaigners from the newly formed Ribble Estuary Against Fracking (REAF).

I was horrified by how little clear information local people said they had. And how official decisions to allow prospecting for gas have not been properly informed. 

There are major concerns for the local economy - which is highly dependent on horticulture. Fracking threatens this because it leads to water and air pollution and provides relatively few jobs.  

Mr Lawson is not one to worry about accuracy - he's as wrong about fracking as he is about climate change.

At Friends of the Earth we make sure people have a say in what happens in the world around them. And we'll be standing firm with people in Lancashire who could be affected by fracking.

Andy Atkins, Executive Director