The Tory Minister responsible for fracking has conjured up a chilling image of swathes of rural England shaking with the sound of drills as a result of the drive for shale gas.
Referring to people living in the countryside who have supported fracking, Energy Minister Michael Fallon said at a private meeting in Westminster: ‘We are going to see how thick their rectory walls are, whether they like the flaring at the end of the drive!’
His unguarded comments follow angry protests in Balcombe, Sussex, last week in the first clashes between police and anti-fracking protesters.
And they are in stark contrast to a public statement Mr Fallon made last week when he said claims that fracking will ruin the countryside were ‘nonsense’.
Mr Fallon is a huge enthusiast for fracking, arguing it offers the promise of lower energy bills and millions of pounds in compensation for local communities.
But in the private briefing, he candidly admitted that prosperous homeowners who find fracking on their doorstep in the Tories’ Middle England heartlands could be in for a shock.
Mr Fallon, MP for Sevenoaks in Kent, said that exploratory studies for fracking were already poised to start in the North of England and are set to spread the length and breadth of southern England.
He said: ‘The second area being studied is the Weald. It’s from Dorset all the way along through Hampshire, Sussex, East Sussex, West Sussex, all the way perhaps a bit into Surrey and even into my county of Kent. It’s right there.’
He then referred provocatively to support for fracking among what he called the ‘commentariat’ – meaning opinion formers who live in the South East.
‘The beauty of that – please don’t write this down – is that of course it’s underneath the commentariat.
‘All these people writing leaders saying “why don’t they get on with shale?” – we are going to see how thick their rectory walls are, whether they like the flaring at the end of the drive!’
Fracking experts have already admitted that the practice could result in flares several feet high as leaked gas is burned off rather than being allowed to leak into the atmosphere.
Historic: The rectory owned by David Cameron’s father, and where he was bought up
A test drilling site for shale gas near Banks on the outskirts of Southport, Lancashire
Mr Fallon did not specify to whom his comments referred, but it is thought he meant writer and commentator Charles Moore, biographer of Margaret Thatcher, who lives in a £1.5 million rectory in Etchingham, Sussex, and backs shale gas extraction.
MINISTER’S EXPLOSIVE OUTBURST
‘The second area being studied is the Weald. It’s from Dorset all the way along through Hampshire, Sussex, East Sussex, West Sussex, all the way perhaps a bit into Surrey and even into my county of Kent. It’s right there.
‘The beauty of that – please don’t write this down – is that of course it’s underneath the commentariat.
‘All these people writing leaders saying “why don’t they get on with shale?” – we are going to see how thick their rectory walls are, whether they like the flaring at the end of the drive!
‘That’s where the second great belt of shale is.’
It is 35 miles from Balcombe. Mr Moore is also chairman of the The Rectory Society, which seeks to protect old rectories.
Ironically, David Cameron was brought up in a rectory in Berkshire that belonged to his father.
Mr Moore wrote last month that shale gas is ‘a great advance’ though it was ‘lucky’ that much was in the North where there were ‘not many spoilt rich people to complain’.
But he added that there was said to be ‘lots more under the Sussex Weald where I live’ and he faced having to be ‘true to my beliefs’.
Only last week, Mr Fallon – who lives in a manor house near Sevenoaks – swept aside environmental objections to developing shale gas.
‘Claims that exploration involves ruining the countryside are nonsense,’ he said. ‘A typical shale gas pad is expected to be little larger than a cricket ground.’
He said he had visited a conventional drilling site ‘tucked away in the South Downs National Park, which shows how oil and gas operations can work even in the most sensitive environment’.
Mr Fallon conceded that there was bound to be ‘some disruption’ but said this could be overcome with compensation of £100,000 for each exploratory well site.
Fracking would only be allowed if it was safe and did not damage the environment.
He said that in the US, where fracking is well advanced, ‘there is no evidence of fracking causing any groundwater contamination.’
Protest: Rory Rush, aged seven, in front of police officers protecting the entrance gate of a site run by Cuadrilla Resources outside the village of Balcombe in southern England
The areas identified in the South-East for possible fracking exploration
Mr Fallon’s new comments come days after ex-Tory Minister Lord Howell – father-in-law of George Osborne – sparked fury by saying he approved of fracking for the North of England because it was filled with ‘desolate’ areas.
The Coalition is paving the way for the exploitation of potentially vast reserves of shale gas by fracking – the practice of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure underground to fracture rock, which then releases oil and gas.
Ministers are keen to back the idea despite claims by some critics that it can lead to water contamination, small earthquakes and environmental damage.
DID HE MEAN ME? THE VEILED DIG AT THATCHER’S BIOGRAPHER
Former newspaper editor and fracking supporter Charles Moore
Former newspaper editor Charles Moore, biographer of Margaret Thatcher, lives in a rectory – and has spoken in favour of fracking in ‘impoverished’ parts of the North.
Mr Moore, who lives in the potential fracking zone of East Sussex, is also chairman of the Rectory Society which promotes old vicarages and rectories.
Writing in the Spectator magazine, the former editor of the Daily Telegraph stated that shale gas was a ‘great advance for the environment, though for some reason Greens do not see it that way’. He added: ‘It will make us – and has already made America – far less dependent on high carbon-emitting sources of energy.
‘It is lucky for those trying to extract it in this country that it is in places like Ellesmere Port and Blackpool where there are not many spoilt, rich people to complain about damage to the landscape.’
But Mr Moore added: ‘There is alleged to be lots more of the stuff under the Sussex Weald, which is where I live. So I face the unpleasant prospect of having to be true to my beliefs.’
Government officials are keen to stress that, at this stage, energy companies are only being authorised to search for the possible location of shale gas – not to exploit it.
In his private briefing at Westminster, Mr Fallon stressed that local communities affected by fracking would be rewarded with generous ‘royalties’ in the form of compensation to improve local facilities.
He said: ‘If that is between five and ten million quid and there are 20 wells in your area, the local area and the immediate residents will benefit substantially.’
Anger: Protesters clash with police at the Balcombe fracking site in West Sussex
In a separate interview last week, Mr Fallon said it was time to ‘get on’ with fracking. ‘We now know there is probably twice as much shale in the North as we originally thought.
‘It looks as if there’s much more shale gas here than anybody realised and it looks as if the shale is thicker than the shale in the US where there have been dramatic reductions in people’s gas bills and in the cost of energy for business.
What we don’t yet know is whether we can get it out as efficiently and cheaply as they’ve been able to in the States and that’s the purpose of these studies.
‘We are sitting on all this shale. We owe it to the next generation to go down there, let these companies go down there and find out whether we can extract it and whether this is a new, large source of cheap energy.’
Not wanted here: A man and boy walk through the rain with a placard that reads ‘Frack Off!’
A protester standing in between police vans holding a placard. The protestors have concerns about the envitronmental and health impacts of fracking
More than 100 villagers in Balcombe yesterday took part in another anti-fracking demonstration. For ten days the small West Sussex community has been at the centre of protests that have seen 30 arrests as lorries have been delivering drilling gear to the site where testing has started.
But there was little sign of trouble yesterday as a group of villagers walked the mile from Balcombe recreation ground to a makeshift protest camp.
Walk organiser Nancy Towers, a housewife and mother of two, said: ‘We wanted to show our support for the protesters but keep things as peaceful as possible.
‘We had people from pensioners down to toddlers with their parents. We all fear the consequences of fracking.
‘We are in the front line in Balcombe.’
Energy firm Cuadrilla started drilling a 3,000 ft deep test well last week that will determine whether there are reserves of oil beneath woodland near Balcombe.
The protest has attracted activists like human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger and Natalie Hynde, the daughter of rock star Chrissie Hynde, who was among those arrested on suspicion if obstructing delivers.
The site is only 100 yards from the main London to Brighton railway line and near a reservoir serving 18,000 people.
Challenged last night by The Mail on Sunday to comment on his remarks, Mr Fallon would only say: ‘Fracking will only be allowed in the Weald if it is safe and poses no risk to the environment.’
Charles Moore last night declined to respond to Mr Fallon’s comments.
My fracking drills won’t cause cancer or pollute water whatever the death-threat zealots say – by Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla
Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, defends the fracking process and says there are many misconceptions about it
The debate about shale gas in the UK can get heated, sometimes overly so.
This week, I received an anonymous email saying that unless Cuadrilla ceased its activities in the UK, we would soon receive pipe bombs delivered by express mail to our premises. ‘Fracking kills,’ the message said, ‘and so do we.’
By spreading misinformation and scare stories, without any credible, verified evidence, extremists deliberately alarm and frighten people. They also seek to stifle debate and understanding.
Some of the claims made concerning Cuadrilla’s oil exploration well in Balcombe are also very wide of the mark.
Let me be clear about our plans: we will spend several weeks undertaking exploratory drilling for oil (not gas). Our work will involve drilling a 6in-diameter hole into the underground rock where we believe the oil is stored 2,500ft below the surface.
If we find oil, we will test at what rate it flows from the ground into the wellbore. That will complete this year’s work. We will not hydraulically fracture the well as part of this operation.
It is worth noting that more than 50 oil and gas exploration or production wells already exist in Sussex alone.
Once our oil exploration has finished, we will consider three options. First, if we don’t find oil, our work at Balcombe will come to an end.
Alternatively, we may find that sufficient quantities of oil flow readily into the wellbore. In this instance, we would assess if a further exploratory oil well is required at another location in our licence area, to evaluate the extent of the oil discovery.
Finally, if the oil flows at a low rate or not at all, we would assess what, if any, technical means might generate increased flow.
One such option is hydraulic fracturing. If we wished to hydraulic fracture we would first complete a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment, including community consultation.
Next, we would apply for a new planning permission and seek regulatory approvals from several organisations, including the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Environment Agency and West Sussex County Council.
This process would take between nine months and a year. No additional activity would happen overnight.
Let me move on to tackle some of the glaring scare stories that have been spread about activities planned by Cuadrilla and others exploring for shale gas in the UK.
Natalie Hynde, daughter of singer Chrissie Hynde of ‘The Pretenders’, and Ray Davies of ‘The Kinks’, sits by her friend at the Balcombe site
‘Our drinking water will be polluted with fracturing fluid.’
No, it won’t. Not one confirmed case has come to light where fracking has contaminated an aquifer.
The reason is simple: Hydraulic fracturing fluid, which contains at least 98 per cent water, will not flow upwards from thousands of feet underground and through impermeable rock layers to reach aquifers.
‘Nobody knows what hazardous chemicals Cuadrilla adds to its fracturing fluid.’
Our fracturing fluid is classified as non-hazardous by the Environment Agency. Information about all the chemicals is in the public domain.
‘Gas flared temporarily at exploration well sites causes cancer.’
No, it doesn’t. Again, this is claimed without evidence of a single verified case anywhere in the world.
Natural gas temporarily flared on an exploration site is regulated in the UK in both quantity and composition by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Environment Agency.
A protester being arrested after a disagreement with the police at the anti-fracking protest
‘Hydraulic fracturing will industrialise the countryside.’
No, it won’t. The Institute of Directors calculates that 100 separate shale gas production sites in commercial operation could produce enough gas to supply a third of the UK’s annual gas demand.
But put them all together and these sites – each the size of a football pitch – would occupy a total area of just two square kilometres. Suitably screened by trees, the sites would be invisible to passers-by.
We rely on natural gas for heating our homes and offices, cooking our food, fuelling our businesses and generating electricity. We will continue to use natural gas and oil for many decades to come, even as we grow the non-fossil fuel share of electricity generation.
However, we are fast running out of North Sea gas and oil.
We import about two-thirds of our gas and, by 2030, we will import almost all of it.
This gas costs billions of pounds per annum and its production generates no tax revenue or jobs.
Developing our own huge shale gas resources, on the other hand, could generate billions in tax revenue and tens of thousands of jobs.
Furthermore, exploiting shale gas in a well-regulated UK context would result in lower emissions than transporting gas halfway around the world from far less well-regulated regions or, even worse, importing coal to fuel our power stations.
Communities will also benefit financially from developing shale gas. They will receive £100,000 for each exploration well site that is hydraulically fractured, and one per cent of revenues from future shale gas production.
The British Geological Survey estimates there are 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas underneath shale rock in northern England alone. If just ten per cent of this gas could be produced, local communities stand to receive more than £1 billion over 20 to 30 years.
We know the UK has huge resources of shale gas. The public deserve to know how much of this gas can be recovered and how they will benefit.
They also require assurance it can be done in a safe and environmentally responsible fashion. I am confident that national and local government, together with regulators and companies such as Cuadrilla, can and will provide that outcome.
For more information on this subject, watch the film ‘Gasland’.