Stop fracking fragile coast in north Yorkshire

Environment

Chris Garforth from Frack Free Coastal Communities explains the ‘very real risks’

Join the lobby against fracking in north Yorkshire (Photo: Frack Free Scarborough/Facebook)

The village of Burniston on the north Yorkshire coast is being treated as a test case for proposals to allow dangerous and unpopular fracking for gas. 

Fracking involves extracting gas from underground rocks by pumping in a liquid mixture of water, sand and other chemicals at high pressure. In 2019, the Tory  government was forced to impose a ban on it after years of campaigning by environmental groups and affected residents. 

That year an earthquake had been recorded close to Cuadrilla’s fracking site at Preston New Road, near Blackpool in Lancashire. 

But multinational fossil fuel companies are looking for a way around the ban. Chris Garforth of Frack Free Coastal Communities explained that the ban only applies to fracking using very high volumes of liquid. 

At Burniston, Europa Oil and Gas is proposing a low volume form of fracking that it calls “proppant squeeze”. 

Chris told Socialist Worker, “There are moves afoot in Westminster to strengthen the legislation to ban all forms of fracking. And locally we are fighting to get the fracking proposal overturned”. 

He explained that the earthquake in Lancashire was caused by lower volumes of fracking fluid than what is now being proposed in Yorkshire. 

Chris said, “The earthquake risk is a very real concern. We have got a fragile coast. Europa has not provided any data to show that the risk is low.”

Earlier this month, sections of a newly inaugurated coastal path in north Yorkshire gave way and collapsed into the sea. This was just a few hundred metres from where Europa wants to start fracking. 

“The second reason we are so against it is because we are in an escalating climate crisis. The last thing anyone wants is more fossil fuel reserves to be discovered and exploited,” said Chris. 

“The third is the local environmental impact—noise pollution, light pollution, air pollution. And the risk to the aquifer that Scarborough relies on for its water supplies—the risk that fracking fluids can leach into the water supplies.”

As Donald Trump’s war in Iran squeezes the supplies of oil, the Labour government is under pressure from the fossil fuel bosses to let it exploit Britain’s oil and gas. 

Campaigners fear Labour’s energy secretary Ed Miliband will capitulate unless they fight back. 

Chris said, “It’s hard to find any voices locally who support the fracking plans. Local people are taking on all the risk. The only beneficiaries are the shareholders and directors of the company.”

The proposal has already faced objections from other 1,600 people, including MP for Scarborough and Whitby Alison Hume.

Last year 250 people marched to the proposed site. The demonstration was backed by York City Unison, York and District Trades Council, Parents For Future UK, Scarborough Green Party, anti-racist group Scarborough Unity, Social Justice Party Scarborough and Friends of the Earth.

Now campaigners are planning to lobby North Yorkshire Council’s planning committee meeting next week when the proposal is heard. 

Chris added, “We hope local people turn up with their placards and their voices and make it quite clear that local people don’t want this to happen. 

“This affects people all over the country. If this gets approved then other companies are queuing up with their own proposals. We very much feel like a test case.”