Fracking!

Photo from Commonsensecanadian.ca

Fracking or to give it its proper name, Hydraulic fracturing is the process of vertically drilling for about 10,000 ft, then horizontally drilling for up to 2 miles and injecting a fluid mix of water, sand and a varied chemical combination, under pressure into the ground. Hundreds of well heads are required. The purpose, to fracture shale rocks with the pressurized mix, keep those fractures open and to release any natural gas trapped there in. A process which is resource exhaustive, using hundreds of tankers of water for each well head. A process which is environmentally damaging, with roads destroyed by mass heavy vehicle movements, increased occurrence of  earth tremors, failing wells leaking gas and chemicals with the potential to poison our water aquifers. Over 600 different chemicals can be used, with hundreds of gallons of these chemical cocktails employed for each well. A dirty and unpleasant process which is all round destructive to our planet, our environment and ourselves; and to cap it all totally unnecessary in light of the developments in sustainable energy technologies.

I've been opposed to fracking from when I first became aware of it about 2 years ago; opposed from the angle of someone who cares about the environment, from a spiritual angle and from a human angle. It's a process which is wrong on all levels, is unnecessary, and doesn't deal with the main issue which is our reckless and wasteful over use of resources. It's sold to the public as an opportunity for lower fuel prices and energy security; neither are grounded in fact, rather speculation. Local authorities are bribed with payments for each well; though the costs of repairing the environment could never be met, being potentially impossible. Finally, no open debate or discussion has been entered into nationally or locally; people are being kept in the dark....Mushroom Britain. Fracking, in recent months, has been brought into even sharper focus for me, with the announcement of the intension to frack in Purbeck, an area that if you have seen my blog before you'll understand I view as a magical and sacred landscape, close to my heart.  Also part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Landscape, unique. They plan to start exploratory drilling in Purbeck in September and I'll be writing more on the subject as that time draws nearer.

I've just scratched the surface here, I recommend that if you don't know about fracking, look into it, there's plenty of information about it on the web. The dangers are real, the perceived rewards are not and it does nothing to alter or alleviate the problem.....our behaviour.