U.K. Shale Fracking Can Resume Provided Risks Minimized Shale
gas fracking operations should be allowed to resume in the U.K.
as long as “robust” measures are adopted to safeguard against
future risks, an independent report recommended today. Cuadrilla
Resources Ltd. suspended operations in the northwest of the
country last year after causing two minor earthquakes.
Operations can continue as long as precautions are taken,
according to the report commissioned by the Department of Energy
and Climate Change. Hydraulic fracturing, a process using water,
sand and chemicals to open fissures in rocks and release natural
gas, has made the U.S the world’s largest natural-gas producer
while raising concerns that the technique pollutes drinking
water and causes earthquakes. France was the first country in
the world to outlaw hydraulic fracturing of shale rocks last
July. Cuadrilla released a report in November saying that
fracking probably caused the quakes. The first tremor was on
April 1 and measured magnitude 2.3 on