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News+ EA gives Cuadrilla fracking green light • Environment Agency permits enable Cuadrilla to explore for shale gas in Lancashire, although planning permission is still needed before exploration can start. C uadrilla has been granted environmental permits by the Environment Agency (EA) to carry out shale gas explo- ration at Roseacre Wood near Els- wick in Lancashire. The permits set out the requirements Cuadrilla must meet to protect groundwa- ter, surface water and air quality and to ensure the safe storage, management and disposal of wastes. The EA said it has carried out a thorough assessment of Cuadril- la's applications and carried out two periods of extensive public consultation since June 2014. Ste- ve Molyneux, environment man- ager for Lancashire, explained: "Over the past six months we have rigorously assessed Cuadrilla's ap- plications and carefully consid- ered all of the public comments received. "I am confident that the strict controls set out in the permits to manage waste, safe flaring of gas and conditions to safeguard local water resources will ensure that people and the environment re- main protected." Water UK says it should be compulsory for local authorities to consult with water companies before issuing licences for firms to carry out fracking Contaminated water from shale gas is likely to be caused by faulty wells rather than the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), according to US researchers Companies with existing fracking licenses in the UK include Cuadrilla Resources, Coastal Oil & Gas, Dart Energy and Celtique Energy. Yorkshire, Lancashire and South Wales are the areas with the most exploration activity Water quality concerns surround chemical used in the fracking process finding their way into groundwater Optiqua's AquaSHIELD water quality firewall receives a grant from the EC's Horizon 2020 SME. United Utilities opens a £1.5M technical million technical training centre in Bolton, as it seeks to tackle a looming skills shortage. Thames Water blames its contractors for causing it to pollute the River Blackwater in Surrey in September 2012. Thames Water described the flood at London's Farringdon station as a 'learning point' will work more closely with Network Rail to avoid similar incidents in future. site and how the agency believes they can be controlled through a permit. The planning authority, Lancashire County Council, will decide whether the activity is ac- ceptable at that particular loca- tion. Cuadrilla still needs planning permission to be in place to de- velop the site. Should it begin ex- ploration, the EA will ensure the permit conditions are enforced. Elsewhere, a South Cambs Dis- trict councillor claims that Dux- ford village in Cambridgeshire will not become a fracking hotspot because a critical water aquifer there must be protected. Cllr Mick Martin, chair of planning, made the comment in response to a let- ter from a concerned resident ask- ing about rumoured fracking in the Duxford area. Martin confirmed that Duxford is part of a large area included in the government's next phase of fracking licences, although no li- cence has been issued to date. But he said there are several issues that "would discourage" any pros- pecting company from applying to • Cross-party committee Efra repeats call for the government to move to a total expenditure classification for flood risk management. Efra committee queries government flood defence spending plans G overnment plans to at- tract £600M from exter- nal funders to bolster flood defences has been queried by the Environment, Food and Ru- ral Affairs (Efra) Committee. In its report on Defra Performance in 2013-14, the cross-party committee cites low levels of private funding attracted to date as a cause for concern about ambitious future plans. Committee chair Anne McIn- tosh MP commented: "The gov- ernment has committed £2.3bn in capital funding for six years' in- vestment aimed at protecting 300,000 properties, but that plan relies on external contributions of £600M. We support the principle that the private sector should help to fund new flood de- fence schemes, but we have re- peatedly expressed concern about the relatively small amounts of private sector funding secured to date under the Part- nership Funding approach, with only £40M of the £148M secured up to 2014-15 coming from sources beyond local government." McIntosh said it was unclear how the £600M target can be met, and called on Defra to dem- onstrate how it intends to obtain that money as well as explain the impact on its investment pro- gramme if the money does not come forward. Efra also repeated its call for the government to move to a total expenditure classification for flood risk management and flagged that revenue funding would benefit from a six-year funding commitment alongside capital. The committee said reve- nue and capital spending must be balanced to ensure both re- ceive the same priority. The committee has also criti- cised Defra for an absence of transparency in its plans to cut its budget in coming years. McIntosh said: "The Depart- ment has not identified which specific policies and programmes will be reduced in future years, in spite of repeated requests for clar- ity. Defra must be more transpar- ent on where emergency money, such as winter floods response funding, is found." Cuadrilla must meet strict controls to protect groundwater, surface water and air quality Performance guaranteed…a cut above the rest. For reliable 24/7 solids pumping pick a pump with a proven pedigree, a VAUGHAN CHOPPER PUMP. 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Rag, fat, hair, wet well, dry well, submersible or self-priming…from inlet to outfall think long-term, not short-term and invest in a Vaughan Chopper Pump. drill in or around the village in- cluding: • There is a gas pumping station and gas pipeline adjacent to the village • There is a chemical plant which carries a government hazard as- sessment that requires strict safety precautions and regular tests of resilience • There is an adjacent and critical water aquifer which must be pro- tected • The current price of crude oil makes fracking economically un- viable Martin said: "That said, the ap- proval process requires the pur- chase of a licence, planning ap- proval from the county council (the County cannot approve this without agreement from the Envi- ronment Agency, who are charged with protecting the issues raised in 1 to 3 above.) The Parish Council would be a stakeholder in the planning pro- cess and our County Councillor attends Parish Council meetings and is aware of our views." • Mott MacDonald has been appointed to provide a major supporting role to the Agility Alliance joint venture between J Murphy & Sons and Morrison Utility Services. The JV has been selected by Thames Water to work in collaboration with them on its new £1bn infrastructure alliance contract. • Lanes Group is working with Bolton Council to survey thousands of metres of culvert across the town as part of a programme to minimise the risk of flooding. The work is being funded through an Environment Agency (EA) grant, which allows local authorities to bid for money to be spent on surveying culverts that are considered critical to flood prevention. • CDEnviro has been appointed onto NI Water's IF005 Screens Framework for Grit Removal and Treatment Systems with its S:MAX sludge screening unit. CDEnviro, which will now be invited to tender for all relevant NI Water projects, will supply three models - the S:Max SRU 10, 15 and 25 - to NI Water. "I am confident that the strict controls set out in the permits to manage waste, safe flaring of gas and conditions to safeguard local water resources will ensure that people and the environment remain protected" Steve Molyneux, EA Molyneux said the assess- ment has covered the environ- mental risks at the Roseacre Wood 4 weT News MARCH 2015

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