Environmental assessment ‘not needed’ for Derbyshire fracking

Oil and chemical firm INEOS has been told an environmental impact assessment is not needed for its proposal to explore for shale gas from an area land in North East Derbyshire.

INEOS is one of the companies licensed by the Oil and Gas Authority to extract gas from shale deep in the ground, which would involve hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’. This refers to the process of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure to create tiny cracks so the gas can flow up a well to the surface and be collected.

The firm is proposing to submit a planning application to explore shale gas reserves on privately?owned land off Bramleymoor Lane, between the villages of Apperknowle and Marsh Lane, near Eckington.

This would mean building a drilling rig up to 60 metres tall to drill around 2,400 metres down into the ground to find out more about the shale gas reserve. The activity proposed is temporary and exploratory.

Derbyshire County Council was approached by INEOS for a formal opinion on whether a planning application for this vertical well on this site would require a statutory environmental impact assessment. This is a formal process to assess in detail the impacts of potential development on the environment when the effects are likely to be significant.

The Council looked at the proposal in line with statutory regulations and concluded that the potential impacts ? including on ecology, air quality, water quality, traffic and visual landscape ? would not be likely to have significant effects on the environment. This means an Environmental Impact Assessment is not needed in this case.

Its strategic director for economy, transport and communities, Mike Ashworth said: “After careful consideration, our view is that INEOS does not need to carry out an environmental impact assessment for this proposal which involves underground drilling and investigation but not the process of fracking. An assessment may be needed if INEOS decides to apply for any other planning permission.”

He added: “The county council has a legal obligation to decide on planning applications about fracking in Derbyshire. Our planning committee considers each planning application on its individual merits and is impartial. As with any other planning application, each planning decision it makes is based on objective analysis of evidence, taking into account local and national planning policies and the relevant comments of official consultees ? such as parish councils ? and the public.

“We have already received many emails and letters from residents about the proposed drilling well and all these views will be taken into consideration by our planning committee if INEOS submits a planning application.”

“We’re committed to making information available to the public on our website every step of the way throughout the planning process. If INEOS applies for planning permission we will publish details on our website along with how people can make their views known and how they can get involved in the planning process, including speaking at the planning committee.”