(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) UK shale hopes have been dented ahead of key planning decisions in Lancashire.
Lancashire county council is due to make a decision on proposals by Cuadrilla for the drilling and fracking of shale gas wells.
Cuadrilla which is partnered by British Gas owner wants to drill as many as four wells at two separate sites in an area between Blackpool and Preston.
A council report today has recommended both applications should be turned down.
The proposed operations at the Little Plumpton site would cause unnecessary and unacceptable noise pollution the council report said.
At the proposed Roseacre Wood site meanwhile the report highlighted noise concerns as well as impacts relating to traffic and HGV vehicles which it said would have an “unacceptable impact on the rural highway network.”
Issues raised by the planning recommendations are not explicitly connected to the controversial fracking process which is used to liberate gas from tight shale rocks.
The UK Environment Agency earlier this month granted environmental permits for the Little Plumpton site.
The Lancashire County Council planning decisions will be reached at meetings on January 28 and 29.
If planning is granted and subsequent approvals are also secured drilling could get underway in the spring and subject to results fracking operations could get underway by the end of the year.
The proposed programme is part of an appraisal and evaluation campaign which aims to quantify and evaluate the extent of Britain’s shale resources as well as its commercial potential.
Proponents of Britain’s so-called shale gas boom predict the unconventional source of gas could revolutionise the country’s energy markets however much remains unknown in terms of the scale and viability of shale resources.
Testing the shale play through drilling and fracking is key to understanding the dynamics of the nascent industry.
Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan in an interview earlier this week was critical of the amount of time taken for the planning application to be processed.
The applications were made some 8 months ago and Egan claimed an environmental impact evaluation should typically take around about half that time (about 16 weeks he says).
Egan believes local residents have been subjected to scaremongering by opponents of fracking and he said that Cuadrilla had undertaken a very thorough environmental process in its proposals.
In 2011 fracked operations at a Cuadrilla well near Blackpool was stopped due to earth tremors which were subsequently deemed to have been caused by the well programme.
Later after a short moratorium a government report concluded fracking is safe as long as it is monitored and regulated properly.
The British Geological Society last week said it intended to carry out its own independent monitoring of fracking programmes in the UK - if the Cuadrilla plans got the go-ahead.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.