This year #Ban Fracking Now.

Thunderclap 1st Jan 2017 read more »

Three separate fracking projects could crank into action this year as Britain’s shale gas industry finally gets off the starting blocks after years of delay, according to industry chiefs. Hydraulic fracturing at a site in Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, could start within weeks after a judge rejected a legal appeal by environmental campaigners and residents to halt the project, led by Third Energy, just before Christmas. Activity at the site in the North York Moors could start within weeks. Two other operators – Cuadrilla Resources and iGas – hope that they will be able to start operations at sites in Lancashire and Nottinghamshire this year. A proposal from Cuadrilla to drill four wells and frack for shale gas at a site near Blackpool in Lancashire is well advanced. Planning consent has already been granted and Cuadrilla hopes to finalise plans for the scheme by the end of this month, said the company’s spokeswoman Jacqui Reid. “We hope that we can finally get going,” she said, adding that she expected fracking to start this summer.

Times 2nd Jan 2017 read more »

The latest battleground for the future of fracking in Britain looks set to be Sherwood Forest, the legendary home of folk hero Robin Hood and now the target of a seismic survey by Ineos. The chemical multinational, which relocated its headquarters back to the UK last month, appears to have agreed terms with the Forestry commission to start burying charges and spend up to two years using “thumper trucks” or vibroseis machines to search for shale gas.

Guardian 1st Jan 2017 read more »