Council Votes For Ban on Fracking

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING or “fracking” is a technique for extracting gas from deep within shale rock and coal beds.  The process involves using high pressure to inject massive volumes of water, plus sand, plus chemicals into dense rock formations, said Cllr Declan Bree, when he proposed a motion at this months meeting of Sligo County Council calling for a ban on Fracking.

"The outgoing Government awarded licences to a number of companies to explore for commercial gas in the Lough Allen basin and the Clare basin.  The Lough Allen Basin  covers parts of counties Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Donegal, Fermanagh, Mayo, Monaghan, Tyrone and Roscommon." he said.

"The dangers that fracking poses to water quality, to human safety and to the general environment has been highlighted in the media and by environmentalists in many parts of the world.

"France has banned the use of fracking and last year the Quebec Provincial government put a stop to Shale gas exploration in Quebec until a full environmental study can be done on the controversial drilling technique.    Six months ago New Jersey became the first State in the USA to ban fracking." Cllr Bree said.

"In a study requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, scientists conclude and I quote that "at a time when sustainability is key to future operations it can be questioned whether the injection of toxic chemicals in the underground should be allowed, or whether it should be banned as such a practice would restrict or exclude any later use of the contaminated layer... and as long-term effects are not investigated."

"What we in Ireland need now, is not to indulge the greed of the oil and gas companies who will do anything to get further profit out of the ground,  What we need is investment   in clean, safe and sustainable energy that can provide for people’s needs and protect the environment.

"If we have significant gas resources underground, it will only go up in value over time, and we can surely wait until such time as there is an acceptable and environmentally safe method of extracting it."

Cllr Bree proposed the following amended motion "That Sligo County Council calls on the government to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing /fracking and that the Council commence the process of amending the County Development Plan so as to ban the process of hydraulic fracturing/fracking in County Sligo." The motion was seconded by Cllr Sean MacManus and was unanimously adopted.