The dangers - at both a global and local level -
associated with fracking for gas should trigger a precautionary
principle and both exploration and exploitation should be “put on
hold” until much more is known about the threats such technology
poses...
 |
| Dafydd Wigley (front, right) with local UK parliamentary candidate Ben Foday (front, second from left) and local Plaid Cymru activists. |
This was the theme of a keynote speech
by former Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Wigley at a public meeting in
Penarth. He has pressed in the House of Lords for the National
Assembly to be empowered to impose a moratorium on fracking in Wales,
as is being granted to Scotland’s Parliament.
“In global terms, we should be moving
away from carbon-based sources of energy and put far more effort into
renewables, such as the excellent Swansea Bay lagoon scheme,” said
Lord Wigley. “In local terms, I am really worried about using
fracking technology in areas which have resident populations who
could be adversely affected by the dangers of fracking poisoning
water supplies.”
Lord Wigley drew attention to the fact
that each fracking “job” requires between a million and eight
million gallons of water and the use of up to 40,000 gallons of
chemicals; that there are 600 different such chemicals which have
been used in America, some of which are carcinogenic
(cancer-causing) and others toxic.
He quoted one survey of a hundred water
wells in Texas which showed that at a distance of two miles from the
well, over 30% had arsenic levels in the water which were above the
safety limit. A rig “blow-out” in Organ County, Texas last May
caused the spillage of 184 barrels of toxic fluid. In Pennsylvania
last year, a spill of a quarter of a million gallons of toxic fluid
led to local families being evacuated from their homes and to one
company being heavily fined.
“It is because this technology has not
been proven safe that towns like Denton in Texas voted in a
referendum last autumn to ban fracking, as did the State of Vermont
in 2012,” he said. “Both Holland and Germany have implemented a
moratorium on fracking and France has banned the technology. In
these circumstances, we should have the power in the National
Assembly for Wales to apply a similar moratorium without delay so
that the communities threatened with fracking don’t find this being
imposed on them without the dangers being known and so that the
companies considering fracking are duly warned that they won’t have
any automatic green light to wreak environmental and human havoc in
Wales for their own greedy purposes.”
Dafydd Wigley
added that the Assembly was closer to the people of Wales than is
Whitehall and Westminster and that an indicative resolution in the
Assembly last month had shown AMs on a cross-party basis supported a
moratorium.
He warned, however, that until new
powers are devolved to the Assembly, they won’t have the authority
to implement a moratorium and that implementing a new Government of
Wale Bill after the General Election will depend on UK parties being
forced, by voters in Wales – as is happening in Scotland – to be
forced to show a greater commitment to Wales than has been the case
up to now.
 |
| Dafydd Wigley and Ben Foday with Penarth's 2016 National Assembly candidate, Dafydd Trystan (left) |
The meeting was also addressed by Ben
Foday, the Party of Wales/Plaid Cymru candidate for the Westminster
election, who said that environmental issues were one of his key
priorities.
He called for natural resources in Wales
to be brought under Welsh control so that decisions could be made in
future by the people who live in Wales and who have the interests of
Wales at heart.
The meeting also heard from Coun Ian
Johnson, the party’s candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan, who has
been actively campaigning against fracking in his constituency.
The speeches were followed by a
wide-ranging discussion with topics including the challenges of
climate change and the need to develop a suitable energy mix.
Plaid Cymru’s Adrian Roper, who chairs
its Penarth Branch, welcomed the speakers and members of the audience
to the meeting, which was chaired by Dafydd Trystan Davies, the
National Chair of the party and its candidate for Cardiff South and
Penarth in the Assembly elections next year.
