Penarth could be just months away from the start of exploratory drilling in preparation for fracking...
That's the chilling prospect facing our community if UK Government plans to auction Penarth's geological sub-strata to the highest bidder go ahead, as expected, later this year.
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| Penarth under threat from hydraulic fracturing |
The warning comes from Plaid Cymru Penarth and our UK Parliament and National Assembly candidates, Ben Foday and Dafydd Trystan Davies.
Mr Foday said: "Fracking has been proved to cause environmental problems, including the release of climate-changing gases, air quality problems, water pollution and large numbers of lorry movements. Health concerns have recently been raised by the Medical Journal of Australia, including bringing radioactivity and heavy metals to the surface from deep underground through fracking, and respiratory problems resulting from air pollution. Fracking is also implicated in falling house prices, with some insurers in the US now refusing to cover fracking-related damages."
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| Communities across our country are uniting against fracking (image: Frack Free Wales) |
The UK Conservative-Lib Dem coalition has provided a series of increasingly generous tax breaks to shale gas companies in their unseemly rush to drill for gas. Conservative Chancellor George Osborne described his July 2013 tax breaks as the "most generous tax breaks in the world". The Labour Welsh Government is also known to be in favour of this controversial technique, which could take place in areas housing more than half of the population of Wales, with their most senior energy advisor stating they have a "strong interest" in fracking.
The Welsh Government controls planning for onshore oil and gas, and could put in place a moratorium while it assesses the environmental and health impacts. The Republic of Ireland has just such a moratorium in place for the next two years. However, the Labour Welsh Government once again has shown it has no original opinions and appears to be keen to follow the Tories in London.
The only party willing to stand up for the communities facing this threat is Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales.
Plaid Cymru Leader Leanne Wood, who is an Assembly Member for South Wales Central, which includes Penarth, said recently: "While the technology is untested and the harm to the environment is unknown, we cannot allow any part of our land to be fracked beneath our feet."
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| Ben Foday (left) and Dafydd Trystan Davies: Standing up for Penarth |
Dr Davies warned: "More than half of the Vale of Glamorgan is licensed for fracking, with three exploratory drilling licences already in the hands of fracking companies. The remainder of the Vale, including the whole of Penarth, Sully and Llandough, will be covered by licences due to be auctioned later this year. It's worth bearing in mind that companies will drill horizontally in order to frack, and that they can drill for distances of a mile or more horizontally. Fracking could end up taking place anywhere in Penarth, although it will be deep underground."
"For the sake of the future generations in Penarth, for the old and infirm who would be most seriously affected by air and water pollution, and for a clean, green future powered by renewable energy, Plaid Penarth has called on the Welsh Government to stand up for the people of Wales and use its authority to implement a moratorium on fracking in Wales until we know the risks can be adequately managed."
