23 out of 124 blocks (19%) offered to firms as part of the 14th licensing round were significantly covered by areas at a high or medium risk from flooding, while almost all of the rest of the blocks are partially covered.
The analysis highlights one of the challenges faced by shale gas operations, which must ensure chemicals and flow-back water from drilling is kept from entering the ecosystem.
The news comes in the wake of severe flooding in Cumbria and Lancashire, with some of the fracking blocks also appearing to overlap with areas which have recently been flooded.
Read the full analysis, including map, here: http://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2015/12/22/14th-round-fracking-flood-risk/
Hannah Martin, Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace, said:
‘As if there wasn’t already good cause for strong opposition to fracking in local communities – the prospect of fracking potentially taking place in flood-risk areas is beyond parody.
‘Following the record levels of rainfall causing flooding in Cumbria recently, the Met Office stated that “an extended period of extreme UK winter rainfall is now seven times more likely than in a world without human emissions of greenhouse gases”.
‘The Government has lauded the outcome of the recent climate summit in Paris – and is talking big on tackling climate change. Why then is it committing to driving forward a new fossil fuel industry which runs contrary to our commitments in Paris, and will only contribute to the kinds of extreme weather which has been so devastating in recent months?’
Notes to editors
- The analysis was made by visually comparing the Environment Agency’s Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Seas geospatial data with the most recent oil and gas blocks where there could be fracking - by overlaying them on the following map: https://energydesk.cartodb.com/viz/e830c822-9f2f-11e5-91f8-0e674067d321/map
- When flood risk areas covered around a quarter or more of the block, the block was deemed to be a “substantial overlap”.
- Only high and medium flood risk were used in the comparison, with over a 1 in 30 risk of flooding and between a 1 in 30 and a 1 in 100 risk of flooding per year, respectively.
- For further details read the full analysis at: http://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2015/12/22/14th-round-fracking-flood-risk/
For more information and interviews contact the Greenpeace UK press office on 020 7865 8255 or press.uk@greenpeace.org.
