The controversy and protests over fracking (or fracing as pedants would have it) in the UK has probably not made it into the mainstream news in the US. The current Tory government is all for the "dash for gas" to the extent of trying to ease environmental and insurance regulations and handing out tax breaks like candy. The first fracking project was carried out by Caudrilla some years back on the Fylde coast of NW England. Some minor but inconvenient earthquakes resulted and drilling was halted temporarily. The second area, which has been slated for development now is in the Weald area of Sussex, a lovely part of the countryside located southwest of London. The first exploration well is being drilled in the sleepy village of Balcombe, where 85% of the residents strongly object. With support from other anti-fracking groups in the South, and all over the country, they have tried to block equipment from entering the site, but hundreds of police have, at great cost to the taxpayer, been sent to enforce Caudrilla's efforts. If you are interested in further general information, you can look up Balcombe, Frack Free Fernhurst, Frack Free Sussex, Frack Free Dorset, Frack Off UK, and a number of other similar sites.
I have been keeping up with the potential for fracking in England since I moved here from Fort Worth seven years ago. I grew up around the oil and gas business; my dad worked as an oil and gas equipment engineer. I also heard the seductive reasoning of the Chesapeake Energy land men when they came to town, and watched my neighbourhood embrace fracking to their eventual cost. When I moved to rural England and lived somewhere that the windows could be opened without the pervasive smell of hydrocarbons, I swore I would never see it happen here without a fight.
Therefore my first paranoid thought, when the Tories first came to power and immediately tried to sell off England's national forests, was not outrage at potential residential development, but to wonder what was under the ground. So I looked up the underground resource maps, and there was the answer: lots of gas and coal bed methane. That was in 2010, long before the government overtly promoted fracking, so I've had a while to speak out against it before it hit the headlines, time to rent Gasland and hand it around, and time to do some research on what has happened in various places in the US. TXSharon's blog was an invaluable resource with links, and links to links, which I have shared with groups here as they have become organised.
One thing that I will say for the people involved in these groups is that they are able to negotiate a steep learning curve. By now they are researching the relevant laws, environmental degradation in other fracking areas, and the dodgy economics of extreme energy extraction, and becoming more expert daily. However, one area that has not been addressed so far is the structural geology of the areas slated for development. This a significant hole in the anti-fracker's argument, as Caudrilla and other company representatives keep insisting that the geology here is "different" and by some miracle, the problems encountered in Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Australia, etc., will somehow not occur in the UK and wells will magically never leak.
I know enough about the surface geology to know that there are places in southern England where cap rock lies on top of much more unstable clays and porous sandstone. There can be huge landslips in some places when it rains, but beyond that, I know very little. The problem is it's hard to find this information as most of it is behind paywalls both at the British Geological Survey websites (which only go down to 30 meters anyway) and proprietary engineering geology surveys for companies that certainly wouldn't want to let it out.
So I am coming here for help in hopes that someone knows someone who might even know someone with access to British information who I could consult. I would like to prevent fracking from ever happening here. I know that those of you who have had your formerly lovely environment destroyed by these people will sympathise.