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Anti-fracking protesters halt Sussex shale gas operation Anti-fracking protesters halt Sussex shale gas operation
(about 11 hours later)
Anti-fracking protesters have halted a controversial shale gas operation in the home counties, chaining arms to prevent the arrival of essential drill parts. Anti-fracking campaigners claimed a surprise victory on Thursday against attempts to extract oil in the home counties.
The energy giant Cuadrilla was stopped early on Thursday morning from bringing equipment on to the rural site near the village of Balcombe. Dozens of protesters blockaded a drill site outside the West Sussex village of Balcombe. The drill was operated by Cuadrilla, the energy company headed by former BP chief Lord Browne.
A group of around a dozen protesters succeeded in blocking the lorry. They wrapped yellow and black crime scene tape around the equipment and hung on it a banner that read "no more dirty energy". Earlier in the day, the Department for Energy granted a drilling permit for the site to Cuadrilla, which also operates hydraulic fracturing rigs in Lancashire. It is looking for oil in the Sussex shale and says it may need to use controversial high pressure hydraulic fracturing techniques to extract it.
The action comes a week after the chancellor, George Osborne, announced major tax breaks for companies extracting shale gas. The rate will be lowered to 30% on profits from the controversial operations compared with more than 60% on North Sea oil. After a seven hour stand-off between Cuadrilla and a group of environmentalists and local opponents – including several groups of parents and children from the village – a lorry that was carrying a generator essential for the drilling on the site was forced to move away, bringing cheers from the protesters. Drilling 3,000ft into the rock had been due to start on Monday.
The Balcombe anti-fracking group has been campaigning against the possibility of fracking in the area for well over a year. They fear pollution from gas flaring, disruption from lorries carrying fracturing liquids through the village and the possible pollution of local water courses. Officers from Sussex Police earlier warned protesters they would bring in forces to remove anyone who would not make way for the lorry but they later reversed their decision.
Cuadrilla, which is headed by the former BP chief Lord Browne, has been bringing drill parts to the site since Tuesday and is due to start operations on Monday following the granting of an Environment Agency licence this week. Police alleged that the truck had been sabotaged with its air brake cables cut by protesters. Some had wrapped yellow and black "climate crime scene" tape around the equipment and hung a banner on it that read "no more dirty energy".
Protesters, some dressed as druids, others as Edwardian gentlemen, told officers from Sussex police they believed the licences to drill were not lawful. A spokesman for Cuadrilla who said it was "disappointed" not to get its equipment on site added "but we are hopeful that deliveries will soon be able to continue". It said safety of the public, including protestors, was a priority.
The group includes many locals from the village and environmental activists from nearby Brighton. The setback for one of the UK's highest profile potential fracking sites in the government's electoral heartlands comes as the coalition said it will encourage fracking by bringing in tax cuts. Last week, the chancellor George Osborne announced tax on profits from fracking in Britain would be 30% compared to a top rate of 62% for North Sea oil. The British Geological Survey has estimated there could be enough shale gas in Britain to supply the country for 25 years and the campaign victory could galvanise opposition to proposed new sites, protesters said.
In a statement, the energy company said: "Cuadrilla plans to drill and take samples of the underground rock in a vertical well drilled to approximately 3,000 feet, with a possible horizontal leg of 2,500 feet. The delivery over the four days is of the rig and other supporting equipment such as drill collars, steel casing, cementing equipment." "People see the fracking industry as a direct threat to their health and environment," said Josie Wiltshire, an anti-fracking activist. "The size of this blockade goes to show people feel the need to protect themselves. We'll definitely be back tomorrow".
Brenda Pollack, the Friends of the Earth south-east regional campaigner, said: "Drilling in the home counties brings the threat of fracking geographically and politically closer to Westminster. But the village of Balcombe is not united against Cuadrilla and some protesters complained the turnout of up to 100 people was disappointing.
"Government plans to give drilling firms tax breaks and a virtual planning carte blanche highlights its determination to push ahead. Ministers must now be prepared for real resistance from their own heartlands." "There is mass hysteria in the village and the fears are ungrounded," said Katherine Gunning, a local resident. "Most of the village is not anti-fracking."
That is disputed by campaign leaders who said surveys showed a large majority are opposed to Cuadrilla's operations. Many cite fears about damage to water courses from toxic chemicals used to fracture the rocks to release fuel, the impact of trucks rolling through the village and the possibility of earth tremors.
"I am horrified to discover what is happening on our doorstep," said Louisa Delpy, a mother of two from Balcombe. "The pollution to the air and soil is unacceptable. I have lost faith in the agencies that are meant to protect us. I am going to stand here and stop this happening."
Others said they felt government decisions to allow the exploratory drilling had moved too fast. "The speed at which the Environment Agency has considered hundreds of responses begs the question as to whether they are properly considering the impacts or rushing ahead," said Friends of the Earth South East Regional campaigner Brenda Pollack.
The protest had a festive atmosphere with parents bringing children on their school holidays, picnics, musicians and a community singalong with the words to Row Your Boat substituted with "Blow, blow, blow your gas/ up into the sky;/ kill the birds and kill the bats/ and watch the rivers die".
"I don't want it to happen," said Jack, aged nine. "I haven't been to a protest before. It's sort of scary sometimes. But this is poisoning the water and I want clean water and I don't want the air polluted either."