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Drinking water and national parks in fracking firing line

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The only way to protect our drinking water, national parks and climate from fracking is to stop fracking everywhere.

In the face of Government further weakening fracking rules, we need to redouble our efforts to keep the UK frack free. ​

New Government rules mean that fracking will be permitted in the protected areas that surround and feed water into our drinking water aquifers

Fracking will also be allowed under our national parks.

This is despite a Government promise earlier this year to protect our drinking water and introduce an “outright ban” on fracking in national parks.

 

Order your free anti-fracking pack

 

Government can’t be trusted on fracking

This just goes to show that we really can’t trust the Government on fracking, and the only way to protect people and the environment is to make sure the UK stays frack free.

Yet again, the Government has revealed that it is firmly on the side of the fracking industry, and willing to do anything to get it off the ground.

While people up and down the country have successfully stopped this unwanted and dirty technology for more than four years, the Government has been busy weakening regulations and changing the rules.

But to allow fracking in the areas supplying drinking water aquifers simply goes against common sense.

When he was chair of the Environment Agency, Chris Smith said groundwater contamination is the “biggest environmental risk” of fracking.

What’s more, these new plans were revealed just after the publication of the Government’s own draft report – which it tried to cover up. It said:

There is a risk that even if contaminated surface water does not directly impact drinking water supplies, it can affect human health indirectly through consumption of contaminated wildlife, livestock or agricultural products.  UK Government report

Thousands of you wrote to your MPs to try to stop these new rules that make fracking even more risky.

While we didn’t stop them, we did get the Government to drop its ludicrous plans to allow fracking directly through drinking water aquifers.

But the new rules mean that although the Government admits fracking poses risks to water, it has failed to adequately protect it.

Likewise, although the Government was forced to say that fracking will not be allowed in national parks, companies will be allowed to drill beneath them.

All this means is that companies will be encouraged to set up their rigs on the boundaries of these protected places, and drill horizontally under national parks.

For most people, none of this is good enough. Not only do we need to protect our drinking water and national parks – we need to protect our climate.

80% of fossil fuels we have already found need to stay in the ground if we are to stop runaway climate change.  That’s why Friends of the Earth supports a ban on fracking.

But despite climate change, despite risks to drinking water, and “significant health risks” to local people – this Government seems determined to push ahead with fracking while cutting support for renewable energy.

How can I stop fracking? 

You can help stop fracking in just 2 minutes by:

  1. Supporting those communities who are fighting fracking now on their doorstep.First in the firing line is the small village of Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, where Barclays’ owned Third Energy has submitted an application for 9 years of fracking production, which the community simply doesn’t want.

    You can help by telling Barclays you don’t think it should be funding fracking.

  2. Backing our call to David Cameron not to allow Lancashire’s decision to reject fracking  be overturned by fracking company Cuadrilla.

Following the climate change deal agreed just days ago in Paris, the Prime Minister’s outdated, backward support for fracking and fossil fuels must be reversed if he wants to be on the right side of history.

How can I stop fracking near me?

More communities are now at risk of fracking because the Government recently offered up more of the country to the fracking industry.

You can see if fracking has been licensed near you on our fracking map.

To stop all fracking we need to build an even bigger anti-fracking movement.

To help do this we have compiled a free anti-fracking pack, with all you need to know about fracking and how to stop it. Why not order one now?

Post written by Rose Dickinson, 16th December 2015

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