Environmental groups have voiced fears that the government is preparing to row back on fracking regulations after officials said they were considering reviewing earthquake safeguard rules.
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| Protesters near Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site, Lancashire, as the firm began fracking last October. |
The limits affecting shale gas fracking are strongly contested by the industry because they bring an immediate halt to fracking if even a minor tremor of 0.5 on the Richter scale is recorded.
Green campaigners raised concerns on Thursday after officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said they would consider opening a review of the existing fracking rules, following the outcome of a study by the Oil and Gas Authority, which is looking at data from Cuadrilla’s fracking attempts.
The department announced the shift in a statement about UK shale gas on the same day that the fracking firm Cuadrilla resumed drilling in Lancashire. Cuadrilla had been forced to abandon its first well after repeatedly breaching the earthquake regulations.
Read the story from The Guardian by Energy Correspondent, Jillian Ambrose - ”Government’s shift to relax shale gas fracking safeguards condemned.”
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