LETTERS in Gazette Herald July 8, 2017
‘We fear a fracking disaster in our area’ by Ian Conlan, Malton
DO we have to wait for disaster before fracking is banned? “Fracking has insufficient regulations and poor monitoring,” says Mike Hill, chartered engineer on his shale gas office website.
Our pro-fracking MP said two days after the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy: “Safety regulations are higher than they have ever been.”
Well, they are either insufficient or not monitored, just like Mike Hill details is happening with fracking.
Residents in the tower repeatedly said they feared a disaster before they were listened to. This is what we fear in Ryedale, a disaster to our health.
And are we trusting this same government to protect us from the water and air pollution that has dogged the health of residents an areas of fracking in Australia and the US?
The cladding used on that building was banned in high rises in America, and maybe banned here too, so claims the Chancellor Philip Hammond. There are aspects of our regulations and monitoring that are worse, not better, than America. Even Conservative and Ukip voters, whose combined vote share went down by almost five per cent in the Thirsk and Malton constituency, don’t seem all that keen on fracking.
Certainly most local councillors from right across the political spectrum in Ryedale now say they oppose fracking. It’s time fracking is stopped now before it is too late.
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Unsupported claim by David Beeson, Pickering
I NOTE with interest the speed with which the pro-fracking lobby was out to claim that somehow Ryedale now supports shale gas extraction.
The General Election was not a referendum on fracking, it was a national election and people in Ryedale will have voted for candidates for a variety of reasons (their ability to manage the economy; their desire to protect the NHS; whether they were for or against Brexit; because they have always voted for that party etc).
To suggest that the election of Kevin Hollinrake was a ringing endorsement of fracking by the local population is completely unsupported by evidence and a desperate attempt by the pro-fracking lobby to claim support for their cause.
We shouldn’t, however, be surprised by this, as experience to date suggests that the pro-fracking lobby never let evidence get in the way of their advocacy for this environmentally destructive and reprehensible industry. [Emphasis added]