Tory Peer throws down fracking challenge amid fears over tourism and 'unproven technology'

Former Thirsk abd Malton MP will use a House of Lords debate to challenge Ministers over fracking issues.

Anne McIntosh: 'Local people must be heard when it comes to Fracking'

The former Thirsk and Malton MP also intends to use a House of Lords debate to challenge Ministers to consult residents more widely.

Lady McIntosh of Pickering’s intervention comes as Third Energy prepares to undertake five tests at Kirby Misperton in her former constituency. The proposed site has been the subject of a major North Yorkshire Police operation as protests escalate.

In an exclusive article for The Yorkshire Post, the former chair of Parliament’s environment select committee voices concerns about the use of unproven technology and how the fracking process could deter tourism.

“Of particular concern in this nascent, unconventional, onshore fracking industry in the UK, which must be closely monitored, will be the amount of flow-back fluid resulting from the process and precisely how the waste water will be treated and disposed of,” she writes.

Lady McIntosh intends to warn Ministers in a debate on the rural economy of “the regulatory and technical mechanisms for dealing with it being largely untried and untested”.

“Assurances have been sought but not yet given as to how the waste water from the fracking site at Kirby Misperton will be removed and disposed of,” Lady McIntosh says.

“What is clear, however, is that dumping waste water – even after treatment – into main water courses, canals or the sea would be unacceptable.”

Tory Peer throws down fracking challenge amid fears over tourism and 'unproven technology'

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