Fracking will cause widespread damage to communities here - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Sue Cuthbert, Newton on Rawcliffe, Ryedale.
For once I find myself agreeing with Peter Auty in his letter ‘Fracking support’ - The YP April 12, regarding shipping fracked gas from the USA. But here this agreement ends because we should not be shipping fracked gas from anywhere or starting this dangerous industry in Britain.
I do not think that Mr Auty fully understands the whole implication of this industry and I do not think that he would care to live near fracking wells.
Having studied and followed reports about the fracking industry for many years, I can say that it is so dangerous and toxic to life that this country would be more than irresponsible to allow it.
Any gas which is drilled for in this country by energy companies is sold on the open market to the highest bidder, which is often to other countries. So how will it benefit this "great country" that Mr Auty often alludes to?
Many areas in Britain have large underground aquifers, which, if they are damaged by any drilling, can never be repaired. This applies to Ryedale in North Yorkshire.
In the USA, doctors and scientists have conducted extensive studies on women who live in fracking areas. They have found that there, a far higher incidence of mothers giving birth to babies with abnormalities has been documented.
In these US fracking areas, there is serious pollution from poisonous chemicals left by abandoned fracking wells. This industry doesn't just drill one well. When the small access to shale is exhausted, more and more wells are drilled covering large areas of countryside.
The noise from these sites is constant for 24 hours and is very loud. Underground, a perforation gun, which has the force of an artillery gun, shatters the shale rock. Hence the risk of earthquakes.
Hundreds of lorry movements are needed to bring water and chemicals to and from fracking sites. Water is precious and must not be used in such a careless way
Are the many environmentalists, for whom Mr Auty seems to regard with contempt, wrong to be worried about fracking? I would remind him of two high profile environmentalists, King Charles and Sir David Attenborough.