‘No time to waste’: Residents rally against Burniston drilling rig plans over fracking concerns

Residents, councillors, and the local MP have said that Europa Oil and Gas’s proposal for the drilling of a “lateral borehole” for “conventional gas exploration” in Burniston, Scarborough is “fracking by the backdoor”.

Fracking is a controversial method of recovering gas and oil from shale rock and the UK Government introduced a moratorium on fracking in England citing concerns about earth tremors caused by the injection of fluid at high pressure into the rock.

More than a hundred residents attended a meeting of Burniston Parish Council on Monday, July 29 to “unanimously” oppose the plan.

Scarborough and Whitby MP Alison Hume said that the company’s submission of documents seeking a screening opinion from North Yorkshire Council “is the precursor to a full planning application”.

She said: “This application is seeking to get around that [moratorium] by proposing a version of fracking called a “proppant squeeze” which uses less water”.

The MP said: “I am completely opposed to fracking and the damage it does to our planet and the environment.

“I will do all I can to support the local community in Burniston to stop this fracking application going any further.”

Ms Hume added that she had written to both the secretary of state for energy and the leader of North Yorkshire Council, expressing her “deep concern” over the request to “begin exploratory low volume fracking in Burniston”.

Europa Oil and Gas has said that in order to determine the potential reserves of gas, it will be necessary to undertake a proppant squeeze” which would take up to 17 weeks, with further flow testing of 15 weeks.

The papers state that a land rig would include a 30m high derrick and that the construction, drilling and completion phases would generate 1,050 HGV movements at the site.

The firm said it does not believe an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the proposal is necessary.

Submitted plans also state that the “proposed development is not likely to have significant environmental effects” based on the “relatively short duration of the drilling operations”.

However, concerned residents said they were frustrated that they could not lodge formal objections to the plan as the company has only requested a formal screening opinion for the possible drilling rig.

Local MP Alison Hume said she would be holding an “Ask Alison” pop-up surgery next week at Burniston Village Hall to meet concerned residents.

She added: “The sooner we ban fracking in all its forms, the better. We are in climate crisis. There is no time to waste.”

A government spokesperson said: “We intend to ban fracking for good and decisions will be set out by ministers in due course.”