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" One touch of nature

makes all the world kin "

William Shakespeare

Fracking in Sussex

July 7th, 2013

Stop the poisoning of the entire Sussex water supply

In less than two weeks Cuadrilla, a company involved in the controversial act of fracking, will be granted a licence to dispose of millions of gallons of toxic and radioactive waste from a drill site in Balcombe, somewhere in Sussex. The environment agency has requested concerns be raised by the 16/07/13 otherwise this proposal will be granted.

Fracking has been described by an eminent scientist as the most effective way to poison a population through it’s water supply. Among the risks are:

Millions of gallons of fracking fluid, pumped into the ground, containing over 600 chemicals:
25% of which are linked with cancer and mutations
37% affect hormones
40-50% affect kidneys and nervous, immune and cardiovascular systems
75% affect respiratory and gastrointestinal systems and sensory organs

Toxic, radioactive wastewater is stored in open pits and sprayed to evaporate quickly before being trucked away. This process releases lethal radon into the air which carries for miles.
60% of wells leak
Toxic fluids seeping through natural fractures can reach drinking water aquifers in as little as 3 years
30-70% of fracking fluid is not recovered and stays in the ground

Cuadrilla has licence to drill 1,200 of these wells across the Sussex Downs, not to mention the numerous substations and mile upon mile of pipeline. This is nothing short of the wholesale industrialisation of the Sussex countryside along with the irreversible pollution of our drinking water.

Please help stop this from happening by taking 2 minutes to sign this petition to the environment Agency before the closing date of the 16th of July. Every single person makes a difference and with your help we can protect our home for ourselves and future generations from the threat of greedy corporations whose only concerns are increased profits. Thank you.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_the_poisoning_of_the_entire_Sussex_water_supply/?tQSicab

17 Responses to “Fracking in Sussex”

  2. I live in the US so unfortunately can’t sign the petition. I am grateful to live in a state that has banned fracking but many states do allow it. My fear is that we will all learn the lessons of their mistake too late.

  4. I am not a citizen of the UK, but feel so very, very sorry and heartbroken to hear what is happening to your countryside. My thoughts and support are with you all in this necessary fight.

  6. A friend of mine linked me here asking that I signed this.

    Whilst I have concerns about fracking, there is not a single link to any studies or other evidence in this blog post. Nor is there on the actual petition site. That’s why I won’t be signing the petition – there is no way for me to distiguish what is likely to be fact and what is just “something someone said on the internet”.

    If you could provide some links (and they were credible), I’d be more than happy to sign. 🙂

  7. Signed, as a US citizen, I think I fall under the “concerned third party” category – I am against fracking anywhere, but to do so in what I consider my spiritual home is salt in the wound.

  8. So, this is worth a look regarding aquifers:

    http://gasdrillinginbalcombe.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/earthquake-firm-plans-to-frack-500-feet-below-water-supplies/

    There was a US report in 2011:

    http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=news/committee-democrats-release-new-report-detailing-hydraulic-fracturing-products

    which stated that: “Between 2005 and 2009, the oil and gas service companies used hydraulic fracturing products containing 29 chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for their risks to human health, or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.”

    Also the US Environmental Protection Agency are currently compiling a comprehensive report due out in 2014. The appendix of their progress report (released last year: http://www2.epa.gov/hfstudy) cites over 1000 chemicals found in flowback and produced water:

    http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/hf-report20121214.pdf#page=209

    I’m not sure where Avaaz got their figures regarding carcinogens and the like but the ‘List of the Harmed’ from Pennsylvania is well worth a look: http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/
    – I don’t know how this information was collected but it’s certainly sobering to consider in its consistency and forms part of the groundswell of personal testimony in the face of an environmental regulator that has only recently started taking this issue seriously.

    Also, see:

    http://thecanadian.org/item/2152-jessica-ernst-releases-groundbreaking-report-on-water-contamination-from-fracking

    http://ecowatch.com/2013/report-fracking-health-risks-pregnant-women-children/

    and this re the UK where we have been promised less chemicals:

    http://gasdrillinginbalcombe.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/sixteen-thousand-gallons-of-hydrochloric-acid-scheduled-for-balcombe/

    Sorry if this is a bit of a lengthy response but I thought the seriousness of the issue merited it.

  9. I can’t help but feel we’re all energy junkies in the modern western world; producers and consumers are in it together – anyone who uses electricity, drives a motor vehicle, flies in a plane – and that includes me and almost everyone else. I feel uncomfortably like an adict cursing his pusher for giving him what he wants.

  10. ummm who are you ? do you even live in Sussex ?? how do you contribute to the well-being and economy of Sussex ?? where are your facts and credentials that you can provide proof to your claims ??

    an actual Sussex resident

    • Umm who are you? Not Jodie Adair who displays a ‘Keep Calm & Frack On’ poster on the web, and lives in Sussex, Canada, by any chance? Whether or not, what a strange logic to suggest that residency is required to object to environmental degradation! By that account only the residents of the Chernobyl area would be entitled to comment on their nuclear power plant. I wonder why in New York State, 21 towns have declared bans; a further 40 have declared moratoria on fracking – but perhaps I shouldn’t mention this because I live in Sussex, England.
      Likewise what an odd logic that links contributing to the economy of a region with whether or not one should question these things.I suppose objecting to burning swathes of the Amazon should only be allowed to people investing in that region, and if you happen to be on benefits in Manchester you can’t object?

      The text of the post was written by the person who wrote the poll. Re substantiations see Jim Hindle’s source notes abvove such as: There was a US report in 2011:

      http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=news/committee-democrats-release-new-report-detailing-hydraulic-fracturing-products

      which stated that: “Between 2005 and 2009, the oil and gas service companies used hydraulic fracturing products containing 29 chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for their risks to human health, or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.”

  11. On my daily anti-fracking in NB Canada , today I met a young man from the UK who did not know what *fracking* is. Nor did he know that you have had a moratorium and that it had recently been lifted. He was horrified…..people must be educated!
    We are under attack here in New Brunswick as well…good luck with your efforts.Your page was shared on one of our activist pages….

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/112468105590081/120326041470954/?notif_t=group_activity.

  12. I live in Canada but visit the UK often. I don’t want to drink toxins thank you very much.

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