It's this type of mis-informed ****e that spreads false rumours and unsupported claims. It's impossible for aquifers to be contaminated by oil wells. The geology does not mix. If we had oil or gas in the same levels we would have had contaminated water for eons of years. The water that went up in flames was because the water drilling had hit a methane pocket. Our water supplies face more contamination from the leaching of oil based chemicals from our road surfaces than they could ever get from drilling. We put our household and industrial waste in clay lined pits and hope that it doesn't cause a problem. Mining has been going on for decades. The nimby culture in West Sussex makes me laugh. Fracking isn't the worse thing that could happen in the UK but our reliance on other countries to supply us oil and gas is. By the way, if you think that the effects of industry are bad, go to Lanzarote, or Yellowstine and see just what nature can do.
I've seen 'Gasland' as well, mel - and it's the chemicals used to procure the gas that's the pollution problem. Vast amounts of water and toxic chemicals pumped in, to fracture the rocks and force the gas out. Huge slurry-type lagoons. Spillages, leaks and run-offs. What's the saying: "If it can **** up, it will"?
I don't deny that there are issues, but they are no more than traditional oil well drilling, that dumps fullers earth into the well to force the oil out. My point is this. Our country has coal, tin, copper and stone mines, many flood and all are at aquifer levels. The risks to our water supplies are already present. If we do not use fracking, we will lose out as a country. We are importing frozen LPG from Canada, piping gas from Russia, shipping crude oil from the Middle East and yet we could say goodbye to all of that within five years. The biggest problem isn't going to be pollution it's the contracts that the EU will keep us to.
