Ormskirk Advertiser: Application for fracking tests in Banks

Cuadrilla Resources are seeking approval from Lancashire County Council to dig exploratory boreholes at a site in Banks.

Cuadrilla has submitted modified plans in order to perform a number of diagnostic tests at the Marsh Road location.

However, the plans have come under scrutiny after anti-fracking campaigners accused the natural gas exploration company of modifying the application in order to “side-step” previously logged objections.

Cuadrilla’s chief executive, Francis Egan, said: “The proposed diagnostic tests are a key part of the ongoing exploratory process of determining how much natural gas is trapped in the shale rock beneath Lancashire.”

The applications for extracting shale gas via fracking – a process whereby high-pressure liquid is used to split rock deep underground and extract gas from within the shale – was put on hold after it caused two small earthquakes in Blackpool last year. The Government lifted its ban on the controversial drilling technique last December and now Cuadrilla are hoping to continue their tests.  MORE