Cuadrilla to Expand Drilling Despite Quake Setback
Cuadrilla Resources plans to commence shale gas drilling activities at an additional site in Lancashire despite calls for an under investigation following an earthquakes near their Blackpool site.
It will move its drill rig on to land at Bonny Barn Farm six miles from Southport town centre by the middle of June with a view to starting work in early July.
A spokesman for Cuadrilla said that the drilling would take place “at least half-a-mile” from the nearest village to minimize disruption.
He said: “We have permission to carry out this kind of exploration work which we have been carrying out at Preese Hall, Weeton and Singleton on the Fylde anywhere in the Bowland basin, which sits under Lancashire.
“Everything you see which has taken place in other parts already will be what we will be doing at this site to gain a detailed understanding of the gas reserves which exist there.”
The drilling programme is believed to take up to four months, although the company is yet to set a date for the start of the ‘fracking’ process.
Councilor Malcolm Barron, who represents the area on Lancashire County Council, said he had been assured by Cuadrilla that the process would not harm local water supplies, but said he was concerned about the increase in traffic on the roads.
Cuadrilla has been working with seismic investigators from Keele University and the British Geological Society to determine the actual cause of the tremors on April 1 and May 27 near to its Preese Hall site.
Source: Lancashire Evening Post