Environment Agency grants draft permit for 'fracking' gas exploration in North Yorkshire

In April, North Yorkshire Council refused to give Europa Oil & Gas planning permission for a 38m high gas drilling rig.

The Environment Agency has given preliminary approval for gas exploration in North Yorkshire, using a technique which campaigners and some MPs believe is fracking.

Europa Oil & Gas has been granted a draft permit to drill a test borehole to assess the potential for gas extraction at the Cloughton 2 site in Burniston, near Scarborough.

This comes a few months after North Yorkshire Council refused to give the company planning permission for a 38m high gas drilling rig nearby.

The draft permit allows the trial of a method of gas extraction called a “proppant squeeze”, which Europa says is “highly regulated”.

This is not included in the Government’s upcoming ban on fracking, which sees liquids pumped deep underground at high pressures to release the gas trapped inside.

The proppant squeeze method involves injecting a mixture of gelled water-based fluid and sand to create small cracks in the rocks. This is supposed to stimulate the gas release.

The Friends of the Earth (FotE) campaign group said it had obtained legal advice from Estelle Dehon KC, one of the UK’s leading environmental barristers, that shows the proppant squeeze method qualifies as fracking under planning policy.

The local MP for Scarborough and Whitby, Alison Hume, has also called on the Government to include it in the moratorium.

Tony Bosworth, climate campaigner at FotE, said: "By trying to get a permit agreed for its highly damaging and unnecessary fracking proposal before gaining planning permission, Europa is putting the cart before the horse.

“In April, North Yorkshire councillors rejected the plans and the local community is still waiting to hear if the company will appeal against the decision.

"According to a leading geologist, the lower-volume form of fracking proposed can trigger earthquakes that are just as large and unpredictable as those caused by more traditional hydraulic fracturing, which is why it mustn't go ahead.

"What's more, fracking blights our countryside, won't lower UK energy bills and remains deeply unpopular.

“If the government is to deliver on its promise to ban fracking once and for all, then it must close the loophole that allows applications like this."

Despite the planning application being rejected, the EA said the environmental permit was a separate regulatory process that still had to be completed.

The draft decision followed a detailed technical assessment of the application by specialist officers, the watchdog said.

It is now launching a consultation before a final decision is made.

Ian Foster, EA area manager for Yorkshire said: "We recognise there is significant public interest in this application, particularly following the local planning authority's decision to refuse planning permission.

"The Environment Agency has a different legal role. Our responsibility is to independently assess whether the application meets the requirements of environmental legislation and whether the proposed activities can be carried out without unacceptable risks to people or the environment.

"Our assessment is evidence-based and we have published the reasons for our draft decision. We encourage anyone with an interest in the application to read the consultation documents and provide their views before we make our final decision."

A spokesperson for Europa said: “This is the Environment Agency permit which is part of the permitting process for the Cloughton appraisal well.

“It is separate to the planning permission which was rejected by the planning committee against the recommendation of the councils own planning officers.”