BALCOMBE, England: British opposition to shale gas extraction flared up in the tiny village of Balcombe yesterday as hundreds marched on an oil exploration site in protest at the drilling process known as ‘fracking’.
Banner-waving men, women and children travelled in by buses and bikes to join locals in a mile-long trek, surrounded by police, towards a drilling operation run by Cuadrilla Resources in the picturesque English county of West Sussex.
Britain’s government needs to win over a sceptical public if it is to stimulate a US-style production boom and offset dwindling North Sea oil and gas reserves. The massive expansion of US shale gas extraction has driven down energy prices and cut dependence on imports there.
“I’d like the politicians to know that they have to be more careful and consult with communities more before they allow fracking,” said 35-year-old Gabriel Schucan before the march.
Groups orchestrating the protest said it would be followed by two days of “direct action” today and tomorrow. Acting on police advice, Cuadrilla on Friday said it was suspending drilling due to the protests. “Direct action speeds up the national conversation a little bit. It forces us to talk about the things we don’t want to talk about,” said Ben Healey, a 39-year-old environmental consultant.
Activists are concerned the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process used to extract gas from rocks underground can trigger small earthquakes and pollute water supplies. Cuadrilla Resources, which is drilling a conventional oil well in Balcombe, is the only company to have fracked a shale gas well elsewhere in Britain, making its activities a target for protesters.
Reuters
