This article is from page 2 of the 2012-12-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A LICENCE to begin exploratory fracking in West Clare could be granted within months, with no input from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or any of the planning authorities.
That is according to Clare Fracking Concerned, who believe that UK-based company Enegi Oil could begin fracking in Clare early next year, once the Minister for Energy, Pat Rabbitte (LAB), gives them the green light.
The company announced last week that their initial assessment of the Clare Basin showed it to be a “highly prospective project” while Enegi Oil CEO, Alan Minty, said he would ap- ply for an exploration licence in February of 2013.
Kilmaley resident and member of Clare Fracking Concerned, Sarah Akamine told The Clare People yesterday that the organisation has become complacent as they believed that the company would not go ahead with the project.
“This is very bad news for all of us. Many of us [in Clare Fracking Concerned] had been under the impression that the Clare Basin project was not commercially viable – and because of that I think we got complacent,” she said.
“I think that a lot of people assumed that this would focus on the very west of Clare, but Enegi’s statement indicated that they are looking at the whole Clare Basin – that means everything west or north of Ennis – which could affect a lot of people.”
Clare County Council voted earlier this year to change the County Development Plan to prohibit fracking. While this does not prohibit Minister Rabbitte from licensing a project in the Clare Basin, it does mean that the project must be referred to the EPA before it can begin.
However, according to Clare Fracking Concerned, the same rules do not currently apply for fracking exploration licences.
“Clare Basin is a highly prospective project and we are delighted to be involved at this early stage,” said Alan Minty last week.
“The whole acreage appears to be very prospective and we are particu- larly excited by the area at the centre of the existing seismic grid which we have defined as high grade.
“Whilst these results are very encouraging, further exploration work is required to identify specific areas of prospectivity and potential future drilling targets.
“We look forward to providing details of our planned work programme and development plan once we have been awarded an exploration licence.”
Fracking involves pumping large amount of water and other liquids deep underground to shatter layers of shale rock and release the natural gas inside for collection.
The process has been criticised for polluting ground water and even causing earthquakes. Th is we e k w ill st a y m ild b u t c o o l, t h e re a l c h ill is c o m in g n e xt we e k wit h fre e zin g t e m p e ra t u re s d u e .