The Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee was told by new environment minister Elizabeth Truss and the Environment Agency (EA) on Wednesday that an extensive permitting regime will protect the UK’s water from any pollution from fracking.
Truss said that the current permitting regime for the onshore oil and gas sector “has been working well for a number of years” but additional permits would be needed before fracking could take place.
She added: “Provided we’ve got the right checks and balances in place – through the as well as the health and safety executive, the planning process and the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s own permitting process – there are a wide range of government departments making sure this is done properly.
“We can be sure this is safe and has a low impact on the environment.”
Paul Leinster, chief executive of the Environment Agency, added that any drilling operations, including hydraulic fracturing, are not allowed to take place close to drinking water aquifers due to the risk of polluting the water.
He said: “We don’t allow drilling to happen in source protection zone one, which is the area around drinking water aquifers, so we are careful to make sure that operators can’t drill in areas that potentially could impact on drinking water sources.”
Leinster also told the committee that public money would not be needed to maintain a closed well, or fund a clean up operation.
He added that financial bonds would be established by the companies to ensure there are the funds available, and public money is not used, to conduct a clean up operation should the company cease trading and be unable to fund it themselves.
Leinster said: “If they require a permit under the mining waste directive, they have to provide a financial bond. We can require them to provide that.”