Ineos Faces Tougher Scottish Battle

Friends of the Earth Scotland, an environmental activist group, said April 29 it has been granted permission to intervene in legal attempts by companies including Ineos to overturn the fracking ban in Scotland, in what is believed to be the first time permission of this kind has been granted on an environmental issue.

Ineos and smaller investor Reach Coal Seam Gas announced January 2018 they had requested a judicial review of the Scottish government's effective ban, implemented since October 2017, on onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction. The two companies are also seeking damages from the Edinburgh government. Ineos has the largest number of shale gas exploration licences in England.

The substantive hearing in this case is due to be heard at Edinburgh's Court of Session from May 8 and is scheduled to last four days, said Leigh Day on April 30 which is to assist FoE Scotland. The latter added that a procedural hearing is also scheduled for May 1.

FoE Scotland said it is represented by the Scottish law firm Balfour & Manson (B&M) and Aidan O’Neill QC of Ampersand and Matrix Chambers, with input from Leigh Day. "Public interest interventions in the Court of Session are rare, and this is the first time such an intervention has put forward arguments in defence of the environment," said B&M solicitor Sindi Mules.

Leigh Day environmental planning team solicitor Carol Day added: “We are delighted the court has granted permission for FoE Scotland to intervene in this important public interest case. The court has also confirmed that FoE Scotland will not be liable to any other party for any expenses in the proceedings (other than their own legal costs)."

Ineos had not issued a statement on its website in recent days, but said in January that it believed there had been "very serious errors within the decision-making process, including a failure to adhere to proper statutory process and a misuse of ministerial power" in Scotland.