Ireland: Fracking Requires Additional Study

The process of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) used to release shale gas resources will remain on hold in Ireland until additional “detailed scientific analysis and advice” is available.

The comments were made by Pat Rabbitte, the country’s Minister of Energy, in response to the publication of a report from commissioned on the matter by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The study, authored by Dr. David Healy from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Geosciences., noted that while risks to water associated with the onland extraction of gas are an “important concern,” it concluded that the available information suggested a low and probably manageable risk to ground water from fracking.

“The current opinion shared by several agencies is that all scientifically documented cases of ground water contamination associated with fracking are related to poor well casings and their cements, or from leakages of fluid at the surface, rather than from the fracking process itself,” Dr Healy commented.

The study titled “Hydraulic Fracturing or ‘Fracking’: A Short Summary of Current Knowledge and Potential Environmental Impacts,” will be used to assist in a more comprehensive study, which the EPA says it expects will be commissioned this year.

Minister Rabbitte ordered the EPA to conduct a review of the effects fracking could have on the environment last October.

To date, three companies have been granted onshore petroleum licensing options from the government, which allows for “shallow geological sampling”. These are Tamboran Resources, Lough Allen Natural Gas Company and Enegi Oil Plc. The licences, granted by the governmental Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR), are the first step in a three-step process.