Fracking: second tremor in 24 hours recorded in Blackpool
A second tremor in a 24-hour period has been recorded at the UK’s only active fracking site near Blackpool.
Cuadrilla was forced to halt operations for 18 hours on Friday, the 26th October after a 0.8-magnitude tremor. Fracking restarted on Saturday morning, the 27th October before a second tremor was detected.
Saturday’s tremor is the 18th in the area since fracking recommenced 12 days ago. It was too small to be felt above ground and was not categorised as a “red” event by the Oil and Gas Authority, unlike the one on the 26th October, because it occurred after operations had finished at 1pm.
The company only has permission to frack until that time on Saturdays.
The 0.8-magnitude event was about 200 times smaller than the 2.3-magnitude tremor recorded in 2011 which led to fracking being suspended.
After much controversy, the practice resumed at Little Plumpton, the only fracking site in the UK, on the 15th October.
If a tremor takes place during fracking operations, anything above 0.5 magnitude is considered a “red event” and requires the firm to stop injecting water and monitor the area for further seismic activity.
A spokeswoman for Cuadrilla said: “This is not a ‘red’ incident under the traffic light system operated by the Oil and Gas Authority as we were not pumping fracturing liquid as part of our hydraulic fracturing operations at the time. However, we will, as always, continue to monitor the seismic activity closely and plan to resume hydraulic fracturing on Monday, the 29th October.”
All relevant regulators had been informed, she said.
Three protesters jailed for blocking access to the site walked free after the court of appeal quashed their sentences as last week, calling them “manifestly excessive”.
It was revealed earlier this month that the energy minister, Claire Perry, had proposed raising the regulatory threshold for tremors caused by fracking as the industry begins to mature.
The government subsequently denied it has any plans to relax the rules. Oliver Eden, a minister at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said last week: “There are no plans to make changes to the traffic light system for monitoring induced seismicity.”
Source: The Guardian newspaper