Coastal Oil and Gas Ltd have had their planning application rejected in Kent

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  • November 21, 2013

Coastal Oil and Gas Ltd have had their planning application rejected in Kent because the Environment Agency was not convinced that the drilling would not pose a threat to the environment, particularly in regards to groundwater contamination. See weblink at

http://kent.gov.uk/environment_and_planning/planning_in_kent/planning_applications/latest_news.aspx

Anyone else find this amazing that these points weren’t picked up in Wales? READ ON!!!

The letter from the EA can be downloaded here see attached – EA_Letter_20131014. This letter calls for Coastal Oil and Gas to provide 17 further items of information to allow for an assessment to be made;-

Details of the drilling methodology

    1. Details of the drilling methodology
    2. Casing design
    3. Measures to protect groundwater in the chalk aquifer
    4. Groundwater monitoring strategy, including groundwater quality and turbidity
    5. Monitoring systems to be used during drilling
    6. Construction details of the site infrastructure
    7. Detailed plan and construction details for surface water drainage system
    8. Preliminary Risk Assessment
    9. Detailed review of the geological information
    10. Details of any drilling fluids used, how these will be introduced, how volumes will be monitored and how groundwater will be protected
    11. Additional details for the restoration proposals
    12. Quantified risk assessments
    13. Contingency plans to deal with the risk of turbidity (Chalk fines from drilling process) at abstractors boreholes or in springs or streams
    14. Contingency plan in the event of any loss of potentially polluting materials (such as drilling muds, process water or flow back water)
    15. Following borehole completion, an “as finished log of the borehole
    16. Information on waste (both solid and water) – in particular the quantities, on site storage arrangements, means of treatment and disposal off site
    17. Clarification of air emissions and need for flaring

So Does Natural Resources Wales care about the residents of The Vale ?

Of the 17 requests for further information issued to Coastal Oil and Gas by the Environment Agency in England, 12 of these items of information (those are in BOLD above) were also not submitted by Coastal Oil and Gas Ltd in relation to their proposal to test drill for gas here in Llantrithyd. If you would like to know the reasons for this, please write to the Minister for Natural Resources in Wales, Mr. Alun Davies at ;-

Correspondence.Alun.Davies@Wales.gsi.gov.uk

and demand that he uses his authority to conduct an urgent review of the NRW position as issued in their letter dated 1st July 2013 to the Vale of Glamorgan Council and put into effect a moratorium on the test drilling project in Llantrithyd while that review is ongoing.

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