Rural Ireland should be very wary of shale gas industry Statement in European Parliament by Nessa Childers MEP, November 20, 2012, The Labour Party
Nessa Childers MEP speaking in the European Parliament during a debate on shale gas has warned Irish communities to be very wary of arguments from the shale gas industry. “This new technology to drill underground for shale gas is rightly causing a lot of concern across local communities. There are far too many environmental and health question marks over fracking, and so we need very strict EU legislation to avoid harming the environment and the health of local residents.
“One of my main concerns is the affect on local water supplies as fracking uses a huge amount of water, and the toxic chemicals used can leak into local ground water. There are even cases in the US where fracturing provoked minor earthquakes
“MEPs today are also calling for a ban in sensitive nature areas and mandatory environmental impact assessments for exploratory drilling.
“Shale gas is not the solution is our energy needs. That solution lies in more renewables, better efficiency and better public transport.” [Emphasis added]