Anti-fracking campaigners from Salford have hung a banner from a bridge at Salford Media City as part of a day of action by Reclaim the Power. The banner states that 884,000 gallons of radioactive fracking water has been dumped into the Manchester Ship Canal.
Salford Bridge Banner Drop // Monday 18th August
It was revealed earlier this year following two years of campaigning by Lancashire campaigners to know where it had gone. The company pumped 2.7 million gallons of clean water into its only full scale fracking well in the country. Initially the company had been sending the radioactive water to a treatment plant in Davey Hulme, Manchester, but it was unable to cope with the volume, toxicity and levels of radiation.
Local campaigner Louise Carr said “The Environment Agency allowed United Utilities to dilute the water and put it into our canal. 884,000 gallons of radioactive and toxic water from just one fracking operation, which was cut short because the company caused two earthquakes in the space of six weeks”.
Press Release: Reclaim the Power activists take action against councillors and haulage company in order to highlight disruption from fracking to local communities and the environment
Monday 18th August
At 7:50 this morning a group of anti-fracking campaigners from the Reclaim the Power camp in Blackpool visited the homes of local councillors with vested interests in supporting fracking in Lancashire.
The group have set up a demonstration highlighting how noisy, loud and disruptive fracking would be for local residents. Their banners read: “Corrupt councilor”, “Reclaim the power”, “Frack free families” and “Frack off”. The group aim to highlight the catastrophic consequences of fracking for the environment, both climate change and the industrialization of the rural landscape.
The councillors targeted live on the same road. They were Conservative Thomas Threlfall, who received a payment for access to land in a seismic survey portfolio and represents the Freckleton East ward, and Independent Trevor Fiddler, who holds the portfolio for planning at Fylde Borough Council and represents the Freckleton West ward. Cllr Fiddler agreed to release a statement in response to the protesters’ criticisms.
A neighbour of the councillors, who joined the protesters, voiced his support but preferred to remain anonymous. “I’m against fracking because they don’t know enough about it. I’m concerned about that will happen to my children, my grandchildren. The fracking companies – who cleans up when they’ve made a quick buck and gone? We’re going to exceed our Kyoto agreements.”
Sarah Horrocks from Reclaim the Power said “We want to communicate to the councillors that local residents are not prepared to tolerate this industry in their communities. The disruption and long-term damage caused by fracking to the local environment and the planet needs to be taken seriously and they need to listen.”
At 8:00 a separate group of activists set up a blockade of the Total Environmental Technology premises outside of Hull in East Yorkshire. The activists, including Yorkshire locals, glued the doors closed in order to shut down the site. A haulage company used by Cuadrilla and the fracking industry, Total Environmental Technology lorries are currently being used to remove waste and used fracking chemicals – “frack fluids” – from live sites. Approximately 2-300 lorry-loads of waste are created per frack from eack well. [1].
A Yorkshire activist taking part in the action said:
“We are Yorkshire locals and we are protesting against this company because of its involvement in an industry which threatens to cause havoc to our communities, our landscape and our climate. With over 50% of the UK being opened up to fracking, local resistance is only going to increase. We need to stand together and show that this industry will not be tolerated.
Notes to editors:
[1] http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking/faq/water-used