THE north’s environment minister has insisted he has no qualms about the appointment of a company accused of being pro-fracking to conduct an all-Ireland study on the controversial drilling method.
Concerns have been raised after it emerged that CDM Smith, which has been involved in fracking projects in the United States and Poland, is leading research on the potential impact of extracting shale gas using fracking on both sides of the border.
By this stage, most people on the island of Ireland are well versed on what hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is and why it is so contentious.
It involves the extraction of shale gas trapped in rock, forcing it out by pumping water, sand and chemicals at high pressure levels into the ground. Supporters say it’s effective and economical while opponents say it pollutes groundwater and is harmful to human and animal health.
Proposals to drill in counties Fermanagh and Leitrim are being opposed by local communities and community-based politicians.
The Republic’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defended the CDM Smith appointment, telling members of an Oireachtas committee that the research consortium would also include the British Geological Survey, University College Dublin, Queen's University Belfast and others. The two-year study is scheduled to be completed by July 2016.
The agency has also said that no licence applications would be welcomed by it, or the Republic’s Department of Natural Resources prior to the completion of the study. However, Sinn Féin’s Michael Colreavy has criticised the appointment, describing CDM Smith as “a cheerleader for the fracking industry”, while Green Party councillor Ossian Smyth has warned that the EPA study was “at risk of collapse” because the revelation had undermined its “independence and credibility”.
And the Belcoo Frack Free campaign group this week called on the north’s Environment Minister Mark H Durkan to act on public concerns about the study. The group’s chairman Tom White said the study would be “hugely influential” in terms of the final decision on whether fracking would eventually be allowed on the island.
He accused CDM Smith of having “publicly attempted to airbrush” peer-reviewed public health research in the United States and of having “openly promoted” its role in the shale gas industry in Poland and the Ukraine.
Mr White said his group had written to the minister calling for the “flawed research” to be stopped immediately and seeking for his health department counterpart and the north’s chief medical officer to review existing scientific literature on the risks associated with fracking.
Responding to Mr White’s concerns, a spokeswoman for Mr Durkan told The Irish News the minister was “content” that “proper procedure” had been followed in the awarding of the research contract to CDM Smith.
“The appropriate processes, procedures and systems were applied to the tender evaluation process and continue to be applied by the Programme’s Steering Committee, which includes DOE officials, to ensure the integrity of the research outcomes are not compromised,” the minister said.
"The CDM consortium have put in place an excellent internal peer review process and in addition all reports produced must go through a stringent technical review process made up of experts from the Programme steering committee as well as independent external experts."
Mr Durkan added that he had been “consistently clear” that “granting permissions relating to fracking operations will only take place when it has been supported by very strong evidence which indicates that fracking is safe for public health and the environment”.
The minister said that any other action given the “scale of ongoing research, would be reckless and irresponsible”, adding: “I have yet to see that evidence.”
Mr Durkan also stressed that “no decisions” had been taken in relation to permitting fracking in the north.
“No planning applications or applications for environmental permissions have been received by my department. My department will consider any applications in a very robust manner,” he concluded.
:: To learn more about the EPA study visit http://www2.epa.gov/hfstudy.
