Ricardo Energy & Environment

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Report on the impact of shale gas exploitation on local communities in Scotland

This article is part of the Spinwatch Fracking Portal and project

The company published a report on shale gas exploitation in Scotland entitled 'Understanding and mitigating community level impacts from transportation' in November 2016.

Their full summary: 'The aims of the transport project were to improve understanding of the increased traffic volumes and associated impacts which would result from unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development, and to identify means of mitigating these impacts. The research finds that the additional traffic movements associated with onshore oil and gas resources are unlikely to be significant or detectable at a regional or national scale, in view of the much greater numbers of traffic movements resulting from other activities. Consequently, the key focus for consideration of potential community impacts of UOG development is the assessment and management of potential impacts on communities local to development sites. Assuming the appropriate strategic policies are put in place, and appropriate mitigation is carried out, local communities would nevertheless experience an increase in traffic numbers, potentially for a number of years. However, provided the planning and Environmental Impact Assessment is properly implemented, any significant impacts would be avoided through the use of appropriate mitigation measures.'

However, a fracking literature review published by Andrew Watterson and William Dinan concluded that:

'Although several reports and papers, including some from the UK government and its agencies, state fracking would be safe assuming there is or will be industry best practice and ‘robust’ regulation, the evidence base for such statements is remarkably sparse [...].

There are multiple serious challenges surrounding location, scale, monitoring and data deficits facing regulators overseeing onshore UGE and fracking in the UK;

The evidence from peer-reviewed papers suggests fracking in the UK will not be effectively regulated. It is highly likely that regulatory agencies may lack the staffing and resources necessary to monitor and enforce effective regulation of the industry;

US and UK peer-reviewed analyses and EU law identify both the precautionary principle and prevention as keys to dealing with fracking. This is underpinned by findings from the peer-reviewed public health literature that already identifies significant hazards and major potential risks from the industry.'