Fracking

Fracking

The early morning sun flooded into he BBC helicopter’s cabin as it rose above the stubble of the recently harvested wheat field. James Naughty rubbed his hands together to get the feeling back. He was used to early starts but it had been cold waiting in the field, in the shadow of the South Downs, impatiently waiting for the pilot to complete his pre flight checks.

      ‘5 minutes to air,’ came the producer’s voice through his head phones.

He cleared his throat and checked through his script once again. Looking down through the windscreen, he could see wisps of smoke curling up through the still air as a few of the campers started preparing for their day protesting against what most of them didn't understand but, ‘Hey, man a good few days out in the country anyway?’

      Jim listened to the weather forecast – a fine late August day – and then the pips followed by the voice of his colleague.

      ‘Good morning. This is BBC Radio 4 with the Twoday Program. John Humfries here in the studio and James Naughty in Sussex, reporting from the fracking protest in Balcombe in deepest Sussex. Here are the news headlines…

*

      ‘…Now over to James Naughty in Sussex.’

      ‘Thank you John. I am flying above the fracking protest camp on the ouskirts of the pretty little village of Balcombe which lies folded into the Northern slopes of the South Downs, here in Sussex. It is a beautiful late summer morning. The sun is slowly heaving itself above the South Downs to shed its light on this beautiful area of the country; just as we will today try to shed some light on the fractious debate that is taking place below us as many protesters try to make their voice heard against the voices of government and big business. For the moment I will return you to the studio but we will come back to Balcombe later to talk to some of the people involved and try to understand why such strongly held opinions are held on both sides of the fracking debate.’

      ‘Thank you Jim. Now we turn to a subject that has been of great interest to everyone over the last seven weeks…’

*

‘Now we return to Balcombe and a report from Jame Naughty on today’s situation on the fracking protests. Over to you Jim.’

      ‘Thank you John. Err, you join me here near the beautiful, normally peaceful, little Sussex village of Balcombe. I say normally peaceful because the villagers are now out numbered by perhaps ten to one by people from all over the country and some from abroad, who have descended on this quiet corner of rural England to make their opposition known to any drilling being carried out here for oil or gas and, in particular, the use of the controversial fracking technique. This, as many of you may know, consists of steering a drill horizontally into layers of shale strata that lie at great depth and then shattering the rock by the injection of water, under very high pressure, that contains various chemicals. This allows the gas trapped within the shale to be released and taken to the surface.

      ‘I have with me Mr Ernest Newton who is the Chief Executive of the drilling company Tridrilla. Can I ask you. Mr Newton, why you think you have the right to despoil such a beautiful part of the country with your drilling rigs and potentially cause earthquakes and pollute the drinking water with this unproven technology?’

      ‘I’ll answer your question one point at a time if I may. Firstly we are doing nothing illegal and it is government policy to develop our indigent gas resources to replace our imports from unstable regions of the world.’

      ‘But…/

      ‘Please don’t interrupt, you asked me a question and so I would like the opportunity to answer it.’

      ‘Err, OK then.’

      ‘Secondly. Our plans have been agreed by the democratically elected representatives of the local community. We have clearly explained to them what we plan to do and they are happy with it.’

      ‘Thirdly, we have no intention of fracking from this site unless we find we need to at a later date and that will require further discussion and permission from the local planning authority.’

      ‘Err, but…/

      ‘If I may finish answering your question?’

      ‘Well, we don’t have much time and I would like to bring in someone else.’

      ‘Perhaps you should have asked a shorter and less slanted question then.’

      ‘Well…/

      ‘As for despoiling the beautiful countryside in this area. Have you seen the oil field at Wytch Farm which has been producing oil for some fifty years and are you aware that the biggest gypsum mine in the country is under this area?’

      ‘Well err, no.’

      ‘Exactly! That is because both of these major installations can hardly be seen and so are not despoiling the countryside as you put it. Now for your final point.’

      ‘We really must err…/

      ‘As for fracking being unproven technology, are you aware that over 10,000 wells have been drilled using this technology? Also the scare stories about flames coming out of water pipes we started back in the 1920s before shale gas or fracking had been heard of. They have all been shown to have been caused by domestic wells being drilled into shallow methane reservoirs. I would suggest Mt Naughty that you have been badly briefed and are talking from a point of view of ignorance.’

      ‘That may be true Mt Newton, I don’t pretend to be an engineer. I’d now like to bring in a protester who is against the drilling in this area, fracking and the use of fossil fuels in general. Your name is?’

      ‘I’m not giving me name or the law will be after me to stop me dole.’

      ‘OK then Mr X. I believe you are protesting against fuel poverty and the use of any fossil fuels?’

      ‘Yes, that’s right. We think it is outrageous that poor people and pensioners in particular are having to pay fuel bills that rise every year.’

      ‘So what fuel do you propose we use to keep these poor pensioners warm?’

      ‘It is essential that we move over to the wholesale use of green energy to stop pumping filthy greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.’

      ‘By green energy, you mean wind, solar, tidal etc.?’

      ‘Yeah. ‘course.’

      ‘You do realise that the use of these technologies requires increasing subsidies as the cost of energy produced in this way is more expensive than burning fossil fuels?’

      ‘Yes, but it is worth it to get clean energy.’

      ‘So where do you propose this money comes from?’

      ‘The government should pay of course.’

      ‘So this means putting up taxes or increasing the price of energy?’

      ‘Well, yes, I suppose so.’

      ‘So the poor pensioners that you worry about will have to pay higher energy bills or extra taxes. How is that helping them out of fuel poverty? Wouldn't it be better if they could use the cheaper gas that Mr Newton here says he can supply. Gas that, by the way, produces half the CO2 of burning coal as we do at the moment?’

      ‘Well err, I dunno about all that stuff.’

      ‘Can I ask if you are paying taxes at the moment Mr X to help support these poor pensioners you are so worried about?’

      ‘Well I would if I could get a job wouldn't I.’

      ‘I did hear that you left a very well paid job recently because, like Mr Durken, ‘you were sick and tired of workin’ and decided to have a summer on the dole, joining the protest circuit around the country.’

      ‘Well that is a little unfair…

      ‘But basically true?’

      ‘Well, yeah, I suppose so’

*

‘It is still early morning in this sleepy corner of Sussex and very few protesters have yet shown themselves. I can see one person walking slowly down the lane here towards the drilling compound using a walking stick. It appears to be an old lady with a placard. I'll go and have a chat to her.’

      ‘Good morning Madam, James Naughty from the BBC Twoday programme. Could I have a word with you please?’

      ‘Yes, young man, how can I help you?’

      ‘I’m just wondering what you plan to do here today and I am very interested in what your placard says.’

      ‘I am here today to stand up for free speech and democracy. The local people have decided, via their council, that drilling can go ahead here. It is within the law and it is also government policy to look for new sources of oil and gas in this country. I have lived in Balcombe for thirty seven years and I fully support the right of Tridrilla to continue with their operations without interruption from protesters, some of whom who have probably travelled many miles to cause trouble here.’

      ‘That is all very well but, if you don’t mind my saying so, you are probably not aware of the technical and geochemical issues involved here?’

      ‘You’re probably right and I am sure that applies to most of the protesters here and, if you don’t mind my saying so, young man, it probably applies to most of the people employed by the BBC.

      ‘Touché, Madam, but in all seriousness, what is your knowledge in this area?’

      ‘I am professor emeritis of the Earth Science department of Brighton University. I have specialised in the study of oil shales across the world. I worked in the USA as a consultant reservoir engineer at the start of fracking there. And what about you, young man, do you have any knowledge in this area?’

      ‘Err, not really and I apologise for doubting your credentials. What do you plan to do here today?’

      ‘I plan to peacefully demonstrate my support for the drilling operation here by holding up my placard in front of the drilling compound gates for one hour. Then I shall return home for a nice cup of tea.

      ‘What does your placard say?’

      ‘As you can see, it says; ‘Keep Calm and Frack On.’

      ‘Thank you Madam. Good luck with your protest. Now back to you, John, in the studio.’

      ‘Thank you young man. I think you met your match there.’