EU study finds no need for new legislation on gas 'fracking'

A EUROPEAN Commission consultancy study on licensing hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” for shale gas in EU member states has said there is no need for specific new legislation governing the controversial activity.

However, the study noted that public participation in authorising mineral exploration projects generally was “problematic”, as it was “often rather limited”.

The study by Brussels-based legal firm Philippe and Partners analysed the legal situation governing “fracking” in four EU member states – Sweden, Poland, France and Germany.

All four had or have limited exploratory drilling for shale gas, with drilling suspended since February 2011 in France pending assessments of the environmental impact.

“Fracking” involves injecting large volumes of water, chemicals and sand into rock formations to break them open and extract previously inaccessible fossil fuel deposits such as gas.

A US Environmental Protection Agency preliminary study published late last year found chemical compounds likely to have been linked to the activity were found in groundwater beneath a small community in central Wyoming.

Ireland was not included in the EU consultancy study, but the subject is contentious here and in Britain. Three companies have been granted two-year “preliminary” onshore licensing options for shale gas here over parts of the Lough Allen and Clare basins covering segments of 12 counties.

Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte has since commissioned research from the Environmental Protection Agency, and this is expected at the end of February or early March.

The European Commission consultancy study found that of the four states examined, Poland was most enthusiastic about fracking.

The procedure is currently prohibited in France, while there have been “strong protests” in “concerned municipalities” in Sweden, and these may lead to a review of the transparency of and level of public participation in its minerals Act, the study noted. It also found that public participation was generally “rather limited” in authorisations for mineral exploitation, and such access tended to be through relevant environmental laws.

If the project is of such a scale that no environmental impact assessment is required, the public “may not be consulted” at all, the study noted.

It found the procedure for shale gas extraction was complex, given the need to use large volumes of water which could have possible effects on drinking supplies, and the use of chemical substances.

Geoscientist and German Green Party councillor Helmut Fehr said yesterday the EU consultancy study was “worth being analysed by any politician who takes people’s concerns about the contamination of Ireland’s water resources seriously”.

The approach taken by the German North Rhine-Westphalian Länder-government could be regarded as a model for other EU countries, he said, in trying to improve the public’s participation in the granting of licences and permits.