U.K. opposition lawmakers are seeking to ban oil and gas fracking unless “loopholes” on safety are closed.
A Labour Party amendment to the Infrastructure Bill working its way through Parliament will mean barring hydraulic fracking unless 13 gaps in regulation are filled, it said in a statement.
“Labour will force a vote on Monday to prevent shale gas developments in the U.K. unless these loopholes are closed,” Tom Greatrex, a party energy spokesman, said in the statement.
The Conservative-led government has promoted fracking by Cuadrilla Resources Ltd., IGas Energy and other companies by cutting taxes and relaxing planning rules to try to lower reliance on imported gas. The Infrastructure Bill would allow fracking companies to drill deep under people’s land without permission. Labour is running neck-and-neck with the Conservatives in polls before a general election in May.
Only a handful of wells have been drilled to date after opposition from campaigners who say boring into shale rock may contaminate water, cause earthquakes and hurt the countryside.
“Shale gas may have a role to play in displacing some of the gas we currently import and improving our energy security,” said Caroline Flint, Labour’s senior energy spokeswoman. “But that potential benefit cannot come at the expense of robust environmental protections or our climate change commitments.”
Labour wants environmental impact assessments, independent inspections of wells and measurement of leaked gas. It wants local people to be told individually of fracking plans, programs benefiting areas being fracked and only allowing fracking deeper than 1,000 m (3,280 ft), compared with 300 m (984 ft) in the bill.
A separate amendment proposed by lawmakers including the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas and members of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties would remove the provision allowing companies to drill under homes without permission.
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