Water Bill

Debate between Lord Winston and Lord Oxburgh

Tuesday 11th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Oxburgh (CB)]

My Lords, I have a question for the Minister in this general area. Does he feel that this proposed regulatory environment would cover cases in which fracking companies pipe sea-water on to land and then either dispose of it on land or, indeed, discharge it back into the sea? If it does not, it should.

I have a brief comment on what the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, said. To be fair, almost any ground-water or well-water that is drawn in regions that are underlain by coal measures—and this is predominantly the case in Pennsylvania—have some methane in those waters.

[Lord Winston (Lab)]

Before the noble Lord sits down, does he have any information as to whether sea-water pumped back into the sea after fracking might be hazardous to the environment in the sea-water?

[Lord Oxburgh]

My Lords, I think that it depends almost exclusively on how that water has been treated by the company that has used it.