Tuesday 11th February 2014

(10 years, 10 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Oxburgh Portrait Lord Oxburgh (CB)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

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 Portrait Lord Winston (Lab)
- Hansard - -

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 Portrait Lord Oxburgh
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

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