Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will make an assessment of the implications for environmental safety in the UK hydraulic fracturing programme of studies published in 2013 by the University of Missouri on the problem of dispersal of endocrine disrupter chemicals from fluids used in the fracking process for natural gas.

The potential health impacts of chemical or radioactive exposure from shale gas activities have been considered by Public Health England, which published a draft report for comment in October 2013 and a final report in June 2014 entitled Review of the Potential Public Health Impacts of Exposures to Chemical and Radioactive Pollutants as a Result of the Shale Gas Extraction Process:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Environment/PHECRCEReportSeries/PHECRCE009/.

Public Health England considered the University of Missouri study as part of its review of the literature and data for the final report (see section 8.2).

The report concluded overall that “An assessment of the currently available evidence indicates that the potential risks to public health from exposure to the emissions associated with shale gas extraction will be low if the operations are properly run and regulated.” It noted that “Where potential risks have been identified in the literature, the reported problems are typically a result of operational failure and a poor regulatory environment.”

In the UK, all chemicals which are proposed for use in the hydraulic fracturing process are assessed in advance by the environmental regulators. Operators will not be able to use chemicals for well stimulation unless the Regulator considers them acceptable for use.

Allowing the use of a chemical at one site does not automatically mean the Regulator will allow it to be used elsewhere. This is because the environmental risks may be different, for example, due to local geological conditions.