Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what chemical additives with a prospective use in hydraulic fracturing have been assessed for toxicological risk and other prospective health hazards by the Joint Agencies Groundwater Directive Advisory Group (JAGDAG); and if he will publish the URL where the minutes of JAGDAG meeting may be found.

In England, for the purposes of the Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Directive, the Environment Agency has the responsibility for making determinations of substances that may be hazardous in groundwater. It will not permit the use of ‘hazardous substances’ for any activity, including hydraulic fracturing, where they would or might enter groundwater and cause pollution.

Hazardous substances are defined as those that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, or, for the Directives, where there are ‘equivalent levels of concern’. The Joint Agencies Groundwater Directive Advisory Group (JAGDAG) carries out peer reviews of these determinations, before recommendations are then put to public consultation. Substances that were proposed for use for hydraulic fracturing of shales in Lancashire have been assessed and were determined as non-hazardous. These were consulted on in 2012 following peer review by JAGDAG.

Information about JAGDAG, including minutes of meetings, can be found at: http://www.wfduk.org/stakeholders/jagdag-work-area-0