Bulgaria bans shale gas drilling with 'fracking' method

BBC
19 January 2012



Bulgaria has become the second European country after France to ban exploratory drilling for shale gas using the extraction method called "fracking".

Bread loaves symbolised nature at an anti-fracking

rally in the Bulgarian capital Sofia

Bulgarian MPs voted overwhelmingly for a ban on Wednesday, following big street protests by environmentalists.

Bulgaria has revoked a shale gas permit granted to US energy giant Chevron.

Critics say shale gas drilling can poison underground water and even cause earth tremors. Industry experts say correct drilling is safe.

Hydraulic fracking involves releasing gas trapped in rocks by pumping in water mixed with sand and chemicals at high pressure. The technique is used widely in Canada and the US.

The Bulgarian drilling ban stipulates a fine of 100m levs (£43m; $66m) for any infringements.

Last Saturday protesters rallied in several Bulgarian cities urging the government to halt drilling for shale gas.

Currently Bulgaria and many of its former communist neighbours rely heavily on imported Russian gas.

Chevron had been given a permit to prospect for shale gas in northeastern Bulgaria.

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Petition to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing of the Marcellus Shale

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CLICK HERE FOR PETITION

Fluid from hydraulic fracturing, a mixture of water and toxic chemicals, is harmful to us and our water supply. This chemical cocktail includes; formaldehyde, ethylene glycol, hydrocarbons, glycol ethers, diesel fuel that contains benzene, toluene, and other chemicals. These chemicals have known negative health effects on the respiratory, neurological, central nervous systems, and can cause cancer.

These fracking fluids are injected into and near water resources resulting in contamination of our wells and watersheds. Communities are also at risk because the trucks containing these chemicals leak and spill. Likewise, the chemicals and fracking fluids are evaporated off at drilling sites. We must stand up together and say: STOP FRACKING THE MARCELLUS SHALE!

Switzerland joins worldwide ban on gas fracking!

23 may 2011
naturalgasforeurope.com

Concerns relating to hydraulic fracturing may put a hold on shale gas activities in Switzerland.
In April, authorities in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg suspended all authorizations to prospect for shale gas on its territory for an undetermined period.

The cantonal government decided not to renew a license granted to Schuepbach Energy to explore for shale gas. The license, first granted in 2008, expires at the end of the year.
Schuepbach has planned drilling in 2012 in the district of Glâne, where conventional exploration had taken place in the 1970s.

The Fribourg authorities said their decision was reached based on “the impact of drilling on the environment and pollution risks have not yet been clearly identified.” They also stressed that the canton prefers to focus on renewable energies, rather than pursue the extraction of fossil fuels.
For Schuepbach, the Fribourg decision is a blow to its ambitions.

“It’s a panic reaction,” said Werner Leu, a geological consultant working for the company.
“The authorities say they want to avoid fossil fuels, but two thirds of energy needs are met by those fuels.”

“Besides, we are still at the evaluation stage and it would take a long time to get a drilling permit given the strict rules that must be followed,” said Leu.

Jan Mosar, a geologist at Fribourg University, calls the decision “courageous”, adding that searching for shale gas would just delay any response to our dependency on fossil fuels.

For Mosar, the risks of fracking are not to be underestimated. 
 “Part of the injected products filters through to other rocks, from where they can reach underground water supplies, polluting them for a long time,” he explained.

Another concern is the possibility of man-made tremors, like the ones felt in Basel in 2006 during the construction of a geothermal project. 
 
“Underground fault lines run under many parts of canton Fribourg. If a well hits one of those faults, it could generate earthquakes,” said Mosar.

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