Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the cold venting of fugitive gasses is allowed to occur at hydraulic fracturing operations.
Answered by Claire Perry
Management of fugitive emissions from shale well sites is regulated by the Environment Agency through the environmental permit. As part of the permit application, an operator will need to describe in their Environmental Risk Assessment, Waste Management Plan and in an Emissions Monitoring Plan how they will manage on-site fugitive emissions.
The environmental permits issued to date for sites that involve hydraulic fracturing only allow the venting of natural gas for safety reasons and when carrying out maintenance operations. Venting during routine operations is not permitted by the Environment Agency.
All environmental and waste permits in relation to Preston New Road can be found on the Environment Agency site: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/onshore-oil-and-gas/information-on-cuadrillas-preston-new-road-site/.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what regulatory conditions are in place to detect unrecovered fugitive gas and fluid from hydraulic fracturing operations.
Answered by Claire Perry
Management of emissions from shale well sites is regulated by the Environment Agency through the environmental permits. The permit sets out legally binding conditions on a site by site basis for how activities must be carried out so that the environment is protected.
Operators are required to carry out emissions monitoring, including monitoring of methane to air before and during shale gas operations. They also need to have an agreed gas management plan for leak detection and repair for the lifetime of site operations.
The Hydraulic Fracture Plan sets out how an operator controls and monitors the fracturing process. It needs to be approved by the Environment Agency and by the Oil and Gas Authority. The Environment Agency has to be satisfied that the operator has the controls in place to know where fractures go, where waste fluid is left behind underground and that groundwater protection measures continue to operate effectively.
All environmental and waste permits in relation to Preston New Road can be found on the Environment Agency site: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/onshore-oil-and-gas/information-on-cuadrillas-preston-new-road-site/.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what processes hydraulic fracturing operators have to follow to dispose of waste; and what the final resting location is for hydraulic fracturing waste.
Answered by Claire Perry
All oil and gas exploratory sites need to hold permits under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. Any company managing extractive waste is required to draw up a Waste Management Plan that has to be approved by the Environment Agency.
The Waste Management Plan describes the processes and the types of extractive waste that will be generated at the site and sets out how the operator will monitor, manage, minimise, reuse, recycle and safely dispose of the extractive waste at an appropriately licenced facility.
All environmental and waste permits in relation to Preston New Road can be found on the Environment Agency site: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/onshore-oil-and-gas/information-on-cuadrillas-preston-new-road-site/.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether shale gas regulators have an agreed process for safe recycling of flowback from hydraulic fracturing operations.
Answered by Claire Perry
Flowback fluids are deemed to be a mining waste under the Mining Waste Directive and require an environmental permit for management on site.
A company wishing to use hydraulic fracturing would need approval from the Environment Agency on its proposed methods for safe reuse and recycling as part of its Waste Management Plan. The Environment Agency and the European Commission have provided guidance on appropriate methods and techniques. This assessment is made on a case by case basis.
The Environment Agency has adopted a precautionary approach and does not allow the re-injection of flowback fluid for disposal underground.
All environmental and waste permits in relation to Preston New Road can be found on the Environment Agency site: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/onshore-oil-and-gas/information-on-cuadrillas-preston-new-road-site/.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons shale gas regulators do not conduct independent well integrity reports for hydraulic fracturing operations.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Infrastructure Act 2015 makes it clear that hydraulic fracturing activities cannot take place unless an independent inspection of the well has been carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will not issue a Hydraulic Fracturing Consent unless he is satisfied this has happened. Specifically, the Secretary of State will require a certificate from the HSE confirming that an inspection of the well site has been carried out by its inspectors.
To this end, every shale well site will receive an on-site inspection by the HSE as well as the Environment Agency in the exploration stage. Through notifications and weekly reports made by the well operator, the HSE also inspects well design and monitors progress to ensure the operator manages risks effectively throughout the life cycle of the well. The HSE’s inspection of these notifications and weekly reports, which occurs before and during construction, is carried out by specialist wells inspectors. Any significant changes to well construction are subject to the same scrutiny.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the traffic light monitoring system for regulating fracking-induced seismicity, for what reasons red events are allowed as part of an operator’s hydraulic fracturing plan.
Answered by Claire Perry
Under the Traffic Light System (TLS), regulated by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), if a seismic event of magnitude 0.5 or above is detected (a “red event”), injection must be paused and pressure in the well be reduced, followed by monitoring for a minimum of 18 hours to determine the cause of the seismic event. This precautionary threshold is set at a level well below what could be felt at the surface.
This threshold and pause in operations allows the OGA to review the event to ensure it is in line with the geological understanding set out in the Hydraulic Fracture Plan (HFP), which must be agreed with regulators before operations can commence, and that the risk of induced seismicity is being appropriately managed by the operator.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made in laying statutory instruments related to EU exit preparedness; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government has made good progress in laying the up to 600 statutory instruments required by exit day to ensure a functioning statute book. As of 31 January, my department has laid 62 exit related statutory instruments. All exit related statutory instruments are published on legislation.gov.uk, and include ‘EU Exit’ in their title.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he has made in laying statutory instruments related to EU exit preparedness; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government has made good progress in laying the statutory instruments
required by exit day to ensure a functioning statute book. As of 31 January, my department
has laid four exit related statutory instruments. All exit related statutory instruments are
published on legislation.gov.uk, and include ‘EU Exit’ in their title
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what progress he has made in laying statutory instruments related to EU exit preparedness; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Law Officers Departments do not require secondary legislation in order to prepare for EU Exit. The Government Legal Department, Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office continue to support, as necessary, other Government departments in preparing statutory instruments related to EU exit preparedness.
Asked by: Lee Rowley (Conservative - North East Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made in laying statutory instruments related to EU exit preparedness; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Margot James
The Government has made good progress in laying the up to 600 statutory instruments required by exit day to ensure a functioning statute book. As of 30 January, my department has laid 11 exit related statutory instruments. All exit related statutory instruments are published on legislation.gov.uk, and include ‘EU Exit’ in their title.